The message
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: June 27, 2024 -

GAUGING from the number of re-posts and comments made on various social media platforms, one could safely say that the manner in which the two newly elected Members of Parliament (MP) from Manipur took their oath on the second day of the Lok Sabha session on Tuesday was simply phenomenal.

As the names of Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam and Alfred Kanngam Arthur, both from the Indian National Congress (INC), were called out for their oath taking, leaders of the INDIA bloc chanted the slogan "Manipur... Manipur" in unison over and over again along with thumping the desks.

The cry for "Justice to Manipur" was also heard amidst the slogan chanting.

By doing so, leaders of the opposition alliance have once again demonstrated their commitment and stand for the people of Manipur, who have been suffering for more than a year now following an unprecedented ethnic conflict that broke out on May 3 last year after the people of Kuki-Chin community clashed with the Meetei/Meitei days after a High Court of Manipur ruling on the latter's demand for granting the status of scheduled tribe as constitutional safeguard to protect the indigenous community from being overwhelmed by unchecked and unregulated influx of immigrants.

Apart from loss of hundreds of precious human lives and displacement of thousands of families on both sides of the clash divide, the impact of the ethnic conflict has been felt by people of all communities living in the tiny multi-ethnic state regardless of their stand of neutrality.

Unfortunately, the Government of India has done nothing substantial to resolve the conflict.

What's more, even the Prime Minister of the country, who is known for his vocal and globetrotting nature, has inexplicably neither spoken nor paid a visit to the crisis torn Manipur.

So, the support shown by the INDIA bloc leaders to the two newly elected Members of Parliament (MP) from Manipur during the oath taking has undoubted struck the right chord in the hearts of the people of Manipur.

Prior to this, leaders of the opposition alliance had also demonstrated their commitment and stand for the people of Manipur when they banded together in moving a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government over the Manipur issue in August, 2023 despite knowing fully well that the motion would be defeated as the ruling party had clear majority in the lower house of Indian Parliament.

But what was distinctly different this time was the fact that the leaders of INDIA bloc have given the spotlight on the two newly elected MPs from Manipur and both did not fail the people of Manipur unlike the two previous elected representatives to the Lok Sabha, who were seen more as seat warmers throughout their five-year tenure.

Even if it was a brief moment for taking oath as newly elected members to the 18th Lok Sabha, Dr Bimol Akoijam and Alfred Kanngam made it a point to remind the august house about the fact that Manipur is still burning and urgent attention is needed to douse the communal flames before spreading far and wide.

When Dr Bimol, who came out wearing a stole with the 'Khamen chatpa' motifs of the traditional Meetei textile and took his oath in his native Manipuri language with a copy of the Indian Constitution in hand, said "Manipur Imana Yaiphare" at the end of his oath or when Alfred Arthur, who, though took the oath to uphold the Constitution of the country in English but placed a traditional Tangkhul shawl on his left shoulder to highlight his ethnicity, said in Hindi "Manipur mei nyay dilaye, desh bachaiye" as he concluded the oath; a message has been delivered loud and dear for all to hear.

It is the message that the people of Manipur have been trying to reach out to the world for more than a year now.