There is already a controversy over Joe Biden giving special honour to a man called George Soros.

American politician Nikki Haley said, “Giving George Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom is another slap in the face of America... Sixteen days is a long time until the inauguration. What is he capable of sliding in next? January 20th can't come soon enough.” There should be an Indian context and interpretation too. One overwhelming section of Indians including those in the ruling BJP have been stating rather repeatedly that Soros has a clear anti-India stance.
Yes, Soros could be the key player in the 'Deep State'.
Even Home Minister Amit Shah did not disagree that the 'deep state' has been involved in carrying out some anti-India exercises in India. "We criticised the 'deep state' and not the US government," is the refrain.
There is also a belief that the US 'deep state' played their game in precipitating the crisis in Bangladesh and installing a new dispensation which is anti-India in more ways than one.
Now, for more than a year the state of Manipur has been afflicted with "ethnic violence" and even places of worship on both sides -temples and Churches have been attacked. The BJP and RSS too have been blamed.
But for its part the Govt of India has yet again repeatedly attributed the troubles to foreign interference. Initially, everyone thought New Delhi was directing its tirade against Beijing. But certain developments in South Asia suggest even China may not be too happy now.
Thousands have fled Manipur including over 7000 of them now taking shelter in Mizoram. Kukis share ethnic bonding with Mizos and hence demand for Greater Mizoram also has been rekindled. In many places common people (Kukis and other smaller tribes) have accused Manipur Police with failures
and also that they have been partial towards Meiteis One can say the state of Manipur as a whole and three segments of societies -- the Meiteis, the Kukis and Nagas - cannot be seen flirting dangerously with civil unrest. The northeastern region has seen
enough of such clashes and enough of so-called ethnic 'cleansing'. Biharis, Bengali Hindus and Gorkhalis have been at the receiving end in Shillong in Meghalaya and people left for good.
Forget tribals-non tribals; episodes like the Reang-Mizo tribes differences and Naga-Kuki issues of the 1990s were really unfortunate.
One is aware of the strong elements of 'us' and 'they' syndromes in the region. Some years back while working on these inherent issues between two and more communities in another northeastern state (not Manipur), I was told by an expert that the 'logic of us and the ideology of others' motivates the root cause of identity politics in the north east. And here lies the real challenge.
Today, in Manipur the Nagas and Meiteis stand together despite tribal-non tribal differences. The Nagas have their own issues with Kukis and in the past they "could not trust" each other. In the mid nineties, the Naga-Kuki clashes used to be a nightmare both in Nagaland and in Manipur. In 2001 when the Naga ceasefire was extended to parts of Naga inhabited areas of Manipur, the Imphal valley
burnt for days.
In his masterpiece 'The Conquest of Happiness' Bertrand Russel says - "The man divided against himself looks for excitement and distraction ..... he loves strong passion". Russel further explains that 'passion' takes the man 'outside himself'. Thus, people often say one is in northeast, well he could be a man 'divided against himself'

The Foreign Angle

It may be erroneous to diagnose the one-and-half year old series of conflicts in Manipur as 'ethnic conflict', said former Eastern Command chief Lt Gen Abhay Krishna (Retd). "What we are seeing in Manipur is 5th Generation warfare being carried out against India. It is not simply an ethnic conflict as many believe" General Abhay Krishna told this journalist in Delhi.
"Manipur today is caught in the crossfire of a larger international power play taking place in the region especially with regards to the civil war in our neighbouring Myanmar," he told this scribe in December. "I can say from my own experience that the common people in Manipur,be Meitie, Kuki,Hmar,
Paite, Pangal, Nagas ....heart of heart they don’t support the violence at all which is going on and has been created by certain groups who are supported and funded by certain inimical powers. The return of Donald Trump as the US President suggests the incumbent rulers in Dhaka would be unnerved.
The Govt of India would also heave a sigh of relief if any 'Christian-state' project carving out of three nations India, Bangladesh and Myanmar is dropped from Washington's agenda. Moreover, ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina had good working rapport with Trump. A healthy axis between Narendra Modi-Trump and Hasina could also bring normalcy both in violence-hit Manipur and also Bangladesh, sources say. Bangladesh's interim ruler Mohammad Yunus had even gone to the extent of calling
Trump’s victory in the US presidential election in 2016 against Hillary Clinton “a solar eclipse … black days”. Trump is not really known as someone to forgive such criticisms easily.

Email:------------------------nirendelhi@gmail.com