Shillong cries for sanity in strife-torn Manipur

SHILLONG, July 23: Hundreds of people converged at the Don Bosco Square, Laitumkhrah here on Sunday for a candlelight vigil organised by the Manipur Support Group.
Students and people from various walks of life participated in the candlelight vigil, organised as a mark of solidarity with the people of Manipur who continue to bear the brunt of ethnic violence.
They displayed placards that read: “Women’s bodies are not your battlefield”, “Rise up for justice and peace in Manipur”, “Save Manipur, no more communal fascism”, and “Justice delayed is justice denied”.
The participants shouted slogans to condemn the BJP-led government for its failure to act and also to demand the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister, N. Biren Singh. They also condemned the brutality against women as a weapon of war and demanded the cessation of violence and accountability from the strife-torn state.
A majority of the Kuki women who took part in the vigil demanded a separate administration in the Kuki-Zo community-dominated areas.
One of the Kuki women told reporters that the Centre and the political leaders in Parliament should listen to their plea for granting a separate administration as it is the only solution to the impasse.
“We cannot be together with the Meitei people who have murdered and killed our people. We are not able to collect their bodies lying in the morgue. The bodies are not being kept properly. We do not even treat animals like this,” she said.
“We are not demanding separation from Manipur state. We want separation from the Meitei community,” she added.
Another Kuki woman said there will be no peace unless justice is served. She alleged that the state government is colluding with the Meitei community.
“How can we remain with the Meitei community that has not spared women, young children, elderly people, and people with disabilities?” she asked.
Addressing the gathering, social activist Angela Rangad said they do not want to be used by ethno-nationalists or right-wing politicians who want hate and injustice to prevail.
“We are here to condemn all the forces that have been behind the unrest in Manipur. We may be in Shillong but when an injustice happens to one of our sisters in Manipur, it happens to us,” she said.
“We will reject perpetrators over their bodies since every woman counts and every human counts. We will not allow this kind of hatred to run through our lives, to divide our families and break our friendship,” Rangad said.
She said it is sad that women for years have been used by selfish people to push their own agendas.
“Women in Meghalaya are also often used by people who want to push ethno-nationalist politics,” she added.
Rangad said the Manipur government needs to tell people why the two Kuki women were subjected to sexual abuse and what happened to them.
Condemning the insurgent groups in Manipur for disrupting peace and spreading hatred, she said the time has come to isolate these elements groomed by hatred.
“We will continue to condemn the people who are in power and are raising such groups in the entire region,” the social activist said.
Editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim said there cannot be peace without justice.
She stated there should be a demand for a change of leadership in the government of Manipur because people in that state have justice under the present dispensation.
“I am here because I feel this is an opportunity to heal ourselves by being together, singing together and praying together because we are all very, very hurt inside. Not just women, men too feel the same,” Mukhim said.
She lamented the lack of space in Shillong for people to come together.
“It is always about non-tribal and tribal. We cannot have such things anymore. We are citizens of one country and we have to respect that,” she said.