Debunking the false narrative : Setting things right
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 02, 2024 -

The proponents of the Separate Administration call have it wrong, deliberately, Union Home Minister Amit Shah got it wrong out of ignorance tempered by the possibility that he had not bothered to go into the finer details, so also a good number of mainstream media, the so called liberal media of mainland India, but not former Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, Siddharth Mridul.

'Far from the truth' and in just four words, Mr Mridul rubbished the false narrative that the ethnic violence broke out because the Manipur High Court asked Imphal to send the report or recommendation to the Centre that the Meiteis be included in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution of India.

It is not the job of the judiciary to decide whether a community fits the bill to be included in the ST list or hot, but Parliament, and this is the line which The Sangai Express has been sticking to ever since the false narratives started to be lapped up by the media in other parts of the country.

What the High Court did was merely direct the Government at Imphal to send the report or recommendation, as sought by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry way back in 2013.

It was not in any way backing the ST for Meiteis demand, but merely asking the State Government to respond to the report sought by the Centre.

And if merely sending the report is to be taken so wrongly then why didn't the Kuki-Zo folks also condemn the very act of asking for the report or recommendation from the State Government ?

And if anyone is under the impression that the Meiteis do not fit the bill to be included in the Scheduled Tribe list, then why raise such a ruckus over the demand that the report be sent ?

Let Delhi decide.

The Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 had nothing to do with the ST for Meiteis demand nor with the directive of the High Court to the State Government, for it was just an instruction to Imphal to respond to the Centre's intimation.

This is a line which The Sangai Express has been maintaining for long and it should be clear to everybody that it is not the job of the judiciary to decide whether the Meiteis fit the bill to be included in the ST list or not but Parliament.

That the Meiteis have all the characteristics of a tribal group of people should be above debate.

Lai Haraoba, the worship of Umang Lais - the forest deities worshipped by the Meiteis since the days of yore, worship of Pakhangba a primordial deity, the belief in Ingkhol Koiba Lin or the serpent protecting one's homestead are all attributes of a tribal society and these are practices and beliefs practised and adhered to, to this day.

Every Meitei household has a sacred space dedicated to Sanamahi.

Just some examples to show that Meiteis are tribals under any definition and the only demand is that they be included in the Scheduled list of the Constitution.

Likewise the ST for Meiteis demand was never the reason for holding the Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 and the violence that first erupted at Torbung and Churachandpur.

Lies, lies and more lies and it was under these false narratives that the call for a Separate Administration has been raised and in the process targeting and picking up hapless folks and butchering them including an 8 month old infant.

The question is how well prepared is Manipur to meet the challenges that have been mounted on the understanding of Manipur as a distinct geopolitical reality.

Imphal and the valley districts have seen street protests, the protest marches, the late night obstacles put up on the middle of the road, the pitched clashes with the police on the other hand, but the question still hangs on whether this have helped erode the call for a Separate Administration.

The answer should be obvious to all and amidst the din that has been kicked up for over 15 months, Manipur seems to have lost her way somewhere so much so that the real target has become extremely blurred.

People should wake up to the reality and ensure that the movement or whatever one wants to call it, does not end up stepping on the toes of anyone.

Manipur needs as many friends as possible and the manner in which a neighbouring State has come out firing against Manipur should be noted.

Lessons ought to have been learnt in the last 15 months but there is nothing much to show that any lessons have been learnt.

This is the tragedy of Manipur at the moment.