The sound of silence surrounding missing teens
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 14, 2023 -

CAUGHT in a perplexing situation, which they had never asked for in the first place; the seething anger of the people in the tiny northeastern Indian state of Manipur is becoming more than apparent today.

With the ethnic battle between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities raging on for close to six and half months now without any sign of slowdown, the tolerance limit of the people, who have been enduring every possible hardship-thrust upon them with the hope that the government of the day would resolve the conflict, seems to have been stretched to its breaking point.

The faith of the suffering people in the government, which also appears to be still groping in the dark instead of taking up some concrete measures for restoration of peace and normalcy in the restive state, is slowing waning away today.

It is against this backdrop that one should try to understand the significance of the resolutions adopted by the JAC Against the missing of Maibam Avinash and Ningthoujam Anthony during a public meeting held at Akham Lampak on Sunday as well as the warning given by the Khwairamband Ima Keithel Joint Co-ordinating Committee to all the MLAs and the Ministers for their alleged indifferent attitude to the crisis gripping the state far too long.

While the JAC has decided for the public themselves to take on the responsibility of tracing the two missing teenage boys in case the authority concerned failed to do so within seven days, the Joint Co-ordinating Committee of Khwairamband Ima Keithel, which is an apex body of Asia's largest all-women market, has cautioned that no MLA or Minister in the state would be able to sit in their chairs peacefully if the mothers of Manipur started resorting to launching intense agitation in case the government continues to pay scant attention to the missing cases of young students after they strayed into Kuki-Chin dominated area.

Apart from the obvious body count and mass displacement of families on both sides of the clash divide, a disturbing trend in the ongoing conflict between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities is the disappearance of people from the valley without a trace after they accidentally strayed into Kuki-Chin dominated areas.

Of course, there had been report of Kuki-Chin people giving safe passage to fleeing Meitei/Meetei, and the latter doing the same to Kuki-Chin people at the initial stage of the conflict.

But the situation is quite different today.

Even though there are still instances of Meitei/Meetei people handing over Kuki-Chin people who lost their way safely to the police, the fate of anyone belonging to Meitei/ Meitei community who happened to stray into Kuki-Chin dominated areas is as good as doomed today.

These include innocent young students, who did not even have any idea about why the people of two communities, who were living together without any animosity till May 3 last, are now baying for each other's blood.

What were the faults of 17-year-old Hijam Linthoingambi and 20-year-old Phijam Hemjit, who have been confirmed murdered in captivity by armed Kuki militants from the photos of their last moments circulated on social media after they went missing since July, 2023?

Or, what threat did 16-year-old Maibam Avinash and 19-year-old Ningthoujam Anthony pose to the Kuki-Chin people when they lost their way and drove their bike into Kangpokpi area after attending an oath taking ceremony held at Awang Sekmai on Sunday last, even if it was an event related to Arambai Tenggol?

These are the questions that pierced through the hearts of people and we may not expect to get any answers from the perpetrators, who have no qualms about laying their hands on innocent students.

But the Government ought to answer why it has not been able to find the missing students even after claiming to have arrested those involved in committing the crimes.

Even if the worst fears of people were realised, it is incumbent upon the government to take into confidence of the people, who are how resilient enough to face an over six-month-long humanitarian crisis that could have been avoided in the first place had their elected representatives been more aware of their responsibilities than protecting their own chairs.