Manipur consultative committee member advocates political dialogue to resolve crisis in state

Manipur government's consultative committee member, Lt General Konsam Himalay Singh (Retd) asserted that political dialogue will play a key role in resolving challenges in the strife-torn state.

Singh, who is the Kargil war hero, and the first military officer from the Northeast to have risen to the rank of Lt General in the Indian Army, emphasised that governance issues and equity should be the top priorities in addressing the situation.

Speaking at a symposium in Kolkata, Singh asserted that the way forward is "political dialogue" and also accommodation by way of give and take.

“It is about political accommodation and political way to resolve things because I believe that the military way of solving issues has not worked,” Singh, who commanded the battalion which reclaimed Point 5770 in a daring operation in the Kargil war in 1999, said.

Singh, a member of the peace committee to establish peace and harmony among ethnic groups in Manipur, said that the large number of tribes in the north-east with their different aspirations is a huge challenge.

“That is a tall order to see it through in the next one or two or five years, it is a very long process,” Singh, who commanded the 27th battalion of the Rajput Regiment from 1998 to 2008, said.

“If we don’t have the right approach to solve things, then we will not see success in north-east India,” he said.

“We have more than 187 tribes in the north-east and 242 languages and dialects, each having their own aspirations,” he said, maintaining, “how to deal with that is a huge challenge to the Indian Constitution.

He said that the country’s Constitution caters to everybody’s needs, but not everybody’s greed.

“The security issues of north-east India have a little different connotation when it comes to national security,” he said.

Singh said that there is a huge challenge which needs to be addressed early and more aggressively.

The north-eastern states are bordered by China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan. (With PTI inputs)