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'No one pointed to any flaw in Manipur's Samata CM'New Delhi, 22 June, 2001: The Samata Party in New Delhi, along with the state governments of Assam and Manipur, had warned the Centre that extending the ceasefire with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac Muviah) was fraught with dangers. And these dire warnings proved prophetic when Manipur exploded in anger. Samata Party's former chief Jaya Jaitly chatted on why the Manipuris, rarely on the national consciousness, resent the ceasefire extension.
Jaya Jaitly : Hi, I am here to take your questions on
Manipur. ShachiS : Should they not ahev considered the sentiment sof the people of Manipur? Jaya Jaitly : The sentiments of the people were well known and expressed formally and informally over the past five years. There should have been a meeting of the political leadership of all the concerned states, so that whatever decision is taken has the support of a major section and is not merely the wishes of the NSCI(IM). abcd : maam the bjp has been treating your party very badly, yet you continue to support it? Why? Jaya Jaitly : We are totally committed to the NDA and therefore it is not a question of supporting any one party. It is a part of the decorum of coalition partners that we should support each other but we also believe that if there is any wrong doing we should speak out in the nature of a corrective. ShachiS : The NDA does not have a lot of MPs or as a matter of fact, there are not very many MPs from the region in our national parliament. Do yoo think this actually means weare at a monirity even at the central level and our voices are not heard? Or neglected? Jaya Jaitly : The voice of each state should not depend upon the number of MP's but on proper dialogue and mutual understanding. Unfortunately for many years, the North East has been neglected for various reasons. Sai : What do u say to the demand of all MP's and MLA's being asked to resign???Is it that the people of manipur have lost confidence in their leaders??? Jaya Jaitly : The students are making an unreasonable demand because it has been clear from the very beginning that all the MLA's and MP's had spoken out to express the sentiments of the people of Manipur. It is under President's rule and none of the political parties knew about the decision until it was taken. It is significant that the political conference of the Samata Party held in Imphal on June 13, strongly expressed its view against the extension of ceasefire. Payal : Ms Jaitly: Do you think it was a wrong move by the BJP not to support your government? And do you really believe that the BJP MLAs did not get the centre message.. Jaya Jaitly : We believe that the Samata led government should have been given a proper chance to rule the state. It is significant that during the confidence motion no one from the opposition group pointed out any shortcomings of the Samata chief minister. The chief whip of the BJP in Manipur chose not to issue the whip although he knew that he was expected to do so. Unfortunately it has been allowed to pass unpunished. Administrator : Two guests have been frozen out for use of bad language. Plesae do not use such language. rama : My questions is... why do think they made you and George and you scapegoats in the corruption case.. when it appears that you did not actually take any money? The second question is that it is difficult to believe that you did not intervene in the Ajay Jadeja case... would you like to explain Jaya Jaitly : Obviously arms dealers and other corrupt elements don't want a clean defence ministry. Since George Fernandes decided to refer all the deals above Rs 75 crores to CVC and CAG it may have upset a lot of people. Since they could not get it George Fernandes directly, they have tried to picture me as a channel to him. Sai : Ms Jaitly: Shouldn't the centre Reconsider it's stand on Ceasefire as the people of manipur particularly students r not happy over the decision Jaya Jaitly : The home ministerShri L K Advani has called a meeting of the leadership of the political parties in Manipur to discuss the issue. The Samata party has also suggested that the other concrned states should also be called for a discussion so that each can appreciate the other's view and allay misapprehensions if they are indeed only misapprehensions. Madhumita : jayaji, why is samata party not sending its central leaders to manipur, instead of commenting sitting from delhi? Jaya Jaitly : The central leaders of the Samata party were in Manipur on June 13 and 14 for a political conference and it was only on their way back that they learnt of the ceasefire decision. It is unreasonable to expectthe political leaders to head towards Manipur when the flights had been cancelled and curfew is still on. SARIT : has the Tehelka epsisode really tarnished the image of Samata and George ? Jaya Jaitly : Not at all. Not in the least bit. nag : M.S jaitly how is current political situation in manipur Jaya Jaitly : I am depending upon the newspaper and television reports for an update on Manipur. Not all our people are easily contactable in the present circumstances. But I trust the violence has subsided. kailash : DO B.J.P. & SAMATA UNDERSTAND NORTH-EAST ? NO WAY - THEY JUST BOUGHT M.L.A.'S OF OTHER PARTIES & FORMED THE GOVT. Jaya Jaitly : The Samata party comes from a tradition which has always given great importance to the North East, eversince the time of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. Shri George Fernandes has been travelling to the North East for last forty years. The Samata party has had six per cent of the votes in both the assembly elections since 1995. It is because we understand the North East that sometimes we are misunderstood in Delhi. surya : Do you see any conspiracy of political parties in the recent violence in Manipu? Jaya Jaitly : Not at all. All parties have been the victims of the violence. It would be very wrong to spread this impression which would negate understanding the feelings of the people.My party has called for an end to the violence. rajesh : Jayaji has there been a mishandling of manipur issue on the part of NDA as a whole in terms of underestimating the dynamics of the situation there? Jaya Jaitly : I certainly believe that the surprise element should not have been there in announcing the decision and if the consultations with all the parties in all the concerned states were held earlier there would have been a better atmosphere. Madhumita : MANIPUR HAS NEVER BEEN A PART OF INDIA, WE ARE NOT INDIANS Jaya Jaitly : This is only a statement so I cannot respond to it. kiran : jaya - who is to be blamed for the recent crises in manipur - government or people from manipur? and why? Jaya Jaitly : This is not a time to fix blame on anyone. Everyone should work towards a solution. Venkat : Madam, Do you believe thebifurcation of states,will do well for the Indian economy and for the people of the states Jaya Jaitly : Reorganization of the states has to be on the basis of proper criteria and a genuine demand. Sometimes the economies of the small states are not sustainable. However, with increasing population delimitation of the constituencies along with a genuine attitude which does not allow for neglect of any region or section of society is important. Madhumita : INDIANS ARE OBSSESSED WITH PARTITION, BECAUSE THEIR COUNTRY WAS PARTITIONED. THAT DOESNT MEAN MANIPUR WILL BE PARTITIONED..WE WILL DIE FOR THE UNITY OF MANIPUR Jaya Jaitly : I fully appreciate the sentiments of the people of Manipur and that is why we have stated that all these should have been factored before coming to any final agreement on the extension of ceasefire with NSCN(IM) group. No body should think in terms of partition of Manipur. We should spend more time in finding ways of bringing people together. achu : Do you believe the talks with Pakistan will yield any result or is it just another exercise to keep the americans happy that there is some initiative from prime minister Atalji. Jaya Jaitly : India has always taken the first step in finding a peaceful solution and there is no harm in hoping for results. We should have the self confidence to believe in our own initatives rather then always thinking that some other country is putting pressure on us. Jaya Jaitly : I hope people would take the trouble of studying the history, geogrphy, culture and economy of the North Eastern states so that our chats are serious and meaningful.
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