The Imphal of May 2 and now : Nearly 60 days and no answer
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 27, 2023 -

Nearly 60 days and no answer yet. Or anywhere near coming to an answer.

This is the situation that has besieged Manipur since the evening of May 3 and in nearly 60 days over 120 lives have been snuffed out, hundreds of houses have been razed to the ground and thousands have been rendered homeless forcing them to take refuge in shelter camps.

And for nearly 60 days, all commentaries on this space have been on the Meitei-Kuki clash.

As in all other professions, journalists are also under extreme pressure to dispense with their day’s work.

Cannot say for the other media houses, but at least here in The Sangai Express the one line directive (which is stronger than a suggestion) to all the reporters has been to avoid going to places which are not deemed safe.

This standing directive is guided by the line, ‘Ethnic/communal violence is driven by the question which community do you belong to and is practically blind to other points such as which profession one belongs to’ and it is amid this reality that the media professionals of TSE have been dispensing with their duty for nearly 60 days now.

For many Sub-Editors and Editors, the office of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) was the place to be to download news and other inputs from the net after the ban on internet service was enforced.

It was only after the Government extended dedicated internet lines to the media houses that this issue was addressed.

Contributors to The Sangai Express and those who want to vocalise their thoughts and let them reach the readers now have to personally come to office, armed with the pen drive and at times with the compact disc and download their articles at the office here.

Since the evening or night of May 3, returning home to be with the family and have dinner after the day’s work has not been a pleasant experience, for many of the Reporters, Sub-Editors and Editors.

It is the same for the machine operators and the boys in the distribution section to come to office in the dead on the night just to make sure that the day’s edition reaches the hands of the subscribers.

The distributors or hawkers too have been facing the same situation since the evening of May 3.

Comes as part and parcel of the profession but it can be a heart breaking experience to get a feel of the desolation on the roads and see the sense of ‘determination’ in the eyes of the womenfolk who stay up all night to ensure the security of their locality in the night.

This is a recount of the everyday experience that all journalists face.

To every Kuki the enemy is the anonymous individual whose name may end with a Singh or a Meitei or a Meetei or a Luwang, a Chanu or a Devi.

To every Meitei or Meetei the enemy is any anonymous person whose name ends with Haokip, Kipgen, Chongloi etc.

Nothing would define madness more than this yet this is the stance that has been adopted by either side for nearly 60 days now.

No one with the suffix Singh or Luwang or Devi or Chanu would take the Imphal-Dimapur line by road, courtesy the four check posts that have come up from near Motbung to beyond Kangpokpi.

Check posts, not to detect any smuggled items, but to check the identity of the persons seeking to pass through the highway.

Likewise all taxis and passenger buses along the said route are driven by non-Meiteis.

It is the same along the Imphal-Ukhrul road as no Meiteis find it safe to pass through the settlements along the foothills, particularly before one reaches Litan.

Look closer home and the Keithels of Imphal today no longer look complete.

Kuki women who used to come down to hawk the bamboo shoots (Ushoi in the local parlance) and the marois today no longer form part of the noisy, haggling vendors selling their produce to the buyers.

Will the same scene continue when the Yongchak season arrives ?

So many localities ending with the suffix Vengs today look like ghost towns.

Imphal today no longer looks like the Imphal of May 2.

The same must be the case at Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Moreh.

Is this the look that people on either side of the clash divide want to bequeath their children ?