Since 1999 : Seen, experienced it all Seeking to pitch Nagas against Meiteis
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As a newspaper hitting the newsstand in the morning of September 12, 1999, after a number of then young men and women went to work on September 11, 1999, The Sangai Express has seen and experienced it all. Hence in a position to tell the story from 1999 till May 2026 with a degree of authenticity. In the nearly 27 years of publication, this newspaper has seen it all, digested some and managed to pick up lessons from the past so that eyes may be set on the coming years. And the last 27 years has been spent as the leading newspaper in the State of Manipur and in over two decades The Sangai Express has seen and experienced quite a few. To the discerning readers, the opening lines here may be more suited to such a time when another year is set to be added to the cap of this newspaper, but times have not been the same since the evening of May 3, 2023. If at all there is any lesson Manipur may have learnt during the last three years, more so, since the evening of May 3, 2023, it is that stories go a long way in influencing how the outside world perceives things here, more so when Manipur is caught up in the unenviable position of seeing a three way clash, one between the Meiteis and the Kukis and the other between the Nagas and the Kukis. One thing that has stood out since the morning of May 4, 2023 are the false narratives that have been fed to the outside world. It was on the basis of a concocted slogan that the Tribal Solidarity Rally was staged on May 3, 2023. As repeatedly stated here, it is not the judiciary which decides whether a community can be added to the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution or not. What the High Court of Manipur did was to just direct the State Government to send the ethnographic and socio-economic status of the Meiteis to the Centre so that the demand that the Meiteis be included in the ST list may be studied. Just send the report, a report which the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs had asked the State Government back in 2013. The supposedly Tribal Solidarity March ended peacefully at the Naga dominated districts of Senapati, Tamenglong, Chandel and Ukhrul and trouble or violence erupted only at Churachand- pur and quickly spread to Kangpokpi and Moreh. So it was a lie on which the supposedly Tribal Solidarity March was staged. It did not end there for it was never mentioned that violence erupted only at Churachandpur and Torbung wherein Meiteis were specifically targeted. This fact was conveniently sidelined and what was sold to the outside world was a victim story, a story that sought to convey the tale that a minority group was being targeted and butchered by the majority Meiteis, the majority of whom incidentally happened to be Hindus. This was lie number two and more lies have been told down the years since the evening of May 3, 2023. The same yarn is sought to be spelt out now in the stand off or clash with the Nagas. And ironically the Kukis, which talked so much about tribal solidarity and the May 3, 2023 rally was staged under the banner, Tribal Solidarity March, is today on a head on collision with the Nagas, a tribal group.
And the lies continue to this day. It was not so long back that the Kuki Inpi, Manipur came out with the fantastic tale that all the Nagas who were held captive have been released, but 8 Naga men who were taken captive at Leilon Vaiphei village on May 13, are still on the missing list. Taking things up a notch or two is the work of some of the more imaginative Kuki key board warriors who have come up with the fantastic idea of recalling the past which seeks to pitch the Meiteis against the Nagas. This is what is amusing. This is where certain things need to be put straight. The massive protest witnessed in Imphal and the valley districts in 2001 was against the decision of the Government of India to insert the phrase, ‘ceasefire without territorial limits.’ It was never against the Naga people as such. The protest Imphal and the valley districts witnessed following the killing of the then SDO of Kasom Khullen Thingnam Kishan was against the cold blooded murder by cadres of the NSCN (IM) and was not against the Nagas. Similarly a number of intense protests have been staged, but all the protests were against the policies and programmes of the Government and not against any community. Now would ITLF, CoTU or KIM be in a position to answer why Meiteis were attacked at Churachandpur and Torbung on May 3, 2023 and why a number of Naga people were taken captive on May 13, 2026 at Leilon Vaiphei after three Thadou Church leaders were killed on ‘Tiger/German’ road at a place dominated by the Kukis ?
And the lies continue to this day. It was not so long back that the Kuki Inpi, Manipur came out with the fantastic tale that all the Nagas who were held captive have been released, but 8 Naga men who were taken captive at Leilon Vaiphei village on May 13, are still on the missing list. Taking things up a notch or two is the work of some of the more imaginative Kuki key board warriors who have come up with the fantastic idea of recalling the past which seeks to pitch the Meiteis against the Nagas. This is what is amusing. This is where certain things need to be put straight. The massive protest witnessed in Imphal and the valley districts in 2001 was against the decision of the Government of India to insert the phrase, ‘ceasefire without territorial limits.’ It was never against the Naga people as such. The protest Imphal and the valley districts witnessed following the killing of the then SDO of Kasom Khullen Thingnam Kishan was against the cold blooded murder by cadres of the NSCN (IM) and was not against the Nagas. Similarly a number of intense protests have been staged, but all the protests were against the policies and programmes of the Government and not against any community. Now would ITLF, CoTU or KIM be in a position to answer why Meiteis were attacked at Churachandpur and Torbung on May 3, 2023 and why a number of Naga people were taken captive on May 13, 2026 at Leilon Vaiphei after three Thadou Church leaders were killed on ‘Tiger/German’ road at a place dominated by the Kukis ?