Over 200 days of unrest, hatred : Exacting a heavy toll
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 19 2023 -

Nobody, least of all the Government, seems to know how long the days of clash, uncertainty and hatred will continue but it has already exacted a heavy toll from the people.

Even after more than 200 days of the clash first erupting in all its ugliness on May 3 at Torbung and which quickly spread to Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Moreh with the retaliation at Imphal and other parts in the valley districts coming much later in the evening, over 60 thousand people continue to survive in different shelter homes set up by the Government.

Many still remain missing, with no clue on where their lifeless bodies could be, and in the process there have emerged some unsavoury incidents, with some better known individuals finding themselves at the receiving end for opening their mouth and basing their observations solely on personal whims.

In between there have been muted reports of business houses being hit hard with pressures mounted from all sides and clearly things do not look all that rosy by any stretch of the imagination.

In short there seems to be confusion all over with nothing to show that there is a Government in place.

Manipur is passing through a critical phase and it is with a reason why there is the universally accepted belief that the character of a people comes to the fore during times of crises and this is a line Manipur would need to seriously self introspect.

Everyone seems to be an authority in himself or herself and situations like this do not augur well for society as a whole.

On the other hand the attempt being made to put the narrative right for the betterment of Manipur should not be lost on the people.

The humaneness in the people is perhaps best exemplified by the numerous voluntary acts of coming forward to donate for the survivors who have been forced to spend their days in the different relief centres opened across the State.

It was a beautiful gesture to see a young girl from Manipur, but presently staying at China stepping in to assist the 11 year old Deviya who needs kidney transplant and whose house is among those razed to the ground by Kuki narco terrorists during the early days of the clash.

Here is an example of a beautiful human gesture that stands out in stark contrast to the inhuman act of ethnically cleansing Churachandpur, Moreh and Kangpokpi of all Meiteis.

And it is amid the confusion and the total breakdown of all that law and order stands for, that one sees the attempt being made to unite all those who identify themselves with the place called Manipur and have their identities etched with the term Manipuri-the Meiteis, Meitei Pangals and Manipuri Bishnupriyas.

The ball for this has been set rolling with a joint convention organised at Jiribam on December 17, 2023 and one hopes this is not a one off thing.

The need to champion the identity of Manipur and all those who take pride in identifying themselves with the term Manipuri need not be overstressed and the reality says this is something which should have been started a long time back.

But better late than never and it is time for those who believe in the ‘orthodox’ understanding of Manipur and Manipuri to come to terms with the fact that not all in Manipur find it convenient to tag themselves with the term Manipuri.

A recent clarification which The Sangai Express had to issue with the usage of the term Manipuri while referring to students of a premier university in Delhi comes to mind.

Let this be the first step to give a new understanding on who is a Manipuri and allow things to proceed from there on.

The important point is, the first step has been taken and how things progress from here should be interesting. The task before the Government should also be clear.

Manipur has passed that stage of justifying one’s course of action, and now is the time to start sincerely studying what steps should be taken up.

No one expects a magic formula, but the fact remains that Manipur cannot afford this state of unrest and confusion much longer.