Fate of Meitei Media: In Their Attempt To Sow Discord, They End Up Feeding Their Audience Misleading News

The co-ordination between the Thadou Community International (TCI) and valley based media is a sight to behold. They coordinate like a well-oiled machine with the workers in the factory working tirelessly for their owner. One acts as the raw material and the others process the raw material into a product called ‘Propaganda’ and sell the product, and the valley based consumer buys it happily.

You can’t deny the close and true friendship Mr. Lamjathang shares with Mr. Biren Singh. Innocent blood from his tribe and his kinsman can’t break the loyalty he has in their friendship. And you wonder why he can’t stay among his folk? The fact that they had to claim to speak for a community residing in a particular state from outside that state speaks volume of the popularity and the legitimacy they hold in the community. They don’t have the courage to declare their decision in the face of people whom they say they represent. The fact is traitors are treated the same everywhere, thus they are not given the platform by the people in their soil.

Mr. Michael Lamjathang Haokip and his minions founded an organisation called Thadou Community International, despite knowing the legitimacy it does not have in the society based on who founded the organisation, and acted like the community’s Chosen Representative. He utilised the platform to serve his master cum his best friend’s interest, completely disregarding the sentiments and voices of the people they claim they represent. The irony is that no one from the Kuki-Zo community finds it surprising that the valley based media is fuelling this hoax organisation’s propaganda, for the consensus among the Kuki-Zo community is they are Biren’s mouthpiece or caged parrots and not media houses based on true journalist ethics.

NRC is an issue people from the Kuki-Zo community feel which should be done on their own terms if it is to be done at all, not because they are illegal but due to the ill-mannered intention behind which the majority community in the state demanded for it. They want a safeguard to ensure that they are not persecuted unjustly and illegally evicted from their own homes like they have been in the valley and the capital in the past. After all to live with dignity is a fundamental right all Indians are guaranteed to it by the constitution. Where is the right to live with dignity, if a programme and policy is implemented against you with the prejudice that you are illegal immigrants? And the dateline based upon which NRC is sought by the majority community is regressive and it violates the fundamentals rights of Indians to reside in any parts of India under Article 19 of the constitution, for Manipur was brought under the purview of ILP in December 2019.

How can an organisation that attempts to sow discord and conflict in its own community be a champion of peace? How can an organisation that has apathy for the sufferings and injustice of their own folk be a Hero for integrity? They are merely an organisation cloud chasing fame at the cost of innocent blood and the suffering of their own folks. If they can’t be true to their own blood, do you think humanity and peace is their ultimate goal? The lack of support they have on the ground is indicative of the fact they are hoax that do not have any legitimacy to represent any one or any tribe. If the valley based media wants them to have their screen time, they are free to so, for it is only their audience that is fed with misleading news.

Kuki is a name too big for the likes of Thadou Community International to erase the history and legacy of. We, except the around 10-20 TCI members, unanimously are proud to call and identify ourselves as KUKIS and we are proudly Indians at the same time. We are not traitors for the blood of our forefathers flows through our veins, yes the blood of those freedom fighters who fought for the dignity, ancestral lands and the rights of their women, children and their descendants.