Net ban continues, so does curfew Manipur’s response to Jiri killings

The internet ban continues so does curfew. Call for MLAs to give in their papers also continues while others, in equal measures, have stoutly asserted that the MLAs should continue in office. Major roads in Imphal continue to resemble a clip straight out of one of the WWII Hollywood flicks, with barricades barricading half the road and heavy armoured vehicles being stationed at some of the more sensitive areas. It is the same when one walks or drives or goes by one of the roads where VVIPs live in the Government allotted bungalows. Till the other day, Ima Keithel had no Imas selling their wares, but protesters staying put which extended into the night to lodge a strong stand against the failure of the Government to protect the lives of common citizens, including children and women. Hard hitting statements continue to be issued by different civil society organisations and all Imphal based media have been faithfully covering the statements as well as any development that may come even late into the evening. This is how Manipur has responded to the situation after the mutilated bodies of the six hostages, three children and three women, were found floating in the river, after five days of captivity by Kuki-Zo-Hmar militants. Terrorists is the term used by many organisations based in Imphal to refer to the hostage takers cum cold blooded murderers, and the same term may have been used against the Meitei village volunteers who come under different nomenclatures. And this is how things have been like since the evening of May 3, 2023. In as much as situation has been like this for over 18  months, the heinous murder of the three children and the three women has taken things to a new level of depravity and perhaps the Tangkhul Naga Long could not have said it better than terming the brutal killings in Jiribam since November 7 as ‘battering the spirit of humanity in us’. A good number of Naga civil society organisations have also come out to strike a common stand against the senseless violence that has gripped Jiribam since the onset of November and while others talked about the violence as a whole, the Rongmei Naga People’s Organisation deemed it better to specifically refer to the kidnapping and murder of the three children and three women in Jiribam. A positive sign that despite the all round mayhem, the senseless killings and pure hatred that has gripped the two communities on either side of the clash divide, the spirit of humanity continues to ebb and dictate the course of one’s conduct as exemplified by the expression of horror and deep pain by the Naga civil society organisations such as Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL), Rongmei Naga People’s Organisation (RNPO) of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, Naga Women’s Union and the Chandel Naga People’s Organisation.
This is about the innate goodness of mankind being vocalised by the Naga civil society organisations, a community which has so far preferred to remain neutral in the ongoing clash but a look at the factors fuelling the clash is deeply disturbing and scary for it has the potential to sweep away anyone standing on its path. Drugs and religion can make a deadly cocktail and this is what is happening in Manipur, as News18 reported the other day. Drugs is the oxygen which keeps the wheel of the clash churning, running a parallel economy of Rs 60,000 crore which is way above the Rs 35,0000 crore annual budget of Manipur, notes News18 and this would have gone against the War on Drugs campaign launched by the State Government and hence the reason for igniting the clash. Take the huge financial component involved and the dream to carve out a territory, and the  stake is obviously high for the Kuki-Zo armed groups. A stake in which they have nothing to lose for ultimately it is Manipur as a geo-political reality that has been taking all the beatings. To Delhi too, the compulsion of geo-politics, the need to have some significant say in the region lying east of the North East could be one reason why the status of the SoO pact has not been spelt out in the face of the fact that its expiry date had come and gone on February 29 this year. Herein lies a tale, a big tale.