Manipur: Common people continue to suffer amid autonomy demands

Since the rise of the BJP government in 2017, Manipur has seen a significant reduction in the number of bandhs, blockades, general strikes and counter-strikes between non-state actors and the state encounters, inferring the improved law-and-order situation of the state. 

Despite claims by political analysts, the BJP-led coalition government under N Biren Singh has presented arguably the most citizen-oriented government the state has seen of late. The introduction of flagship policies like ‘Go to Village’ and ‘Go to Hills’ with the motto “chingmi-tammi amatani (hill and valley people are one)” as its clarion call for communal harmony to bridge the Hill-Valley divide in terms of development and infrastructure inequalities has significantly extended the relationship between hill people and the state.

However, when it comes to the question of autonomy that the government introduces, it reinstates the century-old unsolved problem between the hill and the valley. In August last year, the Hill Area Committee (HAC) of the Manipur Assembly recommended the new ADC Bill, maintaining that the existing autonomy had various deficiencies that resulted in the underdevelopment of the hill region.