As the future of Manipur, which is ravaged by unprecedented violence, remains uncertain with many forces that want to see it divided still at play, the situation of those who have been rendered homeless and whose lives are in danger is ignored, and their survival is threatened with every passing hour and day.
While it is easy to incite more hate and division, and spread propaganda online through the comfort of one's cosy armchair and high-speed internet from outside Manipur and abroad, perhaps it is practically impossible for the keyboard warriors and those who want to build a career in journalism or make a name out of this conflict, to realise that their lopsided and hateful social media posts, though amy amount to more traction and followers, increase the existential threat posed to many innocent lives in both communities.
Perhaps, these opportunists and propagandists simply lack the capability to feel or the imagination to understand how a poor villager or a daily wage worker, who is struggling to survive in the conflict zone, desperately awaits in vain that this ongoing nightmare miraculously ends in the next 24 hours.
However, it is quite apparent that the hate-mongers and those who are pulling the strings for vested interest will not stop with their propaganda in the coming weeks, months, or years to portray one community as the oppressor and another as the victim.
We have seen how such a narrative was pushed in the aftermath of a particular communal clash that took place between the tribal communities during the 1990s. Anyone familiar with this previous conflict will not be surprised to find how certain words like 'ethnic cleansing' and 'immigrants' have come into play once again in the present scenario. History has plenty of truths to reveal about the nature of this ongoing conflict in Manipur.
But those who grew up in the state during the 80s and 90s, when there was no internet, social media, or keyboard warriors, and actually witnessed what Manipur was like when AFSPA was in full force across the state, will know in their hearts that the common folk from both communities had already grown wary of violence and did not want this present conflict in the state at all.
The people still have not forgotten the news reports and gruesome images of atrocities and violence published in newspapers during those days and how the Supreme Court eventually took cognizance of as many as 1,528 cases of alleged fake encounters carried out in Manipur under the shadow of AFSPA and directed the CBI to probe around 100 of these cases.
Memories of Thangjam Manorama and many others are still fresh in the mindd of the public, and it is apparently not their fault if they do not trust the Central Forces.
When incidents of civilians being picked up from their residences at night on the basis of suspicion allegedly by the Central Forces were rampant at that time, it was the Meira Paibis in the valley area who took active roles to stand guard and prevent the youths from being abducted at night and becoming another 'missing person' the next day.
This trust deficit against the Central forces did not start after May 3, 2023, and the history and image of Meira Paibis shall remain pristine, though recent attempts have been made to call them anti-nationals and terrorists, even from among the intellectuals of the so-called minority community.
People have seen how the villages of both communities are located next to one another as neighbours in the peripheral areas of the valley. The pictures do not lie. Both communities in these areas are poor and lack access to development despite being located in the valley, contrary to the claims that only the hill districts are underdeveloped in Manipur.
It needs to be considered that there are villages suffering from backwardness and disadvantages even in both Imphal West and Imphal East, as well as other villages in the remaining valley districts.
Why was there ever a need to launch the 'Go to Village' programme besides the 'Go to Hills' campaign if the valley areas are all progress and full of advantages?
When AFSPA was withdrawn from areas under the jurisdiction of as many as 19 police stations in the state in consideration of the reported improvement in the law-and-order situation in the state before this crisis erupted, the common folk indeed felt safer to move around after 6 pm.
They had actually started believing in a better future with talks of Act-East Policy, Eco-tourism, Railway services, etc. When Femina Miss India was hosted in the state recently, it was as if something unimaginable had happened for the first time in Manipur, considering that the state had been declared as a 'disturbed area.' The people of the state actually felt included in India's growth story, be it real or imaginary.
So, the moot question is who wanted this conflict? What is the point of committing this so-called 'ethnic cleansing' only to create an emergency situation and regress whatever little progress and development made in the state decades, if not years?
It is apparent that the majority of the population do not want any of this conflict, let alone carry out an ethnic cleansing. If there is indeed such an 'ethnic cleansing', why do the supposed victims and their representatives and those championing their causes on social media platform instigate so much hate only to prolong the crisis? Do they even care for the victims of their own community?
Why is saving one's community by addressing the affected and help bring a certain sense of normalcy not the priority, but more bloodshed for a separate administration?
Why a separate administration which will cost thousands more lives and years of prolonged crisis in Manipur be the only immediate solution to this so-called ethnic cleansing?
The answer to the million dollar question of who started this conflict obviously lies in who benefits from it.
