'Stoked By Vested Interests': IAS Officer & Author Of NE Book Ashish Kundra Says Manipur Violence A Passing Phase

Exclusive Interview: Discussing his book, ‘A Resurgent Northeast...’, senior bureaucrat Ashish Kundra, who has served in Northeast for 8 years, said the Manipur youth will reject the violence.

New Delhi: The violence in Manipur that left 73 people dead owing to the ethnic clashes there has been stoked by “vested interests”, and the youth there has rejected such incidents, according to Ashish Kundra, who has been a policymaker and administrator in the Northeast. Kundra, who has served in the region for nearly eight years and recently launched his new book, ‘A Resurgent Northeast: Narratives of Change’, said the people of Manipur will not let violence to continue there for long.

"Incidents in Manipur are hugely unfortunate. The violence is stoked by some vested interest groups who have played along the insecurities of economic opportunity and jobs. There has been a harmonious coexistence between the hill tribes and the plain people and these vested interests have tried to incite passions through driving on the economic insecurity,” Kundra told ABP Live in an interview.

Manipur had been witnessing violent clashes since the beginning of this month. On May 3, when the state was observing a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’, a fight broke out during a protest against the plan to grant the majority Meitei community the Scheduled Tribe status. The protest went out of control as Kuki villagers were evicted from the reserve forest land there a few days before that.

"But people in the state will have the maturity to move on, because that state has seen so much violence in the past, there has been such a heavy presence of the armed forces and there were protests against the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers’ Act),” Kundra said.

“I am sure this is a passing phase and it will normalise. The aspiration of the youth is so strong that violence will not be accepted,” he added.

Despite comprising about 64 per cent of the state’s population, the Meities can claim only 10 per cent of the state’s land because non-tribals are now allowed to possess it in notified hill areas, which can only be possible if they are included in ST category.

Home Minister Amit Shah has told Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh not to spare those who were responsible for the violence.

Meanwhile, some amount of agitation can also be seen in Nagaland now that the state has again rekindled its demand the repeal of AFSPA.  

“The rebellion in Nagaland started off with the goal of seceding from India and from there it has moved on enormously. They are now tired of violence. Therefore everyone is yearning for a respectful settlement in the larger framework of the Constitution,” said Kundra.

He stressed: “So the Constitution is inviolable as has been also mentioned by the central government but people also realised that. So I am pretty sure that whatever the fractured insurgency which remain in Nagaland is also a passing phase which we will see fade out in the next few years.”

Arunachal Pradesh And Chinese Incursions  

Discussing his new book, Kundra, who also worked at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said the people of Arunachal Pradesh has no affinity towards China.

Kundra mostly served in Arunachal Pradesh during his service in the Northeast and have travelled extensively to the remote areas of the state.

“In Arunachal Pradesh, everyone is a Hindi-speaking citizen and there is absolutely no affinity with China. I have travelled to the remotest corner along the Tibetan Plateau and the Indianness is firmly embedded there. The schools and playground start their day with the national anthem,” he said.

He highlighted: “Maybe the prolonged presence of the Army over a period of time has also perhaps instilled this feeling of Indianness. There is no ambiguity that the people of Arunachal are very clearly and very strongly Indian and proud about their Indianness.”

Kundra also refuted claims that the people of Arunachal Pradesh have any inclination towards Chinese culture.

Last month, the Chinese government once again claimed its sovereignty over the state and released a list of 11 places which Beijing said it would rename. It even released a map of the state showing some areas inside the southern Tibetan region, which China calls ‘Zangnan’.

"Sitting from Delhi it might appear that if China has renamed some cities it is so. But that has no meaning. Doing it on paper has no meaning. There is no resonance of the citizens with the Chinese discourse,” clarified Kundra.

He reiterated that there is “no Chinese influence” in Arunachal Pradesh, and said the situation is the same even in a place like Tawang.

"The binding factor in Arunachal Pradesh is Hindi, and culturally also it is a Buddhist region. So they are very clear that whatever is sought to be the narrative of China, they are very proud Indians,” he said.