The Hindu : National : `Centre not for hurried action'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 13, 2004

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National

`Centre not for hurried action'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 12. "We will review the entire situation [in Manipur] and take all aspects into consideration. I am not saying anything if [the] Manipur Government's decision was right or wrong. Such decisions cannot be taken in a hurried manner, they have to be taken in a peaceful way,'' the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil said here today. He was briefing the media along with the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, after the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs reviewed the Manipur situation.

"We are watching the developments,'' Mr. Mukherjee said referring to the Manipur Government's decision to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Imphal city.

Asked if the CCPA endorsed the decision of the Manipur Government, the Ministers said that in a similar situation in Nagaland, the Centre had not endorsed it.

The CCPA meeting, presided over by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was also attended by the Army Chief, General N.C. Vij, and senior Government officials in which a detailed presentation about the Manipur situation was made.

The former Manipur Chief Minister, Rishang Keishing, and the Manipur Industry Minister, Devendra Singh, also met Mr. Patil and Ms. Gandhi. Mr. Keishing said the State Government's decision to withdraw the Act was the "minimum that could be done at this moment.''

"Lifting of the Act throughout the State may not be possible at this juncture. If the situation improves, it may be done later,'' he said hoping that the decision would defuse the crisis. People should not indulge in anti-national acts and refrain from doing something that could compel the Centre to impose President's rule there.

Striking a note of apprehension, another former Chief Minister, Radhabinod Koijam, said the lifting the Act partially would not help in the current situation and added that it could only be done with the Centre's concurrence.

Talking to The Hindu here, Mr. Koijam who returned from Imphal said that experience had shown that it was naive to believe that the Special Powers Act would contain insurgency. "A mere enforcement of this Act cannot bring peace, it cannot even create an atmosphere of peace and stability. The problem has to be solved politically through the form of dialogue with the civil society.''

He said that a serious attempt to initiate dialogue with the insurgent groups would help isolate frivolous elements. Favouring a "holistic'' approach in solving the problem and ushering in an era of lasting peace and stability in Manipur, Mr. Koijam said that some of the former Chief Ministers would soon meet Dr. Singh in a bid to give a fillip to the efforts for dialogue and peace.

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