Editorial

All set for second phase poll Speaking of issues

Voters in 47 Assembly Constituencies have had their say in the just held Parliamentary elections in the first phase of the voting on April 19, followed by the repoll in 11 Polling Stations on April 22. Come April 26, or say 24 hours after readers go throu..

Nearing the one year mark Break the silence

Today is April 24, 2024 and in a few days from now, May 3, 2024 will be within shaking hands distance. Nearly one year since the clash erupted and over 60 thousand people continue to survive in the different relief centres set up across the State. Many ar..

Vote has been cast, repoll held Keeping the ST demand alive

Vote has been cast. Repoll has been  held and now it is time for leikai and office experts to have their time under the Sun, reading the election tea leaves complete with minute calculation and expounding on the number of votes a candidate is likely ..

May 3, 2023 to May 3, 2024 Racing towards one year mark

The election dust is yet to settle down. Eleven polling stations will go for repoll today, that is April 22 and while debates and arguments can be expected on whether the number of polling stations marked for repoll is the correct reflection of the large ..

Candidate delivers a point Ugly turns on voting day

It should be obvious to all. April 19, 2024 definitely belonged to Angomcha Bimol Akoijam of the Congress and this is regardless of the outcome of the polls. Even as the day belonged to the Congress candidate, it also stands that quite a number of  f..

LS election with a difference Responsibility of choice

Not that people expect a miracle but it is heartening to see so many taking a keen interest in the election debates and discussions that have been hogging the limelight, especially in the face of the ongoing clash between the Meiteis and the Kukis. Even a..

Adding muscle to ST demand Now look beyond LS poll

Campaigning has come to a close and while it remains to be seen who will go to Parliament to represent Manipur, this is perhaps the time to ponder over whether the very act of sending a new face or new faces to the Lok Sabha will mean anything positive fo..

Cong looking to buck the trend Interests kicked up

There is a reason why the coming Lok Sabha election has evoked so much interest amongst the voters and not without reason.  In many ways the outcome of the election will reflect the people’s stand on the manner in which New Delhi has responded ..

The ‘15 days’ conundrum Visit on the 15th of April

Will be back after 15 days actually meant will return on the 15th and come he did on April 15. This is the one line punch that has been doing the round on the social media, while referring to the one day or two hours visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah..

Fundamental points to be kept in mind Test of people’s character

The eruption of violence after a lull of some time should more than indicate that what Manipur now needs is some voice of sanity that may be effectively conveyed to the outside world and this is where the importance of the coming Lok Sabha elections shoul..

Posers voters should raise now Disrespecting the people

Questions, yes this is the time to raise questions and see if any of the political party or to be more specific if any of the Big 2 can respond to the questions being raised. This is the time for all right thinking persons to raise questions and not simpl..

The heavy stake behind the LS polls Responsibility on the voters

Congress candidate Professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam is bang on target in asserting that how the voters vote will go a long way in deciding the future of Manipur, but yet at the same time how the voters vote may also decide the fate of quite some prominent..

Taking the ST demand to the election ring Need to keep tempo up

The ST for Meiteis campaign is on track and rightly so for this is ideally the moment to pile the pressure on the different political parties as well as the candidates to let them voice their stand on the demand which is gaining momentum by the day. At th..

NOTA as a choice

In multiple-type questions, ‘None of the Above’ can be the correct answer sometimes. But in the context of elections, whether ‘None of the Above’ or NOTA can be a wise choice demands a serious debate. When some people, though insig..

Interesting choice of candidates Eyes on the Big Two

It is interesting and this observation comes from the choice of candidates of the big two-the BJP and the Congress-to fight it out in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency. In settling for Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, the Congress has more than indicated tha..

Sort of a referendum on the Govt Opting for the NOTA button

Is Manipur placed to go to polls for the two phased Lok Sabha elections on April 19 and April 26 ? The answer would largely depend on the different interpretations given to the present reality, but the fact is even after more than 11 months of the clash t..

Clock ticking towards voting day Central point is Manipur

To many, the coming Lok Sabha election will be a sort of a referendum to the manner in which the BJP led Government, both at Imphal and New Delhi, has dealt with the ongoing ethnic clash, which is set to complete a full 11 months. This is particularly tru..

Not quite the final countdown The issues at stake

The countdown has begun. Well not exactly, for the BJP, which is one of the Big 2, is yet to announce the name of its candidate for the Inner Parliamentary Consti- tuency. So far only the Indian National Congress and the CPI have announced the names of th..

Politics of naming candidates Eyes on BJP, Cong

The politics of choosing the candidate. Make it the candidate, in so far as the BJP is concerned while this line will may also hold true for the Naga People’s Front (NPF) in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency. The NPF has already announced the nam..

Interesting run up to LS polls Interests of Manipur

Interesting stage, one may say. The Big 2 have not yet announced their candidates, either in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency or the Outer Parliamentary Consti- tuency but this has not stopped numerous ‘poll pundits’ from coming forward an..

Monitoring the rehab centres MHRC on track

The Manipur Human Rights Commission has done its job. Now it is left to be seen what course of action the State Government particularly the Social Welfare Depart- ment takes up to plug the loopholes. It was on March 17 that a two-man team from the Rights ..

Playing the card close to its chestEyes on the Big 2

Politics of silence. Playing the card close to its chest. Not surprising for the coming Lok Sabha election will be crucial though it may mean different things to the Big 2, the BJP and the Congress. This is particularly so for the Inner Parliamentary Cons..

ATSUM spilling the beans now Tryst with infamy

The tryst with infamy is complete. Even as former office bearers of the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur minced no words in asserting that the Churachandpur based Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) and the Kangpokpi based Committee on ..

Gearing up for Lok Sabha polls Sort of a referendum

In more ways than one the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections, at least in the Inner seat, will be a sort of a referendum on the conduct of the BJP led Government at Imphal. The silence of the Prime Minister continues, even after more than 10 months of the..

Sit across the table and talk Cry for rule of law

A dialogue. Sit across the table and talk things over. This is what anyone with a modicum of sensibility would advocate to resolve the ongoing ethnic clash and there cannot be two ways about it. And for anyone to come to the negotiating table, the right a..

Wanted : A Govt that works Veering towards anarchy

What is there to show that there is a Government in place at Imphal ? The answer is best left to the people who matter, but even as 37715 students are set to appear for one of the most important stages in their academic pursuit, the Class X exams conducte..

Questions for political parties Run up to LS polls

The crucial question is whether Manipur has learnt any lesson during the last ten months of violence or not. No clear cut answer here, but what is clear is the emergence of numerous power centres, each with its own set of agenda, but emerging all in the n..

Gearing up for LS polls amid unrest Setting the agenda

Unarguably the biggest festival of the indigenous Meitei people, Ningol Chakkouba was given the go by in 2023 amid the ongoing ethnic clash between the Meiteis and the Kukis-qualified by the terms illegal immigrants and militants. Christmas was a muted af..

Questions over the status of SoO pact Realpolitiks at play

Ten months into the conflict and there is nothing to suggest that normalcy is anywhere near in sight. The question is how long Manipur can afford to continue living in this state of conflict. A question which should be given top priority and the fact of t..

Time to show lessons learnt A test for the voters

May 3, 2023 to March 10, 2024 and what are the lessons that Manipur has learnt from these days of turmoil ? Over 200 killed, that is officially, 28 still missing, with the Government still unable to officially confirm their status and if dead, recover the..

Time to set right the narrative Beyond the Judiciary

It is unfortunate and hard to accept that even after more than 10 months of the ethnic clash erupting on May 3, 2023, New Delhi continues to stick to the wrong narrative that the violence erupted because the Manipur High Court ‘recommended Scheduled..

Coming Lok Sabha elections Dialling M for votes

It is early days yet but already pundits who like to believe that they belong to the charmed circle who have access to the corridors of power and hence know what is going on behind closed doors, the educated  and conscientious younger and not so youn..

Last day of Feb has come and gone Fate of the SoO pact

The Suspension of Operation pact has indeed come a long way. First inked between the Centre and the Kuki militant groups in 2005, it was only later in 2008 that a somewhat reluctant Congress led Government at Imphal came on board and since then it has bee..

Ban on changing names of places The politics of names

A rose by any other name will still remain as beautiful as it is but it may not be as all encompassing as it sounds, especially when the politics of identity and ‘ancestral claims’ rears its ugly head. A Lily by its name may refer to any of th..

ST demand is alive and kicking Need to reach out to all

It should be obvious to everyone. The ST for Meiteis demand is alive and kicking, notwithstanding the totally false premise on which the infamous Tribal Solidarity March of May 3, 2023 was held ostensibly against the directive of the High Court of Manipur..

Reality demands a resolution It cannot go on like this

The ground reality demands it and Manipur also demands it. This is not the time to identify political parties on the basis of where they sit inside the Assembly, whether on the Opposition bench or on the Treasury bench, but for all to strike a common stan..

Politics of inking the SoO pact Assembly takes a stand

It was a political decision and it is with a political objective that New Delhi has continued with the Suspension of Operations (SoO) pact with the armed Kuki groups coming under two broad groups, the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People..

Calling out AR men from their bunkers Extraordinary time

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and it is probably along this line that the State Government has decided to call out the Assam Rifles from their bunkers to be deployed at what it says are the sensitive points in at least six districts...

Coming close to understanding of anarchy Emergence of power centres

Things cannot get worse than this and as is widely held and believed, the real character of a people comes to the fore at the time of a crisis and  this is perhaps the right time to ask whether what one is witnessing is the emergence of the true char..

The silence continues, the clash continues Sinking into the abyss

The clash between the Meiteis and the Kukis continues. The silence of the Prime Minister continues. And Manipur continues to sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of  confusion, madness and lawlessness with everyone under the impression that anyone w..

ST categorisation : Not the job of judiciary Setting points in order

Let it be clear. It s not the judiciary, including the High Court of Manipur or the Supreme Court of India which can direct the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution. What the High Court of Manipur did was to direct the Gove..

Growing call to abrogate SoO pact Ultimately it is Delhi’s call

Ultimately it is Delhi’s call, but that has not stopped the demand that the Suspension of Operation pact signed with the Kuki militant groups, which come under the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) and the United People’s Front (UPF), be scrapp..

Silence of the guns, for the momentMute after six days

It may be a little premature to say that the guns being fired from Dongyang and Lailophai in Churachandpur district towards Sugnu have fallen silent permanently but it is significant to note that there were no reports of gun fire on February 20, that is a..

Claiming ancestral rights over Thangjing Lying with a design in mind

From Thangjing to Thangting to now claiming that the sacred site of the Meiteis fall under his jurisdiction, the self proclaimed chief of Ukha-Loikhai village has given a new understanding to bogus claims and distorting the history of the land. Not someth..

Non-stop assault on Sugnu The pattern behind it all

Even as Chief Minister N Biren talked tough, even going to the extent of proclaiming that process is underway to lodge a First Information Report against a sitting MLA for uploading a provocative post on X, formerly Twitter, came the news of Kuki militant..

Restraining armed forces vis-à-vis Kuki militants

Overpowering the mighty Indian military by some Kuki militants sounds like an unrealistic joke. But it is a reality. Video clips of some Kuki militants threatening and forcing Indian military troops to turn back from their operational duty have already go..

Bigger agenda behind CCpur protest Reminiscent of 2015 uproar

Eerily reminiscent of the now withdrawn three Bills of 2015, which sought to protect the indigenous people of the land. Back in September 2015, the State Assembly passed the Protection of Manipur People Bill,  2015, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Refo..

Points Imphal should lay before Delhi Argue for Manipur’s sake

The silence bordering on indifference is astounding and so while Manipur continues to burn for more than 9 months on the trot, New Delhi seems to be under the impression that some measures such as the decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) and f..

If them then why not the Meiteis ? ST for Meitei call

The pro-talk group of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is clear that granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to five communities of Assam will help save Assam. The greater objective behind this move is to keep the illegally settled Bangladeshis at..

Not the time to take political mileage Take everyone along

This is not the time to take political dividends out of the crisis besetting Manipur for the last 9 months yet at the same time it should also be questioned how closely is the BJP led Government working with all MLAs, irrespective of their political affil..