To diagnose a disease well is to half cure it. The prime minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, had the good doctor?s instinct in knowing that economic packages alone would not solve Manipur?s problems. He struck a different note by candidly admitting that he had not gone to Imphal to ?buy the people?s loyalty with packages?. Several of his predecessors made a mistake about the direct relation between economic benefits and militancy in the North-east. No wonder that promises of such benefits did little to promote peace in the region. This is not to deny that Manipur needs financial and other kinds of aid from New Delhi. It is more important, though, to end the sense of alienation from which the state ? and much of the rest of the North-east ? suffers. Many states in India may need as much economic help from the Centre as Manipur or Assam. But a crisis of identity and the consequent alienation are typical of the North-east. Also, the drive against militancy brings in a sense of persecution. The prime minister must have had this larger picture in mind when he put his emphasis on ?winning the minds and hearts? of the people of Manipur. The ?restoration? of Kangla Fort to the people of Manipur was one long-awaited move to win their hearts.

However, two issues will prove to be crucial tests for New Delhi?s strategy on Manipur. One is the review of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. The prime minister?s promise of the review and a possible replacement of it by a more ?humane? law is of immediate concern. While it is a timely response to the growing public anger against the act, the failure to keep the promise may be seen as a betrayal. The uproar over the Assam Rifles? alleged role in Thangjam Manorama?s death represented years of public outrage at the excesses committed with the help of the AFSPA. But the anxiety to stop human rights abuses by security forces or the police has to be balanced by the state?s duty to maintain peace and uphold the rule of law. Manipur?s militants, like their counterparts elsewhere, have a perverse agenda of unleashing terror that prompts the authorities to act. The other issue that New Delhi must handle with utmost caution is the Naga rebels? demand for inclusion of parts of Manipur in the so-called Greater Nagaland. Any false step on this issue may trigger another tremor in Manipur.