Manipur Violence Archives - Lokmarg

Manipur Crisis Has Roots In Colonial Push For Evangelism-II

By Prosenjit Nath 19th September 2024

In the previous columns of this article, we found out how the evangelical push in India’s north-eastern region was sponsored and facilitated by colonial authorities. And these activities continued even after India’s Independence, with tacit or active support from the country’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. In this conclusive part, we shall uncover how proselytization took roots in North-East and the larger game-plan behind the upheaval in Manipur, Bangladesh and, to some extent, Myanmar.

As evangelists started their conversion things to the Northeast states of India below British rule, the scenario in Manipur was different from that in the other states. The Meiteis had a lengthy record of ruling the nation from historic times, and it remained below a Hindu king, originally now not coming below British manipulate in Assam. Eventually, the British conquered Manipur in 1891. However, the Hindu king remained in power, and the British agreed to maintain Christian evangelists out of Manipur.

William Pettigrew, a younger British missionary with the American Baptist Mission, in the end, acquired permission to set up a college in Imphal. However, he was once no longer allowed to preach Christianity. However, round 1894, Pettigrew was once granted permission to proceed his evangelical work in the hilly areas of Manipur, in particular amongst the Tangkhul tribes. Thus started the conversion of animistic tribes in Manipur to Christianity, done via more than a few baits, such as imparting Western clinical useful resources and education.

In 1901, Christians made up about eight per cent of Manipur’s population, whilst Hindus constituted around 60 per cent. By 1991, the Christian populace in Manipur had risen to 34.11 per cent, and by using 2011, it was once projected to be around forty one per cent. This sharp expansion in the Christianisation of the hill tribes resulted in a broad socio-political-cultural hole between the Christian tribes of the Hills and the Hindu Meiteis of the valley and has presently come to be a predominant supply of socio-political competition between the two communities.

Manipur has considered many ethnic conflicts because of the time of British rule, with a variety of revolts led by using the Naga and Kuki tribes below the colonial government. Like many borders in Northeast India, the hill areas of Manipur additionally had indistinct demarcations. When the British annexed Manipur in 1891, the hill areas had been made phase of the Imphal Valley, below the management of the Raja of Manipur. However, ordinary of their coverage of divide and rule, the British, because of this, separated parts of some hill ranges, such as the Chin Hills, Naga Hills, Cachar Hills, and Lushai Hills, hence dividing the hill communities by means of borders below the excuse of administrative and navy ease. Also, as the British furnished distinctive privileges to transformed tribes, the hilly areas that majorly transformed to Christianity have been a favoured lot, which opened up some other cracks between the communities residing in Manipur.

Despite formally permitting the hill areas into Imphal Valley below the Raja of Manipur’s manipulation in 1891, the British ensured that these areas remained underneath their de facto manipulation by using separate administrative tactics. This alternatively abnormal Valley-Hill administrative coverage of ‘living separate but together’ endured after 1947, with no modifications even after 1949 when the princely country of Manipur joined the Indian Union. This divisive administrative mechanism resulted in large socio-cultural and political fissures between the Meitei and Kuki communities.

Owing to these fissures created by the British, the hill tribes began a separatist motion in 1947 and demanded secession from Manipur. Unfortunately, the divisive video games instigated with the aid of the British persevered in free India. When land legal guidelines were enacted in Manipur in 1960, the hill areas were made an exception. In easy terms, the land legal guidelines of Manipur do now not follow the hill areas, exacerbating the current socio-political fissures.

In Manipur, the Meiteis are viewed as the majority and the most effective ethnic group. Despite British and later Nehru-backed evangelism, Hinduism, mostly practised by using the Meiteis, stays the faith of the majority and is viewed as the oldest faith in the state. Among the hill tribes, the Nagas and the Kukis are the two most important organizations and are generally Christian, whilst some nevertheless comply with normal animistic religions. Alongside these companies are the Meitei Pangals (Muslims), who are scattered throughout the hills and the valley.

The hostilities between these companies have a lengthy history, exacerbated by using the British via their separate administrative policies, a system that, unfortunately, persevered through the Indian authorities after independence. Manipur has viewed many conflicts, such as the Naga-Kuki war in 1993 and the Meitei-Pangal warfare in the same year. Meanwhile, tensions between the Meiteis and Nagas have simmered; however no longer actively erupted into conflict.

The majority of Meiteis, who represent almost 50 per cent of Manipur’s population, are predominantly Vaishnavites and generally stay in the valley, or they occupy solely one-tenth of the whole geographical place of Manipur. Due to divisive administrative policies, mainly regarding land ownership, Meiteis and different non-tribal corporations can’t buy land in the hills. This region, which includes nine-tenths of Manipur’s landmass, stays reserved for the Christian Scheduled Tribes.

Thus, the dominant crew in Manipur, the Meiteis, is unable to settle in the hills. With the current large-scale unlawful entries of Christian Kukis from Myanmar, there are serious worries about a demographic shift in the state, which is sure to have an impact on the Hindu Meitei community’s claims on Manipur adversely. This issue is why the Meiteis have persistently demonstrated a Scheduled Tribe (ST) reputation for their community, aiming to guard their heritage and ancestral land.

The modern fighting between the Hindu Meiteis and the Christian Kuki tribes used to be prompted by an order from the Manipur High Court directing the nation to advise Scheduled Tribe (ST) fame for the Meitei community. Another element exacerbating the struggle was once the arrest of Mark Haokip, a Kuki separatist leader. Because the Kukis are closely worried about unlawful poppy cultivation and drug trade, which generates good-sized revenue, a variety of Kuki tribal militant agencies are additionally inciting locals towards the government’s anti-drug measures, in addition to fuelling unrest in the state.

Manipur and the different northeastern states of India are seen as possible points within the golden triangle of a drug community involving Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. Indeed, some cities in Manipur are already stated to have ended up necessary hubs for drug cultivation and change due to the Kuki-Chin population; the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur district in Manipur is regarded as one of the worst-affected areas.

Estimates recommend that nearly eighty per cent of the pills smuggled into India originate in Myanmar. Chinese drug cartels are allegedly worried about the drug alternate through Myanmar and are stated to manipulate the entry of capsules into India through the northeastern states. These drug cartels, many of which are managed by means of ethnic militant corporations in Myanmar, additionally fund terrorist things to do in India. The continuation of the drug change is vital for them to preserve their funding of terrorists in India and Myanmar.

Since the 2021 Myanmar coup, there has been a non-stop inflow of refugees into India from Myanmar, a majority of whom are the Christian Kuki-Chin-Zomi tribes. These unlawful immigrants have occupied covered areas and reserved forests, main to the institution of new villages. The authorities view this as a serious safety threat. An eviction power to get rid of these unlawful encroachments from covered woodland lands in hill areas has additionally led to clashes between the Kuki-Chin neighbourhood and the state.

In the meantime, the US has been searching for a strong base and hall, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Northeast India, for a long time. Their involvement appears to be in the shape of the appropriate pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, primarily considering the recent removal of Bangladesh’s democratically elected government, who, in her words, had been opposed to the establishment of this Christian country corridor.

(Concluded)

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Manipur Crisis Has Roots In Colonial Push For Evangelism-I

By Prosenjit Nath 18th September 2024

This is the first section of a two-part series on the subject:

Following the British colonial era, Manipur has witnessed several ethnic conflicts, including uprisings led by the Naga and Kuki tribes against the colonial authorities. The dispute in Manipur is not only about race; it is a tinderbox created by decades of evangelical endeavours that is currently being used by international forces eager to establish a tactical footing in the region. In this article, we shall find out how the roots of Manipur crisis go back to the evangelical push in the north-eastern parts of India during and after the British Raj and are part of a larger game plan.

Several theories have been circulating, for some time, about the West involvement into the present crises in Bangladesh and Manipur. A review of the statements made by Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, a few months ago also highlights this submission. On May 23, 2024, Hasina wrote that she had received a proposal from “a white person” to allow his country to establish an army base in Bangladesh, with the assurance that she “wouldn’t have to fear about the upcoming election in January” if she granted the request. According to her, there was also a plan to establish “a Christian state, like East Timor… by means of taking components of Bangladesh (Chattogram) and Myanmar, with a base in the Bay of Bengal.” This plan, in accordance with her, additionally covered components of Mizoram, Manipur, and different North-eastern states of India.

There has been speculation in social media that the US is in search for a foothold in this region, allegedly, by facilitating an impartial Christian ‘Zo’ state. This nation would incorporate areas of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Manipur and Mizoram, inhabited by way of the Christian Kuki-Chin-Mizo people. Establishing a Christian-majority state in a largely non-Christian zone would supply a strategic stronghold for the West in Southeast Asia.

Additionally, it is noteworthy that certain sections of the Kuki populace are closely worried about poppy cultivation and drug trafficking from Myanmar. Currently, the identical Christian Kukis, many of whom are unlawful immigrants from Myanmar into Manipur, are in conflict with the native Meitei community, which is predominantly Hindu. It is believed that with the fall of Hasina, there were efforts to return the Christian Kukis, helping them establish a base and setting up a drug trafficking zone between India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. This is precisely what Hasina had warned about.

The Conversion of Northeast India to Christianity

Involvement of the US in the Northeast components of India is no longer a current development, having started a long way lower back in the nineteenth century. One of the predominant troubles in the Northeast these days is the rampant Christian conversions through Western evangelists, which have persisted unabated when you consider the nineteenth century. This has considerably altered the demographics and socio-political panorama of at least three Northeast states—Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya—since India’s independence. Manipur, as soon as a predominantly Hindu-Sanamahi state, now has a Christian populace of forty-one per cent, up from eight per cent in 1931. While there are giant populations of Hindus in city areas, the hilly components of Manipur are now usually Christianised.

The Christian conversion threat entered northeast India around 1870, with the arrival of British and American evangelists, however the conversions had been gradual at that time. While British missionaries subsequently gave up after encountering difficulties, American missionaries were relentless, persevering in their efforts to convert the nearby population. These proselytization efforts had been generally carried out by way of imparting the so-called “superior Western structure of education” via missionary colleges and via introducing Western standards of ‘feminism’ amongst tribal women, which aimed at doing away with them from their age-old standard roles. Owing to the chronic efforts, by 1931, the Christian populace in the Northeast states rose to around fifteen percent.

Conversions have been chiefly done by imparting unique privileges and advantages to tribe individuals who transformed to Christianity, benefits that have been denied to non-Christians. These new converts, seeing the advantages, remained loyal to the British authorities for their obtain and did no longer take part in the Indian nationalist movement. The British government, in turn, extended its funding to Christian missionaries to speed up the conversion method in the Northeastern components of India.

However, prior to the beginning of World War II, British and American impact in the Northeast weakened, and besides political backing, the missionaries had been quickly pressured to leave. As a result, the Northeast skilled a mild decline in Christianity between 1931 and 1941. However, matters rapidly changed, and the Nineteen Forties and Fifties noticed a substantial surge in the unfolding of Christianity in Northeast India. During this period, Mizoram grew to be ninety per cent Christian, whilst Nagaland grew to be forty-six per cent Christian.

The two primary drivers for this unanticipated development of Christianity are as follows:

• The first purpose used to be the arrival of the American Southern Baptist Church, which is extraordinarily fanatic in its conversion methods. This church, which adheres carefully to the unique structure of Christianity, is the equal church that presently exists in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, conducting mass conversion programmes.

• The second purpose was Jawaharlal Nehru who facilitated the speedy Christianisation of the Northeast after Independence. In 1942, Britain’s Sir Reginald Coupland arrived in India to make certain that the missionary reach in the Northeastern states remained uninterrupted and that proselytization would proceed to keep the loyalty of contributors of the ‘crown colony.’ It was once at this time that Coupland deliberated a separate condo comprising the Northeast states of India and Burma, which had loyal Christian tribal hill people, and Nehru agreed.

So, after Independence, a state of affairs arose that placed tribal rights in the Northeast states have been intentionally neglected and grew to become non-existent whilst overseas evangelists had been given free rein. Missionaries grew to be Nehru’s “advisors,” and he observed their orders. One identity that wishes a different point out right here is that of Dr Verrier Elwin, a Christian evangelist masquerading as an “anthropological advisor” to Nehru. Verrier and Nehru interestingly signed a settlement that disallowed Hindu sadhus from coming into Nagaland.

Read the Second Part Here

Is the US Backed IMEC a Copy-cat Project of China’s BRI?

By Sanjoy Narayan 17th September 2023

On the sidelines of the G20 summit that was hosted by India in New Delhi, a new project called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was announced. Backed by the US, it is a joint initiative of India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel, and the European Union to create a network of railway lines and port connections from India to Europe, across the Middle East. The project aims to boost trade, deliver energy resources, improve digital connectivity and enable the production and transport of green hydrogen to all partner countries.

It could also resemble a copy-cat project, which aims to emulate China’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an infrastructure project that spans across Asia, Africa and Latin America and has given China considerable influence over countries that have struggling economies. The BRI was unveiled by China’s paramount leader Xi Jinping in September and October 2013 during visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, and was later promoted by Chinese premier Li Keqiang during his state visits to Asia and Europe.

Progress of the BRI, however, has been affected by various factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing tensions between China and the United States, and the changing perceptions and policies of the participating countries.

There have been delays, cancellations, or renegotiations of some major projects due to health risks, environmental concerns, debt sustainability issues, or political changes. For example, in Malaysia, the East Coast Rail Link project was suspended and later restarted on a reduced scale.

In some countries that fall in the proposed BRI route, there have been criticism and opposition to the plan because of lack of transparency, accountability, and standards of the projects that make up the BRI. Much of this also centres around the geopolitical implications of China’s growing influence in the world and its ambition of evolving a New World Order to challenge the West, and, particularly the US.

There have been recent dissenting ripples. Italy was the first from the G7 grouping (the intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US) to join the BRI in 2017 by singing a memorandum of understanding with China but it has since faced pressure from its allies, notably the US , to reconsider its involvement in BRI and align its policies with the European Union and NATO. Recently, there were reports that Italy now wants to withdraw from the BRI before its five-year MoU expires next year.

According to some reports, Italy is now seeking to withdraw from the BRI before its five-year memorandum expires in March 2024.

The IMEC is expected to offer an alternative model of development that is based on shared values, transparency, sustainability and respect for sovereignty. It wants to nurture and foster regional cooperation and stability in the Middle East, a crisis riddled region of the world where countries such as Israel and Saudi Arabia have been at odds with each other, as well as other schisms within the Arab world.

It is easy to surmise that the IMEC is a proposal aimed at countering or even checkmating China’s BRI but whether it can do that remains to be seen. BRI has a 10-year head start over IMEC and among the 150 countries that have signed agreements with China for its BRI, are Greece, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are. allies and partners of the US. Will they dump BRI and swarm to IMEC?

The IMEC is still in its early stages and many details are yet to be worked out, such as the financing, timeline and technical feasibility of the project. The IMEC will also face challenges such as geopolitical tensions, security risks and environmental concerns in the regions it passes through. Moreover, the IMEC will not necessarily replace or compete with the BRI, but rather complement or coexist with it, as some of the partner countries are also involved in the BRI or have good relations with China. And many BRI signatories might want to evaluate the IMEC’s value propositions and comparative advantages over the BRI before they decide to sign up or choose one over the other.

The IMEC proposal should also be viewed from the perspective of Saudi Arabia, the biggest player in the Middle East, and a close ally of China.

China and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations in 1990 and have since developed a comprehensive strategic partnership that covers various areas of cooperation, such as oil, defence, infrastructure, culture and tourism. China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner and the largest importer of Saudi crude oil.

Besides Saudi Arabia being a key part of China’s BRI, China has also played a mediating role between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two regional rivals that have been at odds over various issues, such as the nuclear deal, the war in Yemen, the crisis in Syria and the influence in Iraq. China has proposed a security framework for the Gulf region that emphasizes multilateralism, non-interference and mutual respect.

China’s mediation efforts led t oa landmark agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia that was signed in Beijing in March this year. After seven years of broken relations, the agreement aims to restore ties between the two countries, which are divided by a religious rift that dates back to the early history of Islam. Saudi Arabia and Iran follow different branches of Islam – Saudi Arabia is largely Sunni Muslim, while Iran is predominantly Shia Muslim. This has global implications with Muslim dominated nations around the world either looking up to Saudi Arabia or Iran, depending on which sect is dominant in their regions. China’s importance in geopolitics in general, and the Middle East, in particular, can be gauged by the fact that it brokered a deal between the two biggest rivals in the Mulsim world.

China’s growing global influence, and its close ties with the other major power, Russia, which is embroiled in the ongoing war in Ukraine, and its economic importance–it is still the dominant manufacturer for global markets, should not be viewed separately from its BRI ambitions. China’s president Xi Jinping decided to skip the recent New Delhi summit of the G20 but how his country will react to the IMEC proposal will be highly anticipated.

Indian PMs and Their Media Shyness

Shortly after the conclusion of the G20 Summit in Delhi, attended by a panoply of world leaders, including some of the most powerful, Prashant Bhushan, a noted Indian public interest lawyer and activist tweeted a parody of the late Harry Belafonte’s song, Jamaica Farewell, with lyrics that satirized and lamented the denial of access that journalists covering the summit had to face. Mainly it was aimed at the American media corps that travels with President Joe Biden on his Air Force One aircraft and who traditionally expect to interact informally with the leaders and with the US president when he meets them for talks.

Some of the lyrics of the parody, quite artfully done and accompanied by an animated clip, said: …”They thought free speech was in their reach but when they landed in Delhi, they got a shock: “I’m sad to say they were kept at bay and in the van they just had to stay”…. and “where Smiley Joe met PMO, the press corps simply could not go…”

Funny? Yes. But sad as well. Ever since 2014, when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India after his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won massively in India’s parliamentary elections, a feat that it bettered before his ongoing second term, Modi has adopted a somewhat reclusive media policy. True, he has and does agree to be interviewed from time to time but usually to very selective media publications, TV channels, or journalists (Disclaimer: this writer along with a colleague from a leading Indian newspaper was granted an interview with him in April 2015), but he has never addressed a press conference or faced the press in the manner that some heads of states in other democracies routinely do.

The Indian mainstream media has gotten used to restrictions and there was hardly a murmur about access or the lack of it during the G20 media. On social media such as X and Facebook some tired posts made the rounds but not much else.

Here’s the thing, though. Is it a practice for Indian Prime Ministers to shun the media? Modi’s predecessor, the Congress party’s Manmohan Singh, had a tenure that began in 2004 and lasted till 2014. Guess how many press conferences he addressed during that decade? Three. The first press conference was in May 2005, the second was in February 2010, and the third and last one was in January 2014. Singh was often called the “silent PM” and considered by many to be a puppet of his party’s then president, Sonia Gandhi.

More Violence in Manipur

Manipur may have dropped off from the front pages of Indian newspapers, overtaken by other deemed important stories such as afterglow of the G20 summit in Delhi, but violence still rages in the northeastern state that has been in turmoil since May this year. Last Friday, a group of armed Meitei men attacked a Kuki village in the Chandel district, killing 12 people, including four children, and injuring 18 others. The attackers also set fire to several houses and vehicles, and looted valuables. The police said they have registered a case and launched a manhunt for the culprits.

Ethnic violence between the Meitei and the Kuki tribal communities in the state has claimed more than 180 lives and displaced nearly 70,000 people besides causing widespread destruction of property, including churches and temples.

The violence in Manipur is a conflict between the Meitei people, who are the majority in the Imphal Valley, and the Kuki tribal community, who live in the surrounding hills. The violence began after a protest by the Kukis against the Meiteis’ demand for tribal status, which the Kukis feared would give them more power and land rights. The violence has also been fueled by other issues, such as drug trafficking, illegal migration, land disputes, and religious differences. Besides killings and destruction of property, women have been targeted and humiliated by sexual violence and public shaming.

Although the central and state governments have deployed security forces, such as the army, paramilitary, and police, to restore law and order and protect civilians, and imposed curfews, internet shutdowns, and prohibitory orders to prevent further violence, this has clearly not helped in stemming the violence, which has far deeper socio-economic and communal problems that need to be resolved.

Does India Have a Talent Shortage?

Last week, a report by ManpowerGroup, a global staffing company, revealed that four out of five employers in India report facing difficulty in finding the talent they need. Meanwhile, 52 million additions were made to the payrolls over the past four years. The report also said that India has one of the highest talent shortages in the world, with 80% of employers struggling to fill roles compared to 69% globally. The most in-demand roles are IT professionals, engineers, technicians, sales representatives, and accounting and finance staff.

Why do companies have trouble recruiting for such roles in India? There could be several factors.

First, is the fact that the impact of the COVID pandemic continues to impact the job market with uncertainties and insecurities among many jobseekers, some of whom prefer to work from home or avoid exposure to crowds. This has had an impact on the number of workers available for onsite work.from home or avoid exposure to crowds.

Second, it is the lack of qualified job-seekers. Demand may have increased for skilled and high-performing workers with companies seeking productivity and performance-driven hires. Job seekers with average or poor performance may find it hard to compete and get selected for the right job opportunities. And although India has a vast cohort of working age population (aged 15-59), many are just not qualified for the sort of roles employers are looking for.

India’s working-age population was 61% of its total population in 2011; the proportion is growing rapidly, and is now estimated at 64-65%. In numbers, and try to wrap your head around it, it is 900 million. If the majority of these people are not qualified or capable enough to do the jobs that employers are seeking workers for, what do you think will happen? Hear the ticking? It’s a time bomb.

To End With Some Heady Stuff…

Quick, which country drinks the most beer per head? According to a survey by Kirin Holdings (it’s a Japanese group; and, yes, it also makes beer!), it’s the Czech Republic. Presumably because beer is cheap in that country, people drink an estimated nearly 200 litres per capita every year. That’s a whole lot of guzzling. In Austria, which comes a distant second, the comparative figure is less than 100 litres. And, if you’re wondering where India ranks on this list, it doesn’t figure among the top 30. And not even in the top 100. According to the survey, Indians drank a measly 1.2 litres of beer per head, the lowest among the 170 countries surveyed!

Why Police Took 14 Days To Register Zero FIR In Manipur Case: CJI Chandrachud

By LokMarg 31st July 2023

Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Central government on the Manipur viral video, in which two women were allegedly sexually assaulted and paraded naked by a mob, asking why the FIR in the case was registered on May 18 when the incident happened on May 4.

“Supreme Court questions why the FIR was registered on May 18 when the incident happened on May 4. What were the police doing from May 4 to May 18? The incident came to light that women are being paraded naked and at least two were raped. What were the police doing?” the Supreme Court asked the Central government.

Manipur: 5th Accused Arrested In Viral Video Case
However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that government has nothing to hide.

“This court can monitor the situation. Something coming from here or there will be hazardous,” he added.

A 26-second video from Manipur has triggered outrage in the whole country where two women were stripped naked, assaulted and paraded by a mob.

The incident allegedly took place on May 4, a day after ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur.

After a video of the same went viral, the police swung into action and arrested seven people, including the main accused.

The violence in Manipur erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3 to protest against the high court order, asking the state government to consider adding the Meitei community to the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs).

However, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday took over the investigation into the case. (ANI)

RS Adjourned As Oppo Protests Govt’s Move For discussion Manipur

By LokMarg 31st July 2023

Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2:30 PM shortly after a discussion on the Manipur issue began in the House.

Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2:30 PM today shortly after Opposition MPs objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar’s short-duration discussion on issues connected with Manipur.
Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 12 pm soon after the Upper House convened for the day, amidst a ruckus over a discussion on the ongoing Manipur issue.

Soon after the House assembled for the day and papers were laid on the table, the Opposition started raising the issue requesting the chair to consider it.

Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal said, “The opposition is against a discussion on Manipur.

For nine days, the government kept up with its promise to speak on Manipur but it has not been possible from the opposition’s side. If they are ready, we can hold a discussion at 2 pm.

”The Lok Sabha was also adjourned till 2 pm today Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi earlier today said that bill to replace the ordinance on control of services in Delhi is not listed in today’s business and the matter will not be taken up in the Parliament.”We will inform you when it (Delhi Ordinance Bill) will be introduced. It is not mentioned in the List of Businesses today,” Joshi told reporters before the Parliament convened for the day.

He further stated that a no-confidence motion will be brought within ten working days from the day it was tabled in the Lok Sabha. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also said Bill will not be introduced in Parliament today.

“We have been asking for their (Opposition) demand since the first day, they wanted a discussion on Manipur and when we agreed to it, now they changed their demand and want the Prime Minister to speak on this issue. They are trying to politicise this issue. They have brought the no-confidence motion, we will have discussions on the same whenever Speaker decides,” Meghwal said.

Earlier today, Aam Admi Party issued a three-line whip for all its Rajya Sabha MPs to be present in the House from July 31 to August 4 to support the party’s stand on the bill to replace the ordinance on control of services in Delhi when it is brought up in the House by the government in the monsoon session of Parliament. (ANI)

The Ground Is Shifting – Slowly, Silently

By Amit Sengupta 29th July 2023

Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
– Nietzsche

If in the beginning was the word, then silence is not always golden. If, in the beginning is silence, then there is always a twist in the dark narrative. If a tragedy follows a nightmare, and a nightmare then follows a tragedy, and it thereby becomes a damned vicious circle, then the wordless silence can become sinister, almost diabolical.

As the condemned people of Manipur would tell you.

Or, ask the people of a ‘democratic, secular, pluralist, socialist’ India – the happy story of their lives since the fated summer of 2014, sans the dominant narrative of fake news synchronized ritualistically by fanatic loyalists of the media and the army of thoughtless bhakts. Ask them, and a torrent of clueless, insensitive and incoherent verbiage floods the vitiated atmosphere, like waters from a filthy gutter, and all forms of ethics, form and content, argument and ideas, go for a toss. If the fake messiah has spoken, or chosen silence, then it will be as it is; Manipur, and the country, can go, get damned!

So what is it that compels him to choose this uncanny silence in the face of the whole world asking him to speak up?

Is it something new? No. Not at all.

Did he choose to offer condolence to her family when journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered by Hindutva fundamentalists, no less vicious in their murderous thoughts and actions, as Islamic fundamentalists? Did he choose to share the grief on the killing of ace photographer Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer award-winner, on the frontlines of a battle between the Taliban and western forces in Afghanistan, even while the entire Western media made their homage, and even the Afghan president shared his sorrow with the family of Danish?

So why was Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a brilliant Kashmiri woman journalist, clicking her rare and precious pictures against all odds in an extremely difficult conflict zone, denied the joy of visiting the US to collect her coveted Pulitzer? What is the petty pleasure which an ageing and fossilized establishment gets, (with not an iota of positive thoughts inside their political unconscious) by denying a young, female role-model the right to her prestigious award, while, in contrast, they should be celebrating her and the honour she received?

Not only that, they have put other Kashmiri journalists in prison, in a state, where, literally, the media has been gagged since the abrogation of Article 370, the clampdown, and the military occupation, subjecting the entire population into an eternal state of trauma. Is this how they imagine the people of Kashmir can be integrated to the idea of a mainland?

Ditto with late UR Ananthamurthy and Girish Karnad, great cultural icons. Ditto with our world champion women wrestlers, who were dragged and brutalized on the streets of Delhi, even while he walked like a mythical monarch holding a mythical Sengol, in the new Parliament building, boycotted by the entire Opposition. Even while a muscular BJP bahubali from UP, accused of hounding and harassing women wrestlers, including by a minor, still roams scot-free! He even has the audacity to speak about the Manipuri women who were paraded naked on the streets, gang-raped and mob-lynched, even while the BJP-led regime in Imphal and the entire security establishment tacitly looked the other way.

Chief of the Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal, one of the few brave public figures who chose to go to Manipur and meet its people in the relief camps, said: “I went to Churachandpur alone, without any security. I met the families of the two women who were stripped, paraded naked and sexually assaulted. If I can meet them, why can’t the chief minister? Why can’t he go to Churachandpur and other affected places in his bullet-proof car?”

Indeed, in one case, a boy was allegedly picked up by the cops for putting up a Facebook post, and, then, guess what did they do? They gave him away to a blood-thirsty mob!

In another case, two Kuki women working in a car-wash garage in Imphal were reportedly gang-raped, beaten up and murdered by a mob, and the spectacle went on for a long time, but the cops and para-military forces were nowhere around. A freedom-fighter’s mother was burnt alive inside her own home. A Kargil soldier’s wife was murdered. And someone else’s daughter has been gang-raped. Horror stories are endless and no one knows when these tragedies and nightmares will at all end!

In another macabre twist, as in the ghastly parade of a Kuki mother and daughter, stripped on the streets, which led to huge national outrage, several such instances point to the active role of women in instigating and supporting these grotesque public spectacles – the murderous assaults on the body and soul of other women — as allies of male rapists and murderers.

What have they reduced this beautiful state of Manipur into? How have they turned such nice people into ugly monsters?

ALSO READ: Every Corner of Imphal Has Become a Relief Camp

Certainly, all of this, reminds us of the state-sponsored genocide in Gujarat, 2002, when innocent citizens of India, including children, were raped, gang-raped, burnt alive and murdered, while a large population celebrated and glorified the genocide and murderers. No wonder, they were garlanding the killers and rapists in the Bilquis Bano case, whereby, her child, family and friends were murdered! Not only that, one of the killers was being felicitated by the BJP in Gujarat.

So what is this goddamned message to the entire country and the world? We will do what we will, you can go get damned!

While miscellaneous monsters, mob-lynch specialists and gang-rapists are currently ruling the roost, apparently backed by the regime, it has been three years since brilliant, young scholars, Umar Khalid, Gulfisha, Sharjeel, among others like Khalid Saifi, are rotting in jail. Their crime? Protesting peacefully against the communal and anti-constitutional CAA.

In this litany of infinite injustice, there is not one moment of pause. There is not one word spoken which can heal, console and soothe the nation’s soul. There is not one gesture, not even symbolic and ephemeral, which can help the nation walk away from the vicious, the sinister, the diabolical. It is this eternal festival of hell-fire which hounds this condemned land, where evil stalks, like a death-wish, crushing all that comes on its way.

Amidst this despair and pessimism, what is it that compels him to choose this compulsive silence? In contrast, he is in full force, waxing eloquent to hired, mostly Gujarati NRIs, all over the world, while being honoured with sundry awards, even as he makes multi-billion arms deals – to benefit whom, in a country with tens of thousands jobless, homeless, poor and hungry?

For one, there is a path-breaking paradigm shift happening right now in India which has rattled him and rendered him speechless. Two, he and his genius think-tank, seem totally clueless in their unimaginative counter-attacks – using metaphors which only boomerangs on them.

Consider this golden statement of someone who has otherwise chosen silence when faced with a ravaged Manipur, or, the sexual harassment of our women wrestlers, etc. According to a BJP MP, while speaking to them in a parliamentary party meeting, “He said the East India Company, the Indian National Congress, the Indian Mujahideen and the Popular Front of India also had India in their names.”

INDIA has undoubtedly rattled him and his party. There is a new wind blowin’ in this ‘New India’. India needs hope and healing. India will find hope and healing. The nation will definitely resurrect and redefine its own destiny; its own secular democracy and its own rainbow coalition. It’s time for him to go. Enough is enough!

Manipur Gov Visits Relief Camp In Churachandpur, Consoles Woman

By LokMarg 29th July 2023

A video showing Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey “consoling” a woman at a relief camp in the violence-hit Churachandpur district of Manipur surfaced on Saturday.

Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey on Saturday visited relief camps in Churachandpur and consoled a woman who narrated her story.
She met several locals displaced during the violence that erupted on May 3 and assured the affected people that the government would offer compensation to those who lost family members and experienced property damage.

BJP Leader Quits Party Over Manipur, Says ‘PM Is Sleeping’

Additionally, she expressed her commitment to promoting peace and ensuring a bright future for the people of Manipur, promising to do everything in her power to achieve these objectives.

During a visit to a relief camp, a women narrated her ordeal to the Manipur Governor and started to weep as other women looked on.

As per the video, the Governor can be seen walking up to the grief-stricken woman and consoling her. During her visit to the relief camps, several dispaced locals asked when peace would return to the state.

The Governor said, “The people here want to return home. I am striving to bring all parties together in the interest of restoring peace to the state.”

Earlier, Governor Anusuiya Uikey on Saturday urged the visiting I.N.D.I.A leaders to contribute to the restoration of peace and order to the violence-hit Northeast.

She also called on all parties and stakeholders help put the state back on track.

Speaking to reporters after visiting relief centres in Churachandpur, which was the epicentre of the ethnic violence in the state, Governor Uikey said, “People are asking when peace will be restored to the state. I make constant efforts to bring communities and stakeholders together in the interest of restoring peace to the state. We are also calling on all political parties to help us in this effort.”

On the two-day visit by the Opposition delegation, the Manipur Governor said, “I would appeal to them to contribute towards restoring peace to the state.”

After visiting people displaced by the ethnic violence at the Churachandpur relief shelters, the Governor said, “The government will provide compensation to people, to lost family members to the violence and also suffered loss of property.

I will do everything possible to bring peace to Manipur and towards the welfare and well-being of the people, across communities.” (ANI)

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Manipur Video: CBI Registers Case, Launches Probe

By LokMarg 29th July 2023

The CBI on Saturday registered a case in connection with Manipur viral video where two women were purportedly seen being paraded naked.

The video, which surfaced on social media and triggered a war of words between the BJP-led Centre and the Opposition, over the Manipur situation was from May 4, the day after ethnic clashes broke out in the Northeast state.
“The CBI has registered an FIR in the matter. More details are awaited,” a CBI officer said.

According to sources, a SIT had been formed earlier under the supervision of senior level officer to investigate the case while officials of the CBI, who are currently in Manipur, will investigate other cases including the one pertaining to the viral video.

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“The CBI team will question the arrested accused. The process of handing over the evidence is already underway by the local police,” a source told ANI.

On Thursday the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) referred the case to the CBI and within 48 hours a case was registered by the agency.

Manipur Police arrested six accused after the video went viral.

According to sources, the mobile phone from which the viral video was shot has been recovered and the person who shot it has also been arrested.

Meanwhile, a delegation of 20 members from opposition political parties reached Manipur on Saturday.

The members will meet people affected by violence during their two-day visit to the state.

With the Opposition vocal on the Manipur issue, seeking a discussion in both Houses and demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament has seen repeated disruptions and little business. (ANI)

BJP Leader Quits Party Over Manipur, Says ‘PM Is Sleeping’

By LokMarg 27th July 2023

After resigning from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Manipur issue, the party’s former Bihar spokesperson Vinod Sharma on Thursday said that a Manipur-like incident has never happened anywhere else while adding that the “Prime Minister is still sleeping”.

Sharma said that “with a heavy heart”, he wrote to BJP chief JP Nadda and Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Manipur video incident.
“With a heavy heart, I wrote to JP Nadda and PM Modi that an incident like that in the Manipur video has never happened anywhere else. Still, the PM is sleeping, he doesn’t have the courage to sack CM Biren Singh…”, Sharma told ANI.

He further said that he has raised his voice against the women’s atrocities and resigned from the party.

He further said, “BJP speaks about Nari Sakhti, Beti Bachao, Hindu Rashtra, Sanatana Dharm… Is this the Sanatana Dharma we’re upholding? As a human being, I couldn’t tolerate this and raised my voice against this injustice…”

The violence in Manipur erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3 in protest against the proposed inclusion of people belonging to the Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will refer Manipur viral video case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the government sources said on Thursday.

A 26-second video from Manipur has triggered outrage in the whole country where two women were stripped naked, assaulted, and paraded by a mob.

The sources further told ANI that the Centre will also file an affidavit in Supreme Court requesting the trial of a viral video case to take place outside Manipur.

Only STs can buy lands in hilly areas. The majority Meitei community, which occupies the Imphal Valley and nearby areas, sought the ST status keeping in view their increasing population and increased requirement of land so that they could purchase lands in the hilly areas. (ANI)

INDIA Alliance Team To Visit Manipur On July 29-30

By LokMarg 27th July 2023

A team of opposition MPs belonging to I.N.D.I.A is slated to visit Manipur on July 29 and 30 amid their demand for a detailed discussion in Parliament on the situation in the state, which has seen ethnic violence.

The visit comes even as the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has accepted the notice given by the opposition parties for no-confidence motion against the government.
The opposition leaders have said that they decided to go for no-confidence motion to seek reply from the government and the Prime Minister on various issues including the situation in Manipur.

Opposition parties have been protesting in Rajya Sabha over their demand for a detailed discussion on Manipur violence and a statement from the Prime Minister.

“A team of INDIA alliance MPs will visit Manipur on July 29, 30,” an opposition leader said.

Oppsition parties have been pressing for their demand since the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament on July 20. The government has said it is ready for debate on the issue but the opposition has inisisted on debate under adjournment motion.

Both Houses of Parliament saw disruptions on Thursday also.

Home Minister Amit Shah had visited Manipur and announced several steps to restore peace. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had visited the state in June.

Twenty-six opposition parties had named their alliance as I.N.D.I.A during their meeting in Bengaluru earlier this month. (ANI)