Case of a story pulled downThe why and more whys

Nothing short of a double blow accompanied by a good dose of ‘mystery’. Even as Manipur came to grips with the story that border fencing work has been put on halt at Kuki dominated areas, the same said news item was found to have been pulled down from the site of News18, the agency which broke the story. The heading of the story however still stands but a click on the link was found to instead carry a story under the heading ‘Pace of development slowed  during last 18 months, must recover lost time : Manipur CM N Biren Singh’. The Sangai Express had carried the said story under the double decker heading ‘Fencing work halted in Kuki dominated areas’ with the smaller heading on top reading as ‘Cabinet Sub-Committee gives go ahead signal to fence 1643 kms border but...’ and even as points were being framed on how to go about with a comment on this development, it came to light that the said story has been pulled down. No explanation so far but it is intriguing to learn that a story with such an explosive potential in Manipur was first published and then taken down and this is being said in the backdrop of the fact that it was no one less than Union Home Minister Amit Shah who said that infiltration is the root cause of the problem, while talking on the completion of the first 100 days of Modi 3.0 Government. Infiltration the root cause and then just one day later to come across the news report that border fencing work at Kuki dominated areas has been put on hold would have amounted to insulting the collective intelligence of the people of Manipur and it would be interesting to confirm if there could be a link between these two poles. The said news agency must have its reason for pulling down the story, but the news story has already reached the eyes and ears of the people of Manipur and that is what matters. It is not likely that the State Government would be in a position to give an update on the border fencing work, especially at Kuki dominated areas, for reasons which should be obvious to all, but if the border fencing work turns out to be a case of trying to pull a fast one on the people of Manipur, then nothing could be more unfortunate. The Sangai Express has already had its say on the silence of the Union Home Minister on the popular demand to update the National Register of Citizens in Manipur for common sense says that if infiltration is the root cause of the problem then it is only natural to expect that some mechanisms be put in place to identify the infiltrators and deport them. Hence the stress on the silence of the Home Minister on the need to update NRC here.
The lead news story of The Sangai Express on September 19, 2024 was obviously the news item under the double decker heading, ‘Cabinet Sub-Committee gives go ahead signal to fence 1643 kms border but...’ followed by the second line ‘Fencing work halted in Kuki dominated areas’ and the significance of the dichotomy in the two line headings must be noted. The politics at play is truly intriguing and at the same time it is scary too. In one line the Cabinet Sub-Committee gave the nod to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and yet in the second line it is said that border fencing has been put on halt at Kuki dominated areas and as the report indicated the halt in the fencing work came after strong opposition raised by Kuki-Zo organisations. The appeasement policy with an objective continues and it is Manipur which has been made the sacrificial lamb. The stake must be high, very high for the new development has come just a day after the Union Home Minister talked about infiltration being the root cause of the problem and how border fencing work has started to check infiltration. The question is, what could be the stake. Manipur and obviously her people do not know what the stake could be, but none can forget how the Look East Policy became Act East Policy after 2014, the Kaladan Project, the growing influence of China on Myanmar, the ongoing fight between the Tatmadaw and rebel groups, the primary reason why the SoO pact was inked etc. A gift of the first 100 days of Modi 3.0 Government ? This is a question which haunts Manipur today but obvious that there would be no answer.