The method behind the madness Cooking up narratives
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 29, 2023 -

The madness continues. And there is a method behind the madness and this is what is worrying, deeply worrying.

This method is starkly visible in the false narrative that has been spun with ‘aplomb’ so much so that it had even ‘convinced’ the European Parliament to discuss the Manipur violence, qualified by the phrase ‘destruction of Churches’.

That the European Parliament was kept in the dark of the fact that it was not only Kuki Churches that were destroyed but also numerous places of worship of the Meiteis is a reflection of how ‘effective’ the false narrative has been.

The nude parade of two girls on May 4 was reprehensible and was a slap on the face of all that the Meiteis stand for, but the method behind harking back to this case every now and then would not have missed the attention of any keen observer.

In as much as the May 4 incident is rewinded and replayed to give more credence to the victim story that has been floated around to gain the sympathy of others, the louder the silence on the gun wielding elements who took part in the May 3 Tribal Solidarity March becomes.

The silence on who struck the first match stick that set on fire numerous houses at Torbung after the Tribal Solidarity March on May 4 also falls perfectly in place with the method that is being talked about here.

Keeping a stoic silence on the disappearance of two youngsters including a young girl on July 6 is a case of the method that is being talked about.

The conspiracy of silence here cannot be missed.

Going to town with the nude parade but maintaining a stoic silence on the abduction of a young girl reeks of double standard, a feature that has become synonymous with the side playing the victim card.

It is this politics of amnesia that is keeping the violence churning.

The Sangai Express does not have the exact figure but quite a number of people have gone missing and here is a case of family members unable to even perform the last rites in the absence of the mortal remains of their loved ones.

This is the situation and it is the missing cases which can give a totally different twist and turn to the violence that sees no sign of abating.

Close to 90 days and there is nothing to indicate that Manipur has taken the first tottering step towards normalcy.

Farmers continue to be fired upon with impunity from the cover of the hills and while the Government seems to have worked out the number of guns which have been stolen or looted from police armouries, it still does not seem to have any idea on how bullets continue to rain on the villages located at the foothills.

How is it that those firing from the hills never seem to run out of bullets ?

And why is the Government or the Security Advisor to the Government now silent on the status of the inmates at the different SoO designated camps ?

How about the status of the weapons which are reportedly kept under lock in the safe at the camps ?

Or was the inspection drive at the SoO camps just a one time affair ?

These questions should be viewed against the backdrop of the endless rounds of bullets being rained on the villages situated at the foothills.

And can one expect any answer to the posers raised here ?

Fingers of accusation have been pointed at the Meira Paibis of blocking the route of security forces but why aren’t armed militants stopped from firing at the villages located at the foothills ?

The world has been fed on manufactured narratives for too long and to go anywhere near the truth, it is more than important to go to the genesis of the violence at Torbung in the evening of May 3.

What is the status of the Meitei houses at Churachandpur and Moreh ?

Can one expect any answer to this poser or should it be left to the imagination of the people ?