The danger of last kicks of a dying horse
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 09, 2024 -

COMING as it is after staying low key for quite a long time, the report of North American Manipur Tribal Association (NAMTA) organising a "congressional briefing" regarding the ongoing ethnic conflict in Manipur and its Canada chapter chief Lien Gangte once again going hammer and tongs at criticising "Indian government for failing to fulfil its constitutional obligations" appears to be the proverbial last kicks of a dying horse.

Floated within three days of the ethnic conflict that broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year after people of Kuki-Chin community clashed with the Meeitei/Meitei over the latter's demand for recognition as one of the scheduled tribes under the Constitution of India, activities of NAMTA soon came under the scrutiny of Indian intelligence agencies after a video clip in which Lien Gangte was seen speaking in a Gurudwara in Surrey, Canada seeking assistance went viral on social media.

Even if the viral video had been promptly deleted by NAMTA from all its social media handles, the fact that the Gurudwara in question is the one headed by the now slain Khalistani terrorist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was enough to raise an alarm for the Indian intelligence agencies to start monitoring the activities of NAMTA and its possible links with the Khalistanis.

Of course, none could say definitively about the links of NAMTA with the Khalistani movement at the moment, but the desperation on the part of its Canada chapter chief Lien Gangte seeking help in a Gurudwara headed by late Khalistani terrorist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar had compelled the Kuki-Chin people and some of their organisations including Zomi Council Steering Committee (ZCSC) to distance themselves from several civil society organisations (CSOs) in India and abroad that are supposedly advocating the plight of Kuki-Chin people by disowning them as "these CSOs do not always necessarily aligned with the policies and approaches of ZCSC, or other similar Zo CSOs back home".

How the same Kuki-Chin organisations are going to react to the latest 'stunt' of NAMTA and its Canada chapter chief Lien Gangte is yet to be known.

But it is a common knowledge to everyone across the clash divide today how some of the over enthusiastic Kuki-Chin CSOs operating outside India have done more harm than any good towards resolving the now over one year long ethnic crisis in Manipur.

From playing with the victim card to projecting the ethnic conflict as a clash between the tribal and non-tribal groups, and then trying to show it to the world as a case of persecution of the religiously minority Christians by the majority Hindus, these organisations have done everything and anything possible to internationalise the issue and win the sympathy of all in favour of the Kuki-Chin people.

But all these efforts failed to advance their cause in any away other than exposing the hollowness of the ever-changing false narratives and claims that are based purely on fabricated stories.

In their desperate attempt to portray the Kuki-Chin people as the victim of a "systematic ethnic cleansing "carried out by the majority Hindi Meetei/Meitei community" with the support of "a majoritarian Meetei/ Meitei government" helmed by a Meetei/Meitei Chief Minister, Kuki-Chin organisations based outside India have been conveniently sidelining the events leading to the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and thinking it best to keep mum on the question of why the Tribal Solidarity March taken out on May 3 last year in all hill areas of Manipur against the demand for granting ST status to the Meitei/Meetei turned violent only in Kuki inhabited areas.

This was exactly what the chief of NAMTA's Canada chapter Lien Gangte had done again by going on a rant against the "Indian government for failing to fulfil its constitutional obligations" during the "congressional briefing" that also saw Dr David Curry, who is not only the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) commissioner but also the chief of Global Christian Relief, still harping on alleged "atrocities on the Kuki minority Christians" and trying to connect it "to the broader issues prevalent nationwide," when nothing could be further from the truth.

Well, as the last kicks of a dying horse are dangerous, one should be on the lookout for new tricks that NAMTA, which is basically a one-man show of its Canada chapter chief Lien Gangte, might pull out next to stay relevant, because resolution of Manipur crisis means end of NAMTA.