MTU, MIYC call intellectuals to fight against distortion of Manipur history
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 18 2024:
Stating that the ongoing cam-paign of Kuki-Zo people is to realise their dream of Zalengam at all cost, the Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MTU) and the Manipur International Youth Centre (MIYC) have appealed to all intellectuals and acade-micians to come out and stand against the challenge being thrown on the indigenous people and the State at large.
MTU and MIYC, in a joint statement, said that a collective effort is needed to stop the onslaught of Kuki-Zo people against the indigenes and keep Manipur intact.
Maintaining that the current warfare of Kuki-Zo against Meiteis is not limited to only conventional forms or physical attacks but they also use their intellect to distort the history of Manipur, the two bodies maintained that the Kuki-Zo people lodged complaints with fabricated narratives and ina- ccurate data to even the United Nations to cover all their wrongdoings.
It was an IAS officer called Thangkhophao Hao-kip who promoted the idea of Kuki homeland and devastated the geo-politics of Meiteis, MTU and MIYC claimed and continued that Thangkhophao Haokip was also the same person who played an instrumental role in keeping away Meiteis from the ST list.
It is the responsibility of the intellectuals to discuss the political history of Manipur and bring forth their findings, MTU and MIYC said and added that education is the most valuable asset any human can possess.
Stating it is mostly youth from poor families who have been fighting against the sustained aggression of Kuki-Zo people and many of them have died in the battlefields, it maintained that the intellectuals and academicians also need to come out and be a think tank and guide the people.
Claiming that intellectuals and academicians, how- ever, seem to be avoiding the responsibility when Manipur needs them the most, MTU and MIYC said that the role and responsibility of top officials in diffe- rent professions have become questionable in contemporary Manipur.
Saying that huge amount of money is required to defend Meitei villages alone from the onslaught of Kuki-Zo people, MTU and MIYC added that most of the well off people and those in high paying jobs, unfortunately, seems to be not taking the crisis seriously as they don't do much other than giving some financial assistance.
While the children of poor families continue to die in battlefields, people in better positions send their children to coaching centres daily and spend their free time judging the morale of those in the frontline, it added.
The MTU and MIYC went on to state that many of those who got injured while defending Meitei villages don't get any assis- tance from anyone while many others can't even send their children to schools.
Saying that the large number of Central forces deployed in Manipur can't safeguard the lives and properties of people, let alone see Meitei as a fellow Indian, the joint statement continued that the Indian Government has been taking its geo-politcis more seriously than 'our safety' .
Meiteis will have more than one battlefronts if India divides Manipur, MTU and MIYC forewarned and added that the violent campaign of illegal immigrant Kuki-Zo people against the Meiteis also won't end anytime soon.
It went on to allege that over 12 lakh Meiteis were killed in five different wars waged by aggressors led by Kuki-Zos in between 1758 and 1824 to exterminate the ethnic group.
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