First it was The Times of India and now it is The Telegraph to come under the hammer of the ban verdict. It is not the case of this paper to say whether the ban on The Telegraph imposed by the All Manipur Students' Union is in the fitness of democratic ethos and practices but implicit in the decision to impose the ban is not only a question of carrying unfounded news stories but the lack of understanding and the insensitiveness of the media in the metros to sensitive issues concerning States like Manipur.
One day after the All Manipur United Clubs' Organization protested the report that appeared in the January 11 edition of the paper, the All Manipur Students' Union went ahead and announced the ban on the sale and distribution of the paper the next day, i.e. on January 12.
We appreciate the front page correction carried by the paper on January 12 which read, "Meiteis in Manipur had not burnt or looted the properties of Nagas two years ago as reported in The Telegraph in Saturday's edition. The error is regretted." It takes courage and it is certainly a gentleman's gesture to admit the mistake one has committed and the fact that the editorial team of the paper deemed it fit to carry the correction on its front page will not go unnoticed.
However the ban is still on and that brings us to the question of how the daily carried such a volatile report. History is witness to the fact that during the anti-cease fire agitation that rocked the State in June and July in 2001 the people did not target any private buildings. The wrath of the people was directed against the State Government and the Ministers and MLAs. The State Assembly was razed to the ground and so were a number of Government quarters and official residences of Ministers. But not a single Naga's house was attacked in the valley area.
The Telegraph is widely read and much respected not only in Manipur but in the entire North East region. The paper has a full time correspondent based in Manipur and we are sure such a volatile report would not have made it to the front page of the paper, if only the editorial team had taken the trouble to cross check the facts with their correspondent here.
How did that particular sentence, "Two years ago, feelings ran high in Manipur, and the Meiteis burnt and looted the properties of Nagas living in the valley" creep into the report filed by the Delhi correspondent, Seema Guha? Was the story planted by some mischievous elements intent on creating communal tension in Manipur or was it merely a case of over sight?
Either way, the management and the editorial team of the paper should not take the matter lightly for the cease fire issue and the NSCN (IM) peace talk is a sensitive matter here and we surely do not need some insensitive reports to ignite communal tension. If we are not mistaken, the media, particularly those published from the metros and mainland India take extra care to see that communal tension is not whipped up, during, say the Gujarat pogrom, the Babri Masjid demolition, the Bombay serial blasts etc.
We appreciate the media for their sensitivity while handling these volatile situations but why is it that the sensibilities of the people of the North-East, correction, Manipuris, are not respected or taken into consideration when reports are filed in connection with such sensitive issues as the anti-cease fire agitation or the NSCN (IM) peace talk?
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