ATSUM condemns
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network

Imphal, March 19 2020: While condemning what it termed as "reprehensible acts" of razing down Chassad village in the strongest possible terms, All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) issued a clarion call to all the tribals to desist from such "internecine violence that has the potential to spark communal conflagrations which nobody wants but instead collectively strive for the restoration of peace and reconciliation" .

In a press issued by its information secretary Micah Kamei, the apex tribal student body expressed that "it is extremely unfortunate that, at a time when all the tribal civil societies as well as the common people are relentlessly working to expedite the hard-earned camaraderie that could be regained after years of turmoil from those dark days of the 90s but somewhere somehow desperados, driven by narrow interest, pops up and shatter the hearts of the peace-loving common people".

According to ATSUM, it is worth recounting that the hill people, cutting across barriers, had gone through sufferings of an unimaginable degree "because our predecessors" had failed to appreciate the beauty of peace and its significance for a progressive society.

The student body said that it was the fortitude and unrelenting sacrifices of the past leaders, prayers of the Churches and the realization of the futility of strife that peace became a reality.

But, the ATSUM said, the healing process was tediously slow for the scars of the internecine clashes were not easy to be obliterated from the minds of the people.

It also said that this should be a grim reminder to one and all because nobody of importance finds is desirable.

"We were under the notion that we, the hill people of the present are living in an era of peace reinforced by the fact that with exception to intermittent minor scuffles and bickering no large-scale conflagration was witnessed for many years but this unsavoury incident was a rude awakening to one and all as we have become the slave to our baser instincts," ATSUM stated.

The student body then stated that what had happened in Chassad village should be a wake-up call for the tribal communities "and in turn we should even strive harder so that such incidents do not recur again the future".

With the objective of assuaging the pains of the unfortunate victims, to comfort and restructure them, ATSUM team visited Chassad village on March 17, 2020 with rice bags, potatoes, dal, salt and other consumable commodities, ATSUM informed.

The team met both sides and exhorted them to reconcile and forgive one another, in the spirit of brotherhood and oneness, it further said.

ATSUM exhorted the tribal brethren of Manipur to collectively strive hard for the restoration of peace at Chassad-Kamjong area through prayers and altruism as now is the right time to embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ whose bottom-line is to love, share and forgive one another, and added , "It is also imperative that we should uphold the ethos of tolerance, brotherhood and to resolve all misunderstanding through mutual talks instead of taking recourse to brute instincts".

ATSUM "advised" people not to indulge in spreading malicious stories or comments on social media that have the potential to further aggravate the "already charged-up situation" .

Appealing to all the Churches of Manipur to organise mass prayers so that reconciliation returns and also reserve the proceeds of the offerings for the amelioration of the sufferings of the unfortunate victims, ATSUM stressed that the participation of the Churches is the need of the hour.

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