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The Naga discontent
Amidst a range of verdant mountains and swirling whitewashed mist stands the village of Mao in Manipur's northernmost Senapati district. Commonly known as Mao Gate, it's the entry point to the higher and colder terrain of Nagaland and a far cry from the bright sunlit plains of the Imphal valley. The chilled air and the smoke on one's breath is testimony to its proximity to its neighbouring state-both in terms of geography and political standing.
The quiet whiteness covers a discontent that has lain latent in the hills since May 5 last year. This was the day that NSCN-IM chief Muivah was to enter Manipur to visit his native village in Ukhrul. After the Manipur government banned his entry, posting commandos and paramilitary forces along its border, hundreds of Nagas in Mao and other Naga areas in the state came out of their homes to protest. The police used teargas and opened fire at the protesters. Two young boys-20 and 21 years of age-were shot dead in the clashes. Their memorial, carved into white stone, stands at the entry to Mao village.
Neli Chakho and Dikho Loshou now stand, posthumously, in the midst of a political campaign which is boiling in the four Naga districts in the state-Chandel, Ukhrul, Tamenglong and Senapati district. Dikho Loshou used to attend BA classes at St Joseph's College in Jakhama, Manipur, and in his spare time, looked after his paralysed mother. Twenty-year-old Neli Chakho was one of the few who got out of Mao to study at St Joseph's College in Bangalore. He was home on vacation when the incident took place.
Chakho's older sister, 35-year-old Neli Losa says that like her brother, she was also out protesting on that fateful day. "But when the security forces started firing, there was confusion and we all ran for cover. It was only the next day that I got to know of my brother's death when United Naga Council (UNC) officials came to inform us,'' says Losa.
It is no surprise then that the road which cuts across the district is studded with flags of the Naga People's Front, the ruling party in Nagaland that has newly launched in Manipur. "Even if a single NPF candidate wins,...