The demand that the Inner Line Permit System or a similar mechanism to protect the indigenous people of the land be enforced in the State. The staunch opposition against the three Bills passed by the State Assembly last year on August 31, resulting in the death of nine people in Churachandpur, with the bodies still lying in state. The demand that the Meiteis/Meeteis be included in the Scheduled Tribe list and the voice against this demand. NSCN (IM) getting more vocal with the demand that the Naga inhabited areas be brought under one administrative unit and backed by numerous Naga civil society organisations, notably the United Naga Council. The staunch opposition against the demand of the NSCN (IM) under the slogan that not an inch of the territory of Manipur would be ceded for the formation of a Greater Lim. Surely Manipur can look forward to more stormy days ahead. A clear reflection that nothing is right between the different communities of the State and this is a cause for worry. As things stand today, the divide spawned by the Lim demand is deep and compounding matter is again the divide that has emerged over the demand to provide a Constitutional mechanism to protect the land and indigenous people of the land. A solution is at hand, so said the NSCN (IM) a few days back and following this the Kuki Inpi (Revived Apex Body) and Kuki Movement for Human Rights Trust have come forward and petitioned the Prime Minister to settle the case of over 900 Kukis killed by the outfit in the infamous Naga-Kuki clash in the early part of the 1990s before inking any final deal with the outfit.
How far the stand of Kuki Inpi (Revived Apex Body) and Kuki Movement for Human Rights Trust will impact on the overall philosophy of holding the Tribal Unity Day to mark the completion of the one year long uprising against the three Bills passed by the State Assembly last year on August 31 is unclear, but clearly this is a statement on the trust deficit amongst the different communities of the land. Apparent that it all depends on the issue. So while the State Government is dubbed as a communal Government, working and looking after the needs of only the majority community, the Meiteis, the two major tribes, that is the Nagas and the Kukis too do not see eye to eye on major issues. Just look at the imbroglio over the demand to grant district status to Sadar Hills to get this point. All these instances have been cited just to underline the point that nothing seems to be going right in the relationship amongst the different communities and this should be a cause of concern for the people. Time to stop looking at every issue through the narrow prism of one’s community. When everyone starts talking only on behalf of one’s community then the casualty will obviously be Manipur. And this has been going on for too long. Not healthy.
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