A noble initiative or a political stunt ?
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 12, 2023 -
IN a rare humanitarian good-will gesture that is worth emulating by others in the present ethnic conflict between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki Chin communities that is gripping the tiny north-eastern state of Manipur; Khumukcham Joykisan, who is the elected representative to the Manipur Legislative Assembly from Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency, has announced that he would adopt a woman patient suffering from kidney problem and her entire family members who have become displaced after their house in Churachandpur district was burnt down by armed Kuki militants and their associates.
The decision to adopt 58-year-old Khoisnam Ningol Khumam Onbgbi Binasakhi, who is currently undergoing treatment at JNIMS and her displaced family members, is said to have been taken by the MLA after due consultation with Thangmeiband Kendra Development Organisation (TAKDO) and members of BJP Thangmeiband Mandal.
Accordingly, the MLA and TAKDO would bear all the expenses on treatment of Bisasakhi, who requires routine dialysis and take care of all the needs of her family members until a lasting solution to the ongoing conflict is brought about and the government completes the resettlement and rehabilitation measures for the thousands of families like that of Binasakhi's who have become internally displaced following the sudden outbreak of violent clashes of unprecedented magnitude and scale between the two ethnic communities since the evening of May 3.
It has been learnt that Binasakhi was already undergoing treatment at a hospital in Guwahati before the outbreak of the current conflict and the armed Kuki militants and their associates started attacking houses of the people belonging to Meitei/Meetei community in Churachandpur district.
According to her son, Rabindranath, after their house in Tuibong was torched and all possessions either looted or reduced to ashes, they were helped by Meiteis/Meeteis living in Assam for nearly three months till she was brought to Imphal and admitted to JNIMS about a week back as they could no longer afford treatment and living cost in Guwahati.
This selfless noble act of the Meiteis/Meeteis living in Assam who came to the rescue of Binasakhi and her son in their most troubling times as well as the kind-hearted gesture of MLA Joykisan and TAKDO in deciding to adopt Binasakhi and her entire family members who now have no home to return to after she is discharged from the hospital is the urgent need of the hour.
Some people may look at the decision of the MLA as a political stunt, but it is, in fact, a noble humanitarian act of the highest kind that could be emulated by others for bringing some succour to thousands of families like that of Binasakhi's, on either side of the clash divide, who have been uprooted from their homes and hearts.
There are many wealthy people with means and resources in Manipur who could embrace the same initiative and adopt at least one displaced family until normalcy is return in the state.
If they could do the same, the displaced families who are increasingly feeling the weight of an indifferent administration towards the protracted crisis with each passing day would not feel abandon, and be eternally grateful for helping them in piecing together their broken life.
Moreover, this noble approach of adopting and helping the displaced families should not be confined to only one's own community, for humanitarian service in the true sense should extend beyond any existing or artificially created boundary.
What's more, the initiative could serve as a tight slap on the faces of war-mongers and the so-called leaders who have no qualm in pitting one group of people against another for their own selfish agenda.
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