Rubbishing the false narratives Points from PAPPM, WMC

Most probably a minutely researched and excellently articulated piece. No beating around the bush and no beating of the chest but straight on target. This was the People’s Alliance for Peace and Progressive Manipur (PAPPM) in a rejoinder to the statement issued by the Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) on June 18. PAPPM delivered a powerful statement in recalling the hoary and violent past, most notably the Kuki-Paite clash of 1997-1998, the aggression against the Kabuis and Tangkhuls during 1917-1919, against the Hmars in 1959-1960, against the Nagas in 1992-1997, against the Karbis in Assam in 2003-2004 and the clashes with the Burmese, the Shans and the Kachins in Myanmar. It is also on record that the Chin-Kuki National Army has been waging a war at the Chittagong Hills Tract in Bangladesh. The unsaid but loudly audible point delivered by the PAPPM can be summed up in the words ‘trouble makers wherever they are.’ And now it is against the Meiteis in Manipur, a point so powerfully brought out by the World Meetei Council during a media briefing at Press Club of India at New Delhi on June 20. Unfortunate it is but despite having had their say in the media, neither KIM nor the high sounding Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) nor the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) have deemed it important to question who first struck the match stick that sent numerous houses up in flames at Torbung, after the Tribal Solidarity March on May 3. Torbung is situated  more than 10 kilometres away from Churachandpur district headquarters and how did the rallyists, accompanied by gun wielding elements, march up to this settlement and set the houses on fire, forcing many to flee. And who set the Anglo-Kuki War Centenary Gate at Leisang village on fire, which is just 7.5 kms away from Churachandpur town and just 5 kms away from the DC office of Churachandpur ? Who are the inhabitants of Leisang village ? Would any Meitei venture to a place located just 7.5 kilometres from Churachandpur on the day of the Tribal Solidarity March and have the temerity to set it on fire ? Didn’t KIM, ITLF of CoTU ever raise these questions inwardly ?
Selective picking of points will not fool anyone and the pathetic attempts to play the victim card will find no takers in the long run. The deliberately doctored narratives should be set right. Was the Tribal Solidarity March really about opposing the demand that the Meiteis be granted the Scheduled Tribe status ? If the answer is in the affirmative then why did the rally wound up peacefully in the Naga dominated districts of Senapati, Ukhrul, Tamenglong and not at Churachandpur ? Why hasn’t a supposedly responsible body like KIM ever attempted to answer these questions ? Not the first time that The Sangai Express has raised these questions, but it is more than evident that these posers have been conveniently looked over or brushed aside for it is a case of coming too close to the truth for comfort ? Moreover are the bunkers, which have been dismantled by the Central security forces put up only for self defence or for something else ? The truth will not come out but these very questions should underline the point that playing the victim card will not work. Solution first, peace later may be the one line slogan strikingly coined but to take any step closer to whatever solution one wants, it should start by speaking and walking the truth. The fact is out there in all the posers that have been raised. Enough people have died, thousands have been rendered homeless and are now staying at Shelter Homes. This is about those who do not have the means to fly to New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Guwahati or proceed to Mizoram and everyone knows who are the ones who have gone to the metros and who are the ones staying at Shelter Homes. Or will this be tailored in such a way that it suits the narrative that will be spelt out to suit the victim image they want to portray ?