Land of Sangai, Shirui Lily : Manipur is this and more
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 24, 2025 -

Land of the Sangai, land of the Shirui 'Lily, land of Loktak.

Manipur is this and much more but yet the land continues to reel under numerous issues, each threatening to tear apart the understanding of the land which is home to numerous communities.

Normalcy is still a far cry and any talk of the place walking the road of peace and stability would be nothing short of a plain lie.

What is the step forward ?

Delhi obviously does not have the answer and Raj Bhavan is still grappling in the dark on how to take the place arid her people towards anything that comes close to the understanding of normalcy.

Even after more than 730 days the National Highways that connect the State to the rest of the country remain off limits for the Meiteis and the situation does not seem right for the Kuki-Zo people to return to the place they once called home at Imphal and the other valley districts.

Many still remain traceless and there is no indication that even their mortal remains would be recovered.

This is the Manipur that one sees and knows today and the question is how long will such a situation continue?

Manipur still has not been able to stir the conscience of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Lok Sabha elections of 2024 more than demonstrated how the indifference of the Prime Minister has gone down with the people.

It is anybody's guess how the saffron party would fare in the next Assembly election, which is due in 2027.

For over three months, Manipur has been under President's Rule and while incidents of violence and direct confrontation between the two warring communities are not heard today, it would not be exactly right to say that Manipur has started walking the road towards normalcy.

The security measures taken up by Raj Bhavan to ensure the success of the ongoing Shirui Lily Festival is noted, but this has come with a price, a price that can be witnessed on the abandoned roads of Imphal following the 48 hours general strike called by the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI).

The Sangai Express has already had its say on the directive to remove the word 'Manipur' from a bus of the Manipur State Transport Department and the senselessness of it all will continue to haunt the collective psyche of the people.

Raj Bhavan has reportedly constituted an inquiry committee to probe the May 20 fiasco at Gwaltabi but the question still remains on who issued such an order that any vehicle inscribed with the word 'Manipur' should not ply on the highways.

It is this which has hurt Manipur.

The Governor, the Security Advisor, the Chief Secretary and the DGP should learn to respect the local sentiments of the people and certainly asking a bus to remove the word Manipur from it is nothing short of trampling on the collective sentiments of the people and the spontaneous response of the people to the bandh called by COCOMI should be understood in its correct perspective.

This is about the bandh but a deeper understanding of the issue is called for and Raj Bhavan should learn to respect the sentiments of the people and Manipur is much more than just a term to majority of the people.

This is all that more so when forces are working overtime to dilute the understanding of Manipur and the Government should understand the circumstances under which the voice of protest has been raised.

Normalcy this is what Manipur heeds right now and credit should be given to the Union Home Ministry for taking up steps to bring the two warring communities to the negotiating table, best exemplified by the April 5 joint meeting at Delhi.

The next round of talk is likely to be held on May 27, if reports coming in are to be believed but question still remains on whether the talk would have any positive outcome or whether the Kuki-Zo community will continue to stick to their 'Need to consult people first' line.

Whether Delhi has drawn any lesson from the first meeting of April 5, 2025 remains to be seen, but one hopes the next round of talk is more positive.

Normalcy, this is what Manipur needs at the moment.