Meiteira ? Eishu Churachandpur dagini : Rare voices of sanity
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 08, 2023 -

It is more than obvious.

Good sense, the humaneness, the aspect of being humans, are all attributes that have gone missing from the human beings who inhabit Manipur but then again these few words which have just been typed into the computer for this column will blow over the heads of all, blinded as they are with hatred and deep distrust.

No one will gain from the bodies that are piling up, from the persons who have been made to disappear, from the houses that have been reduced to cinders and dusts, from the many who have been orphaned, from the father and mother who have lost their sons and daughters and from the places that have been abandoned, but more than obvious that no one is willing to listen to reason.

In between are those who have ‘suddenly become experts’ in taking the narrative to the path of their choice through ‘clever choice of words’ and ‘questioning’ to earn a few brownie points from the extremely partisan viewers.

This is one part of the story that has panned out ever since Manipur erupted in flames in the evening of May 3 and on the other hand are the extremely sane, reasonable voices that have come out and which have made it to the pages of The Sangai Express.

The tragedy however is the voice of sanity and reasoning that have come out have not had any impact on the mental faculty of the people and the action that has followed.

It was with a sense of pride and a nod of solid approval that The Sangai Express carried an article, so thoughtfully penned by a gentleman or a lady, N Shimrah under the line ‘My take on the ethnic clash in Manipur’, in the May 13th edition who held, ‘Destruction far outweighs gain in any violent clash.

Joining hands together from all stakeholders such as Government, CSOs, Church leaders, religious leaders and all community leaders living in the State of Manipur is the only way forward to bring about lasting peace in the State.’

Profound observation, one would say but such sanity can be rubbished when any of the contending parties stick to lines such as ‘Solution before peace’, ‘All out war’ etc.

Thoughts that should give confidence in the innate goodness of mankind, but the question of greater importance at this moment is whether people are ready to listen to reasoning or instead feed themselves with trash which can only come from elements, whose byline is hate and nothing more.

As a sort of a fitting continuation of the thoughts laid down by N Shimrah on May 13, it was with a sense of pride, a pride in the sense that there are still good, young people that The Sangai Express carried yet another contribution from a young man in the 16th May edition.

Martin Thokchom touched the hearts of everyone with his article, ‘Angamba and Samuel : A friendship beyond communal riot‘ an article that told the story of a young Meitei man and a young Kuki man, two friends who had nothing to do with the madness that had started enveloping Manipur and who were torn apart by the madness, a madness that continues to burn and rage even after more than 15 days.

It is with a reason that The Sangai Express is looking back at the two stories/articles that have been carried earlier, all in the belief that beneath the rough and savage exterior, a tinge of the goodness of mankind still glimmers inside everyone.

The only thing that is needed is to discard the veil that has been cast on the ability to think and act as human beings.

The tie that runs between the different ethnic groups in Manipur was perhaps best exemplified by yet another article from Supreme Court lawyer Ngangom Junior Luwang who in his thoughts under the headline, ‘Manipur turmoil-Dynamics and misgiving‘ on May 26 summed it up with the line, ‘.. some of my friends started speaking to me in Meiteilon, inviting a very innocent query from the receptionist in (Meiteilon) with a warm sense of camaraderie and sense of belongingness Meiteira ? Eisu Churachandpur dagini’.

Sad that such beautiful lines and observations have apparently blown over the heads and aptly summed up by the very headline of a contribution from a another young man L Rajeswar Sharma ‘When rage hijacks sanity’ on May 29.

Tragic it is but all these voices of sanity have no takers, but the battle cry.