Manipur on the boil since May 3 : All questions but no answers
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 17, 2023 -

Burning since May 3 evening and other than the curfew relaxation period being extended from 5 am to 3 pm on May 16, is there anything to suggest that Manipur is limping back to normalcy ?

There will obviously be different takes on this, but the air is still thick with suspicion and apprehension and perhaps this is the reason why the Government has decided to extend the ban on internet services till May 18.

No one is sure whether the ban will continue or be lifted, but already the media is reeling under the impact of the ban which has been there since May 3 evening.

Even the special arrangements made at the office of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations for the media to access the net has gone kaput and one is not sure when the snag will be rectified.

The poser which opened the commentary here may be seen against the backdrop of the information Chief Minister N Biren shared with the media after his one day meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Here again there may be different takes on what the Chief Minister had to say on his interaction with the Union Home Minister.

SoO camps and cadres under constant vigil; Structure of Manipur will not change; Union Home Minister in possession of several reports containing details that had happened in the past few days.

This in brief are the points that the Chief Minister returned to Imphal with after his one day interaction with Amit Shah and whether these lines will help in anyway to help bring the situation under control or not is best left to the understanding of the people.

However it stands that there is'nt anything new in what the Union Home Minister reportedly conveyed to the Chief Minister.

Keeping SoO cadres under vigil comes with the understanding of keeping them under a certain set of ground rules and the very fact that this should be underlined at this point of time says something significant.

The physical structure of Manipur will not change is again something which the people have been hearing since the last three decades and hence there is nothing novel in this.

What the discerning people of Manipur had expected was something different, but then maybe the line of thinking of the common people and the political leadership may not always run together and it may be argued this is why certain set of people are tagged as leaders of the people.

What is the way forward ?

It would have helped so much and maybe could have even charted the way to a semblance of normalcy if the Centre had given a firm commitment to abrogate the SoO pact as the cadres had violated the very soul of the ground rules.

This would have added that much more substance to the assurance that the 'Centre is observing the conduct of the SoO cadres.'

It would have helped so much more if concrete measures had been spelt out to ensure the smooth flow of goods trucks along the Imphal-Dimapur Highway.

Remember prices of all essential commodities have sky rocketed.

It would have helped so much more if the Government had come back with the information/assurance that the exercise of carrying out the National Register of Citizens would be kick-started.

One is also left wondering why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not yet appeared on the scene.

The silence of the Prime Minister is loud and definitely silence cannot be the better part of valour in this case.

How many times has the Prime Minister got in touch with the Chief Minister ever since the conflict erupted on May 3 ?

Why has New Delhi not yet deputed any Union Minister to oversee the situation here ?

All questions at the moment and it is unfortunate the one day trip to New Delhi and the information brought back by the Chief Minister has not thrown any light on these posers.

At least 73 have been confirmed killed in the mayhem so far and numerous properties destroyed while thousands have been displaced.

If this is not serious and does not warrant the attention of the Central leaders then one wonders what would stir the sensibilities of New Delhi.