The misplaced priority
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: December 07, 2023 -

"On 04.12.2023, in a gunfight between unknown armed miscreants at Leithao village near Saibol in Tengnoupal District under Machi Police Station, 13 (thirteen) persons have been killed. District police and security forces rushed to the spot, a case has been registered and investigation is going on".

This was what the Manipur Police posted on the microblogging social media platform X in connection with the latest incident of thirteen people belonging to Meitei/Meetei community found killed in the Kuki-Chin dominated area.

Unlike many of the violent incidents that have taken place in the strife-torn north eastern Indian state of Manipur since an unprecedented ethnic clash broke out between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities on May 3 last, the latest incident appears to have hurt the sentiments of Meitei/Meetei more deeply than ever with cries of "blood for blood" reverberating everywhere, for some obvious reasons.

While the information shared by the Manipur Police regarding the incident through its social media handle on X could be described as nothing but cryptic, it seems there are many more pieces that need to be put together to unravel the mystery surrounding the recovery of the lifeless bodies of 13 Meitei/Meetei men aged between 17 and 47 far away from their homes in valley districts in a forested area not so far from the Indo-Myanmar international border.

Leaving the aside the question of whether or not they were newly recruited by an insurgent group and were on their way to get arms training, the fact that there were bruises all over their bodies and no weapons have been found from their possession nor from anyv/here in the vicinity of where the alleged gun-fight took place says a lot more than the Manipur police could ever answer by merely registering a case.

If it was a gun-fight between two armed groups, then why there is no report of any injury or casualty on the other side. This is another question anyone would like to know the answer.

With the fresh violence leading to loss of 13 more precious human lives, the double-engine government of the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the centre and Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the state has understandably put itself in the line of fire of the Congress party.

Taking the Prime Minister to task for his inexplicable silence and refusal to meet with Manipur leaders or visit the state despite the violent conflict raging on for seven months as well as the Chief Minister for "brazening it out and sticking to his untenable position" notwithstanding the failure of restoring peace and normalcy in the state, the main opposition party categorically stated that continuance of the violence in the tiny northeastern state is "unforgiveable."

Ironically, the latest violent incident occurred just a day after Chief Minister N Biren and other BJP leaders in Manipur fed each other cake and sang the praises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading the saffron party to victory in assembly elections in three states.

With total disregard to the sufferings being endured by the people for the last seven months which his party is squarely to be blamed, Chief Minister N Biren Singh even had the temerity of saying that the BJP will secure the two parliamentary seats of the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and help the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to retain power at the centre for the third consecutive term.

Such unwarranted celebrations and remarks at a time when hundreds of bereaved families are mourning the loss of their loved ones and thousands of displaced families are reeling in relief camps and staring at a bleak future has clearly shown the misplaced priority of the BJP and its double-engine government which has definitely gone derailed when it comes to resolution of the ethnic conflict in Manipur.

It's time for every Modi-bhakt in Manipur to wake up from their deep slumber and think over how they are going to face the tens of thousands of mourning and displaced families when they go for seeking vote if they want to continue the celebration of BJP's victory and feeding of cake to each other.