MMTU’s stand bang on target Recapping May 3, 2023
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The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union’s (MMTU) assertion that attributing the ongoing ethnic clash to the demand for ST status by the Meiteis is a ploy to sideline the ST demand is bang on target. Attributing the clash to the ST for Meiteis demand is also dangerously mischievous. For one this means that some people in positions of power and authority are more than ready to fall in line with the claim under which the Tribal Solidarity Rally of May 3, 2023 was staged. It could also mean falling hook, line and sinker for the false narrative spelt out by those who sowed the first seeds of violence at Torbung and Churachandpur and which quickly spread to Kangpokpi and Moreh on May 3, 2023. The MMTU was again bang on target in reminding everyone of how former Chief Justice of Manipur High Court Sidharth Mridul brushed aside the stand of attributing the ongoing clash to the ST issue. It is not the job of the Judiciary to decide which community should be included in the ST list but Parliament and the order of the High Court of Manipur was to direct the Government of Manipur to send the socio-economic and ethnographic report of the Meiteis to the Centre, a report sought by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs back in 2013. More than certain that the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur know that it is beyond the briefs of the Judiciary to decide whether a community should be included in the ST list or not and hence the question, why was the rally staged against the ruling of the High Court of Manipur ? The answer should be obvious to everyone. It was nothing but a ploy to take the other major community in Manipur, the Nagas, along with whatever agenda was there. The facts should be kept in mind while addressing any issue pertaining to the ongoing clash and it is a pity that Union Home Minister Amit Shah first pointed to the ST for Meiteis demand as the flash point of the ongoing clash. A look back at the days running into May 3, 2023 at Churachandpur and other Kuki dominated areas should more than suffice how the angst against the policies and programmes of the BJP led Government at Imphal was simmering. The violence, the act of burning down an office of the Forest Department, the huge rallies staged against the eviction drive inside a Protected Forest (K Sonjang village) are all factors which led to the staging of the Tribal Solidarity March. It has also been the stand of The Sangai Express that people of any community may have grievances against the policies and programmes of the Government and Manipur has seen many instances in the past. The Nagas have protested against the decisions of the State Government and so too have the Meiteis. But in all the protests against the decisions and policies of the Government, no group of people identified along community line have been targeted.
This brings one to the question, a question which has been repeated many times. If the Tribal Solidarity March was against the ruling of the High Court of Manipur and the policies and programmes of the Government, why were Meitei settlements attacked at Torbung and Churachandpur ? Imphal retaliated only late in the evening. Forget about ITLF and the other Kuki organisations, but it is obvious that even the State Government has not raised this question. This is what is highly unfortunate and misinterpreting the start of the violence would only add more teeth and muscle to the false narratives that have been doing the round and sold to the outside world. Manipur is still reeling under the expertly woven false narratives and if one goes by the stories that did the round in the early days of the violence, then everything would point to a carefully crafted tale, a job done in advance. A tale perfected to such a level that one community was convincingly portrayed as the victim, a case of perfecting the art of narrating the victim story. It has always been the stand of The Sangai Express that the needed report, as sought by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry should be sent. And if the Meiteis do not fit the tag to be included in the ST list, when should there be any such opposition to the ST stand ? This is the bottomline.
This brings one to the question, a question which has been repeated many times. If the Tribal Solidarity March was against the ruling of the High Court of Manipur and the policies and programmes of the Government, why were Meitei settlements attacked at Torbung and Churachandpur ? Imphal retaliated only late in the evening. Forget about ITLF and the other Kuki organisations, but it is obvious that even the State Government has not raised this question. This is what is highly unfortunate and misinterpreting the start of the violence would only add more teeth and muscle to the false narratives that have been doing the round and sold to the outside world. Manipur is still reeling under the expertly woven false narratives and if one goes by the stories that did the round in the early days of the violence, then everything would point to a carefully crafted tale, a job done in advance. A tale perfected to such a level that one community was convincingly portrayed as the victim, a case of perfecting the art of narrating the victim story. It has always been the stand of The Sangai Express that the needed report, as sought by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry should be sent. And if the Meiteis do not fit the tag to be included in the ST list, when should there be any such opposition to the ST stand ? This is the bottomline.