Tearing apart the social fabric of Manipur : Reflection of trust deficit
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 10 2015 -
60 hour total bandh still on, particularly in Churachandpur district.
The reason for the total bandh must be clear to the readers-to protest the death of nine people who were killed in Churachandpur following the intense protest after the State Assembly passed three Bills ostensibly to check the large scale entry of non-local people to Manipur, which the protestors claim were anti-hill people.
A continuation of the days of street protest that literally crippled Imphal and the valley area on the demand to implement the Inner Line Permit System or frame an Act to check the large scale influx of non-local people to Manipur.
Couple this with the clearly audible cry raised to demand the resignation of hill MLAs from the State Legislative Assembly on the ground that they did nothing to stop the three Bills and clearly Manipur is torn asunder by diametrically opposing views on an issue which should ideally have joined the hands of all the indigenous people.
Non-availability of fuel and other essential items following a huge landslide near Phisema in Nagaland along National Highway-2 and the complete halt of vehicular movement along the Imphal-Jiribam line following snags on a bridge along the said route and central to the unfavourable situation here is the plight of the common people.
But who cares ? No one, it seems. Certainly a tragedy it is that an issue which should have brought the people together is today driving wedges amongst the three major communities in Manipur.
From a cry to save the indigenous people of the land today the issue has snowballed into the three major communities adopting directly opposing stands.
This is unfortunate and says something profound about the trust deficit amongst the different communities. A sad and tragic reflection of the reality that has become Manipur today.
Difficult to say which way the wind will blow but this is certainly not something which the doctor would prescribe to anyone.
Why can’t people come to the reality that it makes absolutely no sense to alienate anyone or any group while pursuing a demand ?
In the same vein why can’t it register in the minds of everyone that what is good for X need not necessarily be bad for Y ?
This is where people cutting across community divides need to be on their guard and neutralise all the rabble rousers.
Such elements do nothing except add to the chaos and confusion and in the process sow seeds of suspicion and hatred.
Rumour mongering is one way to sow the seeds of hatred and suspicion and this point should be taken into consideration while studying the recent decision of the State Government to impose a blanket ban on the internet, particularly the social media.
The frequency in which loose talks did the round on some of the more popular social media sites was a cause for concern and this is one reason why The Sangai Express never relied and will not rely on any of the information that crowd such sites.
The reason should not be too far to seek.
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