Whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any other central minister visits Manipur, they talk about gifting a National Sports University to the state in recognition and laurels brought about by Manipur sportspersons in the name of the country. Everyone knows, the little state of Manipur is a giant in the field of sports and a powerhouse producing world class athletes across the board. PM Narendra Modi also keeps repeating about the ace boxer Mary Kom who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP by BJP. More recently, Manipur’s own Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the first ever medal for India in 2021 Tokyo Olympics and S Nilakanta Sharma of one of the architects of India’s bronze medal in Hockey while Sushila Chanu had her day in women hockey in the said Olympics even though India could not get a berth in the top three.
In the discipline of football, the state is doing quite well in the national front, and even at the international front with Bala Devi earning the No 10 jersey and shining in the Scottish League. Manipur has given India world champions in boxing and weightlifting, as well as footballers of national stature and acclaim. The most famous - from the 90s onwards, Renedy Singh and Gouramangi Singh Moirangthem, from the last decade Udanta Singh and the U-17 goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem. The Indian Soccer League has about 38 Manipuri players now playing for different football clubs in the country, the highest for any state.
Of course, we all agree that the National Sports University is Narendra Modi’s gift to the state. He laid the foundation stone for National Sports University on March 16,2018. Whether we are turning this opportunity into our advantage or are the NSU authorities doing justice to the gift is another question altogether. What we know is that, NSU is moving at a turtle pace and with a gifted football player at the helm of affairs in the state now, something ought to be done to wake it up from its slumber. The National Sports University in Imphal is yet to start functioning in view of the complications in land ownership and slow pace of construction activities while the temporary campus at Khuman Lampak is in a slumber. The land dispute has given rise to bandhs and blockades by both Kuki and Zeliangrong groups who managed to air their claims to the said parcel of land. In a violent face-off, 12 protesters and six police personnel were injured. The claim of the civil voluntary organisations is that the National Sports University site belongs to L Tangnaum village (Haraothel) under Kangpokpi district and that any land demarcation should involve Kangpokpi district authorities. While trying to prevent police personnel from entering the site, 12 persons, mostly women, reportedly sustained injuries when police personnel fired tear gas to disperse the mob. In follow-up, the water supply reservoir and office buildings were burnt down by unknown miscreants.
While on the other hand, the villagers of Senjam Khunou, Senjam Chirang and Koutruk assert that the site belongs to the three villages and that their forefathers had bought the land from the State Darbar by paying Rs. 13. According to Manipur State Darbar records in 1827, Haraothel is shown as the grazing ground for Senjam Chirang and Senjam Khunou villages. Further, the site comes under the jurisdiction of Imphal West district, according to the Manipur Government gazette notification published on December 20, 2016. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for National Sports University on 16 March 2018 at the site and the foundation plaque clearly mentions Imphal as the location. What we do not understand here is that, a dignitary at the level of the Prime Minister does not get himself unnecessarily involved in a dispute, be it of land or otherwise. And it requires the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for every single word engraved on the foundation or inaugural plaques involving the Prime Minister himself, and the decision would have been arrived at after perusing the land records. It is simple logic and one needs to understand this.
