Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed visit to Manipur later this month, the MHA Thursday made two announcements – that the Suspension of Operations agreement with militant groups under the umbrellas of Kuki National Organisation and United People’s Front has been renewed with renegotiated terms, and that Churachandpur-based civil society organisation Kuki-Zo Council had “decided to open National Highway-02” for the “free movement” of commuters and essential groups.

Speaking on the Northeast, he said that “it is good that the secessionist movements and the regular violence are all slowly calming down and there is an environment of progress.” He said that all the RSS-inspired organisations have started work, in one way or the other, in all Northeastern states and that efforts towards harmony, which were underway for many years, have also started showing results.

On Manipur, he said that the Sangh was constantly concerned about the situation between the Meitei and Kuki communities. He said that the Sangh and other organisations had been trying to help people on both sides and to ensure harmony, and lauded the Kuki community for opening the national highway for the Meitei community.

“We are hoping that the peace and harmony are restored entirely. It is a long road, but we hope that such circumstances will be there soon.” Ambekar said.

On other states

The organisations working in Punjab also shared their experiences. Ambekar said that all of them expressed concerns about alleged religious conversion, which has led to social disturbance. He said that “serious concern” was expressed about addiction and the ill effects of drugs, especially among the youth, in Punjab.

He also said that for long, an atmosphere of violence gripped several tribal areas due to Naxalism, but efforts by the government and the locals are helping restore normalcy. “However, there still are issues, and because these issues persisted for so long, there is a gap in the lives of the people there which will take a long time to cover,” he said.

Ambekar said that at the meeting, the organisations also expressed concern on the ghuspaith ka pradurbhaav (outbreak of infiltration) in West Bengal. “Ever since the circumstances have changed in Bangladesh, one of the effects is seen in Bengal,” he said, adding that they also expressed concern over the large number of people who have been living illegally in Bengal and creating disorder. “It is important to stop this immediately; there are many problems arising in the security of Hindus there, and there are questions on law and order.”

On education

With National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 being one of the key discussion points of the meet, Ambekar said that its assessment so far – on language, history, Indian knowledge traditions, etc – indicates that it is heading in the right direction.

He said that their student organisations are making efforts towards inclusion of Indian knowledge systems and shiksha ke Bharatiyakaran (Indianisation of education), which includes communicating the suggestions of experts at the appropriate levels in the government, which are involved in rewriting textbooks, such as the NCERT.

He said that RSS and all the organisations are of the opinion that primary to higher education should be made available to people in their own language.

Asked about Kashi-Mathura, Ambekar said that the Sangh Pramukh had already shed light on the issue in his Delhi address. “Sangh would certainly not organise a campaign, but the swayamsevaks can participate,” Ambekar said.