Troubles in Manipur and Assam: Economist is gleeful

The Economist India stringer can scarcely contain his glee. The subtext: the Northeast
is going to secede. That, of course is what the Baptists and the
Islamists want. It'd be most interesting to see what happens if the
Northeast does secede. Will the Christians (with headhunting
traditions) win or will the Muslims (with jihad traditions) win?

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India's north-east

Fraying at the edges

Aug 19th 2004 DELHI
From The Economist print edition


Trouble beyond the chicken's neck

IT IS not just in Kashmir that India's independence day celebrations
on August 15th provoke mixed feelings. In the north-east of the
country, seven states linked to the rest of India by a narrow
"chicken's neck" skirting Bangladesh, secessionist movements are rife.
A gruesome reminder of this was a bomb explosion in Assam on the day
itself. Most of the 18 dead were school children. The United
Liberation Front of Asom has claimed responsibility.

Unfortunately for the Indian government, however, ULFA is just one of
dozens of militant outfits sparring with its forces across the region.
Closest to outright revolt is the small state of Manipur, sandwiched
between Assam and Myanmar, with a population of about 2.5m and a
patchwork of ethnic rivalries. These have been set aside, in a
concerted campaign against Indian rule. The spark was the death last
month of a 32-year-old woman. The authorities say she was a member of
the armed underground, and was shot trying to escape.

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The immediate demand is for the lifting of the Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act, which gives the army in Manipur and much of the rest of
the north-east sweeping powers to search, detain and shoot. The state
government, which like its federal master in Delhi is a coalition led
by the Congress party, has taken Imphal, the state capital, out of the
act's scope. This has not satisfied protesters, but it has irritated
the central government. But ministers in Delhi have not been speaking
with one voice. The turmoil constitutes one of the first crises to
confront the new government. So far, it has not given any sign of
knowing what to do, beyond waiting and seeing.

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