Significant Guwahati meeting : The first visible step
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 23, 2024 -

The first visible step.

And its significance lies in the fact that in taking this first but extremely important step, the All Manipur Christian Organisation (AMCO) managed to bring some personalities across the clash divide to the talk table.

Dialogue.

This is the way forward and even as this information was received with a sense of optimism came the report from a local channel that Kukis and Meiteis could be seen mingling at Pallel market.

One is not jumping the gun, for a gun shot or a clash anywhere in Manipur could just upset the applecart, but the dawn of something new can definitely be seen in the table talk at Guwahati and the inter-mingling at Pallel bazar.

One hopes AMCO is able to take off from the Guwahati talk and take things a notch or two or three higher and perhaps involve representatives of organisations, from either side, which have been at the forefront after Manipur went up in flames in the evening of May 3, 2023.

One also hopes that Imphal and New Delhi have taken note of the new development and see how the process may be taken to the political level, maybe to the level of the Union Home Ministry if not the Prime Minister’s level.

This is not to say that the ice has been broken and the two communities are ready to sit down and talk, but the effort is what is encouraging.

The report that representatives of the United Naga Council were present at the Guwahati do is all that more welcome for it is the service of bodies like the UNC which is urgently needed for here is an organisation which represents one of the three major communities and which has maintained a neutral stand so far.

Perhaps AMCO may throw its net wider and see how it can involve Naga Ministers and MLAs in the next round of talk as well some of the Naga women organisations.

Not the first the time that AMCO has walked the peace road, for remember it was at the forefront in organising prayer meetings all over the place and it is at times like this that Manipur desperately needs prayers, prayers to heal the wounded souls and prayers for peace to return.

And to start taking the first steps towards a semblance of normalcy, it is important that the voice of sanity is given primacy.

For too long, Manipur has been reeling under a deluge of mass misinformation campaigns which come dangerously close to the understanding of hate speeches and it is time to give the voice of sanity a chance.

Sanity is the first step towards normalcy.

And that sanity should come from amongst the people on either side.

There will be hurdles, no doubt about it and this can be easily discerned from the manner in which the first little step taken by AMCO seems to have run into choppy water as well as the strong stand taken against the ‘normalcy’ pronouncement at Pallel Bazar.

This is the sad reality that Manipur finds itself in today but what is more important is the fact that there are sections of people who have stepped out from their comfort zones to bring the two warring sides to the talk table and present a semblance of normalcy, however small that area may be.

This is where all right thinking people ought to come together and unitedly row to beat the rough water and take the boat to safety.

That the call for peace may find no takers amongst folks on either side of the clash divide was not unexpected, and this is precisely the reason why The Sangai Express (English edition) shied away from inserting the term ‘peace meet’ in the headline of the news reporting the Guwahati meeting.

The writings on the wall are more than clear and this is where the Government would need to take up from where the Guwahati meeting left off and see how to take things further.

The silence of the Prime Minister has not helped at all, but there is Imphal which must put its best foot forward to settle things else Manipur will continue to burn and the longer the place burns, the more the idea of Manipur as a distinct geo-political will take a beating.

Take a look at the reality around and one may well ask, ‘is this the Manipur that people want ?’ Give sanity and reasoning a chance.