From July 13 to July 16 : Rewind and fast forward
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 19, 2023 -

Hit the rewind button. Go back to July 13 and it was on this day that Governor Anusuiya Uikey delivered a statement powerful and damning enough to catapult it to the lead news story of The Sangai Express.

‘External forces including from Myanmar involved’ was the screaming headline that greeted the readers the following morning, that is July 14 and no it was not The Sangai Express which sort of broke the story for it just carried the report that appeared in the news portal North East Now and which was carried just a few hours earlier in NorthEast Live a Guwahati based English news channel.

External forces, including those from Myanmar involved in the violence in Manipur and coming as it did from the Governor herself there is every reason to believe that this line was delivered by New Delhi itself.

That the Governor took the trouble to sort of issue a clarification that her statement was misinterpreted should make not make much of a difference for it was not a roll back of the statement but just a clarification that it was ‘misinterpreted and taken out of context,’ as per the clarification carried by India Today NE the next day.

True to its style and colour, which have become more and more evident with each statement it issues, the Kuki Inpi Manipur came out with a strongly worded statement, demanding that the Governor should show evidence of foreign elements being involved in the clash.

In a move to perhaps not rub the Governor (read India Government) the wrong way, KIM gave a wonderful interpretation in asserting that the Governor may have been alluding to the secessionists groups which are believed to have set up bases at Myanmar conveniently forgetting that armed groups of Manipur have always been referred to as ‘misguided youths’ of the country and not Myanmarese.

Maybe this is where one would need to recall the words of the late Governor of Manipur, Dr SS Sidhu who described the armed groups of Manipur as ‘dissatisfied brethren.’

KIM should stop shooting itself on its leg and act like a responsible organisation and not like the hawkish ITLF and CoTU whose only claim to fame is imposing blockades on its backyard and setting things of not their likings on fire. Recall the last few days of April this year.

This was the Governor on July 13 and fast forward by three days and there is External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar flagging the question of ultras sneaking into Manipur against the backdrop of the ongoing violence in Manipur to his Myanmarese counterpart Than Swe.

Human trafficking was the diplomatic choice of words used by the External Affairs Minister and one can understand this better in the backdrop of the rising allegations of narco-terrorism wreaking havoc in the State.

Disturbed conditions in Myanmar not only allow militants to cross over into India but have also affected the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, was a one line point put forth by Jaishankar during his meeting with his Myanmarese counterpart.

This is besides drug trafficking which was flagged by the External Affairs Minister.

Taking two and two together it is clear that Delhi is coming around to the idea of armed groups, which are fuelled by drug money, sneaking into Manipur from across the border to keep the chain of violence continue here unabated.

This is a point which should not be lost on anyone, particularly on those who have been assigned the duty of guarding the border.

Armed militants sneaking into Manipur, large number of arms and ammunition seized at the neighbouring State of Mizoram in recent days and these taken together should explain the question of why bullets continue to rain on the villages located at the foothills of Manipur.

The guns looted from the police armouries have been noted, but how about the guns which are being fired at the foothills and sometimes at the security forces ?

Where have these guns come from ?

Ultras sneaking into Manipur perhaps should explain this, but one wonders why this has not been acknowledged.