Time to give peace a chance
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 17, 2023 -
MUCH have been said and written by everyone who have anything to say on the issue, while a plethora of possible solutions suggested generously and analyzed endlessly by the so-called experts at possible forum, but any concrete or tangible solution to the current crisis in Manipur still remains elusive.
With the intensity of angry street protests in Imphal and other district headquarters becoming somewhat subdued and the sound of gunfights that used to shatter the stillness of both night and the day in the peripheral areas becoming calmer, there may have been some semblance of normalcy returning in the state.
But the mind of the people is still enveloped by a thick air of uncertainty and no one knows whether this is the proverbial calm before the storm.
The over three-month long violent conflict between the Meitei/Meiteis and Kuki-Chin communities that first broke out in Churachandpur district on May 3, following a "Tribal Solidarity March" organized by All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) in the hill areas of the state against the Manipur High Court's directive to the Government of Manipur for sending recommendation to the Central Government for inclusion of Meitei/Meetei community in the ST list, has done every possible harm to the state and its people.
Apart from hundreds of precious human lives lost and thousands of families on either side of the clash divide uprooted from their homes and hearths, thus, forcing them to take refuge in the various relief camps set up across the length and breadth of the state, the heat of this unprecedented communal hatred has been felt by people of every community in the state even if they maintain neutrality and stay away from involving in the conflict directly.
From committing acts of savagery of the most heinous kind that would put even the most harden criminals to shame to the most cherishing tales of human fortitude in the face of danger that could inspire many people; and from some unscrupulous elements taking undue advantage of the situation to the elected representatives abdicating their duties and responsibilities of protecting the innocent people and their properties, the bloody confrontation between the Meetei/Meitei and the Kuki-Chin communities in Manipur has seen it all, and caught the unwanted attention of the international community.
Today, the suffering common men and women on either side of the clash divide and whose daily struggle for existence is far aloof from the dirty politics of communal hatred and do not even have an inkling of why their so-called leaders are instigating the two ethnic communities to engage in a vicious cycle of senseless killings are yearning for the return of normalcy and peace in the state.
So, every possible effort should be made for the restoration of peace and normalcy in the state; sooner than later. We could not afford to let the current crisis to go on forever.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi had noted in his Independence Day speech delivered from the ramparts of Red Fort in New Delhi on Tuesday, restoration of peace and normalcy will only lead to a solution to the present crisis in Manipur.
After this crisis, Manipur may not be the same ever again. But peace should be given a chance to see whether we can build a new Manipur, which is better and stronger with lessons learnt from this futile bloody feud.
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