A tumultuous Hiyangei to remember!

In pursuance of the ‘ani thokpi’ culture of Manipur (especially among the Meiteis), this year’s ‘Ningol Chakouba’ (after a hell lot of controversies on the real date among the ahei-apaa saaba/bi lots) was celebrated for two days i.e. on 29th and 30th October.  The spirit of this year’s Ningol Chakouba was less festive and more panicky with unpredictable times and situations lurking around in the state.
Besides the 2019 chakouba, in an interesting turn of events, the ani thokpi culture of Manipuris became epidemic even in the political realm. After a controversial declaration of Manipur’s independence from the dominion of India, Dr. Narengbam Samarjit, the ex-chairman of Salai Holdings simultaneously declared Y. Biren as the Chief Minister of Manipur of the government in exile in London. So theoretically (though not practically) we have two Chief Ministers at present with the same names. It’s still a riddle wrapped in enigma about the background of the self-styled Chief Minister who is currently taking asylum in another country.
In the meantime, CPMFs and army were/are probably on a jaunt in Imphal sehar camping at different colleges located in Imphal East & West.  The district administrators perhaps considered it the best solution to authorize stationing of CPMFs and Army in various colleges and public premises taking due consideration of the unpredictable law and order situation in the state.On the contrary to the security measures taken up across the city and its vicinities, the Hon’ble CM of Manipur Shri. N Biren ji has assured the hoi polloi that nothing will happen in Manipur so people need not be apprehensive. It is yet another matter of deliberation (read apprehension among the masses) that he hasn’t provided sufficient reasons on the stationing of security personnel. With security personnel anywhere and everywhere across the city, the last two-three days rendered quite a panicky experience to the civilians. One of the civilians reported, “It was like a dark reminiscence of those AFSPA days when we were kids. The only difference is that they no more visit our homes for combing operations or to beat up our fathers/uncles. “
All in all, from ani thokpi ningol chakouba celebration to ani thokpi chief ministers, two more days of ‘sintha leppa’in the valley area was more or less a perfect break to digest after the chakouba feasts and also from all the controversial news and views on government in exile in London and the final Naga peace talk with GoI.
Life in the valley areas of Manipur remained paralyzed for two days because of the shutdown called by COCOMI, security personnel were leisurely patrolling here and there across Imphal city, a few colleges were/are occupied by the security forces and civilians remained confined at their homes in a state of utter apprehension. One can only conclude that Hiyangei 2019 is one hell of a tumultuous month with unpredictable events in store.
PS- The controversial peace talks between different stakeholders of Nagaland and GoI, which have been going on for many years, finally resolved. However, the terms and conditions on which they resolved the peace talks or in other words the content(s) of the recently resolved Naga peace talks are like the nation’s best kept secret for the time being.Speculations and apprehensions are still churning among many communities, making everyone restless.
If nothing is going to happen in Manipur why are thousands of security personnel stationed at different locations across Imphal at present? What’s GoI upto? Is it possible that GoM has no clue about the Centre’s next move on the ‘satrang game’ on Naga peace talk? Will there be a Kashmir like crackdown in Manipur?Will there be another war like situation to bring peace in the region? Why is peace more expensive than the jewelries of mantri mandols’ wives in our state? These are the questions still blowing in the wind which answers one cannot find even on Google or on any search engine.