YCM holds public consultation, releases music video
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, February 06 2022:
Youth Collective Manipur (YCM) organised a public consultation on 'People's Watch on the Manipur-2022-Election' at Manipur press Club here on Sunday in the wake of the increasing incidents of pre-poll violence and lawlessness in the state leading up to the Assembly elections.
A release issued by YCM coordinator (Admn) Keisham Donny informed that during the public consultation, former chief minister Radhabinod Koijam, who released a music video titled 'Luchingba Khanba Heitare', lamented erosion of ethical standard of electoral politics and gave his best wishes to YCM for taking up the daunting task of its rectification.
Rebica Lamabam and Priyadarshini Ningthoujam of Human Rights Alert presented a report on Pre-Poll Violence in Manipur which revealed that most of the incidents are violent in nature and in a vast majority of these cases actions were not taken up by the relevant authorities.
Advocate Chongtham Victor in an effort to spread awareness of the Model Code of Conduct & cVIGIL initiative of ECI presented significant features and emphasised the need of the public to use cVIGIL effectively.
Joel Mark Barredo from the Philippines, of the ASEAN Youth Forum spoke on Political Participation of Youth in South East Asia.
Attending the discourse virtually, he highlighted that youth must participate in whole electoral processes beyond just voting and engage in monitoring.
The release also informed that a panel discussion on People's Election Monitoring of Manipur-2022-Election dissected the possibilities of starting a civil-society-election-monitoring-process in the context of Manipur.
In his address, IAS (Retd) Dr RK Nimai pointed out the limitations of the present election monitoring by the bureaucrats and called for effective use of the cVIGIL complaint mechanism by the public.
The release also informed that DM College of Arts assistant professor Dr Arambam Noni, who attended as panellist, opined that for any civil society group to monitor elections in Manipur, they must be well aware of the political dilemma that the unresolved political issues escalating into armed conflicts pose to limit the undertaking of a comprehensive monitoring mission.
Furthermore, freelance journalist Grace Jajo infused the need for an inclusive election monitoring process.
Considering the gender stereotypes that constrains women's political participation in the society, she pressed upon the imperative need to mainstream gender dimensions throughout the processes of election monitoring.
Frontier Manipur executive editor Paojel Chaoba highlighted the need for independent media free of interference from political parties and to maintain its neutrality in reporting election.
In addition, the media need to be well informed about the national and international standards, the release added.
It also stated that Hmar Inpui president Joseph Hmar spoke on electoral practices in the hill districts and pointed out how corrupted politicians are fearful of the rapid increase in people's political consciousness.
The release furthermore stated that Human Rights Alert executive director Babloo Loitongbam, who moderated the panel discussion, summarised the points - to reinvigorate the awareness campaign of Model Code of Conduct and cVIGIL amongst the masses; encourage the media to effectively monitor the upcoming election by being conscious of the domestic and international standards to be followed in electoral processes; and to call upon the people of the state to remain vigilant of the election malpractices and take legitimate actions promptly.
YCM also stated that it firmly believes that an effective people's election monitoring will assist in ensuring the electoral process to become a genuine free expression of the will of the people as enshrined in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
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