The writing on the wall
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: September 30, 2023 -

THE chaos and lawlessness being witnessed in Manipur in the last few days following emergence of some viral photographs of two missing young students killed in the captivity of armed Kuki militants has shown how angry and restless the people have become with the number of deaths and casualties in the nearly five months long ethnic conflict between the Meeitei/Meitei and Kuki-Chin communities piling up without any sign of ebbing.

With the state administration doing nothing precious other than waiting directive from an equally insensitive administration at the centre, people living in the tiny northeastern state today feel that they could expect nothing from the ruling BjP government led by Chief Minister B Biren Singh and despite knowing that law should not be taken into their own hands, angry people have started acting otherwise.

A day after angry protestors burnt down the office of BJP in Thoubal district and targeted the private residence of party's state unit president A Sharda at Yaiskul in Imphal West district, a bid to storm the ancestral home of Chief Minister N Biren at Luwangshangbam in Imphal East district by a large mob on Thursday night was foiled with the retaliatory action of the security forces.

In between these incidents, there have numerous attempts to storm police stations and the houses of police officers whom the protestors accused of using excessive force.

Even though all these incidents have occurred consequent to the grievous injuries caused to several student protestors in the security crackdown, the seething anger of the people, who do not know where to look for help now, over the failure of the state administration to resolve the ongoing humanitarian and restore normalcy in the strife-torn state has been too apparent for anyone to miss.

Why the ethnic conflict between the Meeitei/ Meitei and Kuki-Chin communities that broke out in Churachandpur district on May 3 last following a Tribal Solidarity March organised against the directive given by the High Court of Manipur to the Government of Manipur for sending recommendation to the centre in connection with the demand for granting ST status to Meitei/Meetei community has been allowed to go for so long, is a question everyone is asking today.

Many defence analysts and experts have time and again pointed out that Indian Army and paramilitary forces are well-trained and have the capability to put an end to any ethnic or communal clash within 48 hours of its outbreak.

But this has not been the case in Manipur.

The communal violence between the two ethnic communities has been going on for close to 5 months now.

This is despite the deployment of large number of central paramilitary forces in addition to the existing state police personnel.

On the other hand, while delving into the root causes of the present crisis, Indian leaders, right from the Union Home Minister to the Minister of External Affairs and again from the Governor to the Chief Minister in the state have acknowledged the nexus of militancy, narcotics and illegal infiltration from across the international border as the main factor fuelling the conflict.

Then, why the governments, both at the centre and in the state, which are headed by the BJP, have failed to tackle these issues that will ultimately have serious implication on the national security?

All these unanswered questions have started troubling the minds of the people of an erstwhile independent kingdom, who are still nursing the wounds of the injustice done after becoming part of the supposedly largest democracy in the world and are now showing no fear or remorse in targeting their own elected leaders.

So, the writing on the wall should be clear to all.