Imphal, June 20: Former chief minister and Congress (I) veteran, Rishang Keishing, cautioned the people of the state against getting trapped in provocations by people outside the state.

Only those of us living in the state knows what die reality is.

It is we who must decide our issues, why must we let others dictate these to us, Rishang said, "Why must we get trapped by what those living outside say or desire?�.

Do the Nagas and the Meiteis and the other communities living in the state have another option to live together, Rishang asked.

"Let us treat the present crisis as a hard test of our love for each other and our will to remain united," Rishang said.

We have to be together and since this is the case, we might as well learn to tolerate each other.

Not only tolerate each other but love each other as well, he added.

This needs magnanimity on the part of each and every one of us, the majority community as well as the minority.

Who says we cannot be together.

We have been together for thousands of years and we can't suddenly be discovering we can't anymore, Rishang said.

Rishang emphasized that we have to remain united in our time of crisis.

We must not let others watching us from the distance take advantage of our weaknesses.

"If we are united, nothing or nobody can divide us." He emphasized.

The Centre has made a grave mistake by throwing such an issue on the people without taking them into confidence.

They have been also indulging in double talks all the while.

It is the right time to renew our pledge to remain united.

As an elder who has seen the ups and downs of the state, as well as the ups and downs in the relationship between the various communities in the state more than most, I plead to all the people not to ever abandon the thought of unity.

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