Seminar dissects unrest state in Manipur
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, July 01 2023:
A two day seminar cum workshop on "Present Unrest in Manipur: Its Causes and Solutions' organised by workshop organised by Manipur University Teachers' Association (MUTA) at Manipur University court hall concluded on Saturday.
According to MUTA, the seminar concluded with a threadbare panel discussion on ' Present imbroglio in Manipur and restoration of peace: way forward" moderated by MU Department of Anthropology Prof W Nabakumar Singh, during which eight eminent panellists from different communities and walks of life expressed their viewpoints on various ways and means for restoration of peace in Manipur.
The second day of the seminar's third technical session on "Historical perspective of ethnic communities in Manipur" , was followed by Technical Session IV "Narco-terrorism, government policies and legislations in Manipur" and Technical Session V "Government of India's policy on border management, geopolitics and Suspension of Operations (SoO)" and panel discussion.
The resource persons highlighted on the stone inscriptions erected by the Kings of Manipur to mark the boundaries over time in history and the role played by different communities to check and prevent immigration into the then kingdom of Manipur.
There were also discussions on the concept of worldviews held by the Manipuris particularly by the Meiteis to encompass the ideas of cohesiveness including the forests and environment.
The idea of Zalen'gam was also deliberated cutting the deeply rooted idea of nationhood held by Chin-Kuki tribes.
The workshop also deliberated on how the narco-terror-ism has been in place over time and how it operates in Manipur and the legal aspects to identify and address the present unrest.
It also discussed intricacies of geo-political policies in designing internal security along the line of the present unrest.
During the inaugural function of the seminar cum workshop, MU Vice Chancellor Prof N Lokendra mentioned that Assam, Manipur and Tripura are the historically evolved states having qualitative difference in terms of state formation.
During 18th and 19th centuries, Manipur was able to negotiate with all powers for responding to any political ana economic problems.
Both hill and valley people settled together in a cohesive system collectively, he continued, while expressing hope that actionable work plan will come out from the seminar.
Delivering the keynote address, retired professor W Nabakumar stated that major influx of Chin- Kuki groups into Manipur started from the 8-8-88 Uprising Movement in Myanmar.
They started creating cultural boundary and converted it into political boundary which impacted on the collective psyche of the people settled in the valley.
It might be the genesis of the present unrest in Manipur, he mooted and stated that population, habitation, economy and their political goal need critical review.
In his presidential address, Prof Irom Gambhir said that people of Manipur is at the crossroad having no clear roadmap of what possible steps would be taken to identify the real cause and possible solution of the present unrest in Manipur.
He expressed the hope that the seminar could bring out tangible outcome which will, to some extent, help government and stakeholders.
The inauguration was followed by two technical sessions on the theme "Manipur demography, population dynamics and developmental planning"' and "Status of hill-valley, forest and environmental issues in Manipur" .
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