Understanding why the aggression : Destroy the bunkers
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 03, 2023 -

Forty eight hours after the resignation drama, Manipur woke up to the ongoing tragic reality. Four killed, including three Meiteis and one Kuki, in a clash somewhere at an area adjoining Bishnupur and Chura-chandpur district.

To those who have been closely following the series of clash, the addition of four more deaths in yet another clash at a place lying somewhere between two districts should not come as too much of a shock or a surprise.

This is true for those without blinkers or whose views are not clouded by the ugliness of it all.

The writings on the wall have been clear and one wonders why these writings should miss the observation of those who are in a way responsible for the upkeep of the law.

A critical look at the report carried by The Indian Express which gave a brief detail of a story under the heading, ‘New Manipur security strategy : One force, one area’ left one pertinent question unanswered.

Quoting a security officer, the last paragraph of the news story read, “Killings are happening only when one side is going to the other with the intention of arson.

The Haraothel incident where two Meitei civilians died on Thursday happened when Kukis retaliated to a Meitei mob trying to burn their houses.

The Meitei action itself is a result of some Kukis trying to burn Meitei houses in another area.

It is a spiralling cycle which we are trying to break by maintaining a robust buffer zone.’

This particular quote seems absolutely neutral for it talks about why the Meitei mob tried to set the Kuki houses on fire and the cyclical nature of the violence, but it is also important to look beyond the obvious to get a more rounded understanding of why only one side of the parties in conflict is painted or sought to be portrayed as the aggressor.

This is where one needs to have a closer look at some of the reports which have come in from the foothills of Manipur and why the term ‘bunker’ has become a sort of a terrifying word to many of the people living in the valley area of Manipur.

On June 29, The Sangai Express ran a story from Bishnupur on how Kuki militants opened fire at some farmers who had ventured out to their paddy field for farming works. No one was injured, but here is a clear case of Kuki militants having holed up in some hamlets located in the area adjoining the districts of Bishnupur and Churachandpur.

The next day, that is on June 30, another report from Bishnupur talked of how bombs were detonated, a hut standing in the middle of a paddy field was burnt and how cattles were fired upon by Kuki militants.

The dawn of a new month, which signalled the completion of two months of the clash, did not see any change as another report came in of Kuki militants firing, hoisting its own flag and building bunkers.

Given the nature of the clash and the tense and dangerous atmosphere, it was but natural for the Moirang correspondent of The Sangai Express not to venture near the direction of the place from where the shooting came, but a long range shot of the camera captured the flag being hoisted and if this does not come close to the understanding of a provocation, then one wonders what that would be.

This is where it becomes necessary for all the pen pushers and the security experts to understand the ground reality.

Go and destroy the bunkers before they are used by the armed militants on the other side, who would then be free to open fire and launch an attack is the response that is naturally expected.

The security experts or the Army think tank need to acknowledge the given situation and in such a situation, it would be foolhardy to expect anyone to quietly observe bunkers being set up and the village fired upon indiscriminately.

The point is, stop the bunkers being built. This is the first step to silence the guns at the foothills .