The enemy within
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: April 24, 2024 -

This is a not an apology nor a clarification to anyone for what we had stated and stand for.

In fact, we dare to reiterate that all the dark phases or periods in the history of Manipur are going to be pale in comparison when we harken back to April 19,2024 and this day is going down in the history of democracy in Manipur as the darkest of all, henceforth.

Whether it is the frequent clashes among different "Salais" or principalities for political supremacy and consolidation of power that took place in the ancient time or the period of Burmese occupation in Manipur from 1819 to 1826, which has come to be known as the "Chahi Taret Khuntakpa," meaning "seven years' devastation"; it was forces from outside that created the problem and posed danger.

The same is true of the merger of Manipur to the Indian Dominion after long years under British colonial rule from 1891 to 1947.

After the lapse of paramountcy of the British Crown on August 14, 1947, Manipur essentially became an independent nation with the reversion of its political autonomy that existed before 1891.

But that sweet taste of freedom did not last long when ex-Maharaja of Manipur Bodhchandra Singh was forced to append his signature on the Merger Agreement on September 21, 1949 in Shillong after keeping him under house arrest. In all these instances, it is formidable forces from outside that cast dark shadow over the fate of the people in Manipur in its long and chequered history.

But, contrary to all these past instances, it is forces from within that are trying to tear apart the social fabric today by setting the people against one another.

The unprecedented poll-related violence witnessed during the polling for the 18th Lok Sabha in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency on April 19, 2024 had not been perpetrated by any external force but from within.

So, as they say "the enemy within is more dangerous than the enemy outside", April 19, 2024 qualifies to be recorded in the history of Manipur as the darkest day of all.

It should not be hard for anyone to digest this fact. One just has to take the blinkers off to see and understand the danger posed by enemy from within.

Whether it is in Manipur or in other parts of the country, democracy is a term that evokes a sense of belongingness among the people.

With the Constitution of India guaranteeing the rights to participate in the process of electing representatives to run the state or the country to all its bonafide citizens, any attempt to take away this sense of belongingness that the people take pride in a democracy would inevitably lead to chaos and confusion in the society.

But more often than not, lust for power is so great that it blinded the political parties and their leaders to go to any extent for clinging on to power with complete disregard of not only their own hard-earned reputation but also of the aspirations of the people who elected them as their representatives.

This is exactly what had happened during the polling for the 18th Lok Sabha in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency on April 19, 2024 with armed miscreants let loose to capture booths, carry out proxy voting and intimidate the people not to come out of their houses to exercise their democratic rights of electing representatives of their own choice if they were not going to fall in line with their diktat.

Taking cognisance of the malpractices, Election Commission of India may have ordered repoll in some polling stations and the samealready conducted, but there is no guarantee that the same power-hungry people would not instigate their die-hard supporters and loyalists from enacting similar anti-democratic acts of violence during the polling in the remaining assembly segments of Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency in the second phase on April 26.

In the event of failing to curb poll related violence this time as well, the 18th Lok Sabha election in Manipur would definitely go down in history as an electoral battle wherein the enemy from within poses far more danger than the forces which are out there to break part Manipur.