Time to build a new Manipur: LS MP
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 19 2025: The present crisis may be taken as an opportunity to build a new Manipur where there is love, coexistence and harmony among all communities, said MP Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam today.

The MP was speaking at the final of "Eyumna Koure" a football tournament, organised to encourage displaced people to return to their homes at Sugnu and Serou.

The 1st Kha-Maikei 9-A Side Men's State Level Open Football Tournament was organised at Sugnu Public Ground.

Urging displaced people of Sugnu and Serou staying in relief camps elsewhere to return to their homes, Bimol said the people of the State must not be disheartened by the conflict and the tears it has brought.

The violent conflict was incited by forces which wanted to break Manipur and the bond between her people.

However, this is an opportunity for the present generation to undo the damages that have been done since the last 100 years and build Manipur anew where all communities coexist and respect one another, said Bimol.

Bimol opined that the violent conflict was a symptom of a disease Manipur was suffering from because of poison spewed by people who wanted to break her.

There still is love and unity among the indigenous communities, and people who entered Manipur recently want to break this, Bimol said.

The MP further hinted that the division of hill and valley/plain in Manipur is a cause of disunity among the same people.

Manipur, he said, is geographically and geologically a hill State, and it should never be divided into hills and the valley.

Two years into the crisis, the Government has not yet taken up any concrete and promising steps to resolve it and allow free movement of people across the State, Bimol said.

While Article 19 of the Constitution provides for free movement of its citizens across the length and breadth of the State/country, Meiteis have not been allowed to travel on the highways and visit sacred places of worship like the Koubru and the Thangjing Hill, he said.

The ban that has been imposed on the Meiteis, restricting their movement, is against the Constitution.

However, the Government has not yet taken any action to enforce this fundamental right.

By not taking any action, the Government has become complicit in fuelling tension between the communities, Bimol said.

Speaking at the event, MLA K Ranjit urged the displaced people of Sugnu and Serou to return to their homes.

He informed that schools and health facilities in Sugnu have started functioning normally.

Displaced families staying in relief camps in other Constituencies may return home and admit their children in schools in Sugnu, he said.

While admission upto Class VII at Government schools is free, Ranjit said he and his friends would provide monetary assistance for admission of displaced children in private schools in Sugnu.

Ex-MLA Elangbam Dwijamani, Congress leader Kongkham Romesh, Dronacharya Awardee Leishangthem Ibomcha and Sugnu Municipal Council Chairperson Moirangthem Sharat and many other eminent persons attended the event.

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