Bequeathing a dark future
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 21, 2023 -

IN the light of recent clashes between Zomi and Kuki communities in Churachandpur district, where at least 30 people were injured, forcing the District Magistrate to impose prohibitions under CrPC 144 and ban internet service in the entire district for five days, we would like to revisit to a time when we raised the question of who is going to benefit from the over seven-month long ethnic conflict between the Meetei/Meitei and the Kuki-Chin communities in Manipur.

From committing acts of savagery of the most heinous kind that would put even the most hardened criminals to shame to the most cherishing tales of human fortitude in the face of danger that could inspire many people; and from some unscrupulous elements taking undue advantage of the situation to the elected representatives abdicating their duties and responsibilities of protecting the innocent people and their properties, the current bloody confrontation between the Meetei/Meitei and the Kuki-Chin communities has seen it all.

It has also shown how unbridled human emotions could bring ruination on an entire community or on a cause that would take eons to make amend, even if it is possible at all, and how lack of political will-power towards resolving an 'internal matter' of a family well in time could only serve as adding fuel to a blazing inferno, drawing the unwanted attention of others who know nothing about the true cause of the issue at stake.

At the cost of sounding repetitive, we would like to underscore the point that it is really sad that the otherwise peaceful tiny north-eastern state of Manipur has been engulfed in an unprecedented crisis of a violent nature following the outbreak of senseless clashes between the Meetei/Meitei and the Kuki-Chin communities with no sign of any ebbing even after more than seven months.

In addition to loss of precious human lives in terms of hundreds, destruction of properties in terms of crores in monetary value and displacement of thousands of families on both sides of the clash divide, the current bloody confrontation has affected everyone in the state regardless of their neutral position and standing.

Now the moot question is who is/are going to gain anything from the current crisis, if there is any? Is it the so-called leaders on either side of the clash divide who have never ever come down from their ivory towers but watching the unfolding destruction engineered by them deftly or the infuriated battle fatigued people whose sentiments have been whipped up to no limit or is it the common men and women whose daily activities for eking out living have been thrown into total chaos since the bloody clashes erupted? Obviously, none of them, for history of human civilisation is a long testimony to the futilities of war and bloodshed.

Then, what is the point of allowing the bloody confrontation to go on when it could bring nothing good but miseries to all?

What kind of future are we going to leave behind for the innocent children of the two warring communities?

Forced to take shelter in relief camps which could never be the substitute of their homes and hearths from which they have been uprooted, these children, who are the future hope of the society, will now have to live with emotional and in some cases physical scars caused by the communal hatred unleashed by their elders.

Are the so-called leaders of the two warring communities ready to accept the responsibility of bequeathing such a 'dark' future for their children?

Instead of taking position and aiming the fire arms at each other from a distance, efforts should be made to sit down together, discuss and find out a solution.

Therein lies the wisdom and sagacity of any true leader and it should be the guiding spirit towards resolving the current crisis before it is too late.

However, it seems this is going to be easier said than done, especially when Zomi and Kuki communities are also flexing their muscles and "clamouring for credit" regarding naming of the mass burial site.

So much for Kuki-Zo unification.