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Front Page >> Editorials > Story
Step 2: In the <body>, place the 
Communal Tone
It is a tragedy that a number of civilians have been killed and maimed by the IEDs planted in the interior parts of Churachandpur district and while the blame game over the issue is on between the proscribed UNLF and the security force, what is a matter of concern is the attempt by some elements to give a communal tone to the issue at hand. There is no ground to condone the planting of IEDs which do nothing except make life hell for the common people and at the same time it is also absolutely unjustified to give a communal tinge to the planting of the IEDs.

The concern should be about the planting of the IEDs and the heavy toll it has taken on the innocent villagers of the far flung areas. The security force and the UNLF may continue with their slanging match but the general public and the social organizations must see to it that no attempt is made to communalize the issue. We agree that the outfit in question is dominated by the Meiteis, but there is no reason why the Meiteis should be blamed for any action taken up by the outfit concerned here. Make no mistake; it makes absolutely no sense to equate any action launched by any outfit with any community.

If the people are against any particular outfit then it should be against that outfit and not against any particular community. In this age of globalization, when people are beginning to look beyond the boundaries of their Nation, it would be not only stupid but also suicidal for us to continue to cling on to the philosophy of ethnic divide. Again it is important for the general public to be aware of the elements who are only too happy to rake up an issue along communal lines for their own personal ends.

Manipur is a land made up of different ethnic groups and communities and it is precisely because of this that extra care needs to be taken to ensure that communal seeds are not sown by any force or any element. Why should every issue be seen only through the narrow prism of communal divides? And who stands to gain by giving a communal hue to any issue that comes up? In fact situation has come to such a pass that any issue whether it is education, lack of development, absence of medical facilities etc, are invariably given a communal tone and we need to seriously question whether such posturing is going to do any good to anyone.

As ordinary citizens of this land, let's all ponder over this issue deeply. There may be forces at work which will be only too happy to see communal tension becoming the order of the day and there may be elements who will not hesitate to spew communal poison and it these elements which we should identify and root out from our society. We do not need a Pravin Togadia amongst us. As the majority community we do agree that the Meiteis need to be more sensitive to the sentiments of the other communities, but blaming the majority community for all the ills besetting the State makes no sense.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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