From streets to political corridor : The developments so far
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 15, 2023 -

From Torbung along the Bishnupur-Churachandpur district, to Kangpokpi and the adjoining areas such as Motbung, to Moreh on the Indo-Myanmar border, to Imphal and it periphery, to now the corridors of power-read the arena where the political leaders of the day rub shoulders and get down to the nitty gritty of addressing the issue at hand and Manipur has certainly seen it all within a short span of a little over 10 days.

May 3, 2023 and Manipur has seen it all-the madness, the hatred, the violence, the arsons, the curfew, the long queues outside fuel pumps, escalating prices of essential commodities to now the political intrigues that have started coming out.

Setting the political intrigues ball rolling was obviously the open call for a separate administration by ten MLAs, all belonging to the Kuki-Chin community on May 12.

That The Sangai Express did not carry the news story of the call of the 10 MLAs was in line with the principle of the newspaper not to give gist to anything that may only exacerbate the situation but it may be said that this is the first instance of political intrigues coming in to give a new dimension to the current situation.

There is as yet no indication that Manipur is anywhere near resolving the issue, perhaps best exemplified by the manner in which cadres of outfits which have inked the Suspension of Operation pact with the Government are reported to be engaging the security personnel in gun fights in areas where its writ runs large.

Already one police personnel has been killed in the confrontation with SoO cadres while more than three personnel of the Central security personnel have been injured.

Not surprising that many have risen as one to demand that the SoO agreement be rolled back to ensure the safety and security of the unarmed civilians.

It is against this background, a tragedy of a situation, that the ethnic clash seems to have moved on from the streets and foothills of Manipur to the political corridors.

As things stand right now, reports have come in that Chief Minister N Biren, Works Minister Govindas Konthoujam, Education Minister Th Basanta, RD and PR Minister Y Khemchand, Power Minister Th Biswajit and State BJP unit president A Sarda Devi have been summoned to Delhi for an audience.

Simultaneously, 9 of the 10 MLAs who be-belong to the Kuki-Chin community and who had called for a separation of administration too have been summoned to Delhi and this is where it could become interesting.

Summoned by the Union Home Ministry.

This is the one line information that The Sangai Express has received, in the sense that it is not yet clear whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would meet the political leaders from Manipur or not.

And this is where it gets intriguing.

More than ten days since violence erupted and till date, Manipur has not seen or heard of the Prime Minister saying anything.

The Twitter handle of the Prime Minister too has been uncharacteristically silent on the situation in Manipur and this is where one is left wondering whether the Prime Minister has sought any updates from the Chief Minister on the situation here or not.

It is against this situation that the Chief Minister, his team and the 9 disgruntled MLAs have been called to New Delhi and how things develop or transpire is something that may be known only later.

Things are really bad, not something anyone would want, and what is more worrying is the fact that there is no sign that Manipur will limp back to normalcy any time in the coming days soon.

Till date past stories of mob attack, destruction of goods and properties etc have come in only from Imphal and its adjoining areas, while no story of this sort has come out from Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Moreh, apart from the number of people having been evacuated.

Logic says that it will take time for more stories of horror and terror to emerge in the coming days and this is what is wording.

One prays that such stories do not ignite another round of clash and mayhem as witnessed just recently.

One also hopes that the clash does not continue to spill over in other parts of the country, such as in Delhi, Bangalore or Shillong where a sizeable number of Meitei and Kuki students are studying.

This must be the fervent prayer of every anxious parents and guardians in Manipur.

Let sanity prevail.