The pit that Manipur has sunk to : Blinded by sheer hatred
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 17, 2023 -

Any walk towards normalcy should come from the people themselves. Be very clear on this.

No measures taken up by the Government can have any impact as long as the people allow themselves to be blinded by sheer hatred.

The silence of the Prime Minister, no doubt hurts, but ultimately peace or normalcy is something which only the people can ensure.

For all its advancement in medical science and for all the highly educative talks/discussions, sharing of ideas one may hear on the television and for all the dissection of ideas and measures that may be taken up, it is ultimately the decision of the people which will decide whether Manipur starts walking the road to peace and normalcy or not.

And by all account peace and normalcy still seem a far cry and each day brings news and reports of the people descending more and more into the labyrinth of madness, fuelled and blinded by hatred.

Madness blinded by hatred can make a lethal and dangerous cocktail and Manipur has seen this many times.

When the totally innocent, that someone who does not even belong to either of the party at war with each other, is targeted and even killed then the nadir of hatred has been reached and Manipur has exactly experienced this.

From May 3 to July 15, 2023, Manipur has been groping in the dark and in the process is transgressing everything that humanity stands for and the biggest worry stems from the fact that there is nothing to suggest that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The madness has engulfed everyone on either side of the clash divide so much so that it has become the pass time for many to keep a track on the number of people killed on the basis of Us Vs Them and nothing can be more sickening than this.

Caught in the middle of the hate mongers and the unofficial compilers of the dead, the injured and the villages razed to the ground are the messengers of the people, those who toil away into the night just so that the people can get the authenticated news first thing in the morning.

It is not only news that the said messengers have to contend with, but also the views expressed by so many ever since violence erupted on May 3.

Some have been extremely educative and eye opening, while some are nothing much more than diatribes aimed at the other side. Things are bad and one wonders if it can get worse than this.

What can be the way forward ? Dialogue is obviously the only answer, but when one continues to stick to lines such as ‘solution first, peace later’ then it puts a full stop to any initiative to take Manipur to the path of recovery.

The reality is there for all to see. Situation is such that today one’s identity could mean the death sentence for anyone and this is what must have happened to all those who have been reported missing, including extremely young boys and girls.

If identity is what can get one killed, then the same is true in the case of mistaken identity and Manipur has seen this from the extremely unfortunate incident of the assault of some girls while they were on their way to the airport to catch a flight on May 24 to now the killing of a woman at Keibi under Sagolmang police station on July 15.

Collateral damage may be the official line maintained by the security forces while conducting any operation, but what term can one give this latest and totally unacceptable incident ?

On more than one occasion, the United Naga Council (UNC) had listed the names and details of tribal groups which belong to the great Naga community to avoid any case of mistaken identity but when people allow themselves to be blinded by plain hatred then one can imagine the pits to which Manipur has sunk.

Words are poor comforters but The Sangai Express joins in praying for the departed soul. May her soul rest in peace.

Let it also be clear to everyone on either side of the clash divide that targeting hapless and innocent folks is at best nothing but just a cover up to hide their cowardice under a veneer of false bravado.

There is nothing heroic in killing a poor, hapless woman.