Dialogue with Empathy Key to Normalcy in Manipur: GK Pillai

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Govt Has Taken Right Step to Deal with Manipur Crisis: Ex-Home Secy

By Raisina Correspondent

New Delhi, February 28: Former Home secretary GK Pillai on Friday said that dialogue with empathy is the way to establish normalcy in Manipur. Referring to the imposition of President’s Rule, Pillai said that the Centre has taken the right step to deal with the Manipur crisis.

“Manipur is facing the consequences of one community being called illegal infiltrators and drug-peddlers. The false narrative based on hate and misinformation for a long time has left the consequences which are being seen in Manipur now,” said Pillai.

The former Home secretary was speaking at the award function of IPI (International Press Institute)-India Award for Excellence in Journalism 2024 at the Constitution Club in the national capital. Bhanu Prakash Chandra of The Week bagged the award of the year for his coverage of the Ukraine War. Chandra covered the Ukraine War by going to the war zone.

The IPI-India Award also was given to a Vijaita Singh of The Hindu and journalists from Scroll, Caravan, and The Print for their respective coverages of the ethnic conflicts in Manipur.

“The fundamental rights of the citizens in Manipur remained on paper. The Right to Life, the Right to Education, and the Right to Movement were completely abrogated for all the practical purposes in Manipur,” said Pillai.

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He also stated that sections of the people in Manipur were left with the only choice to travel by air. “The right to movement is a fundamental right for the citizens. But sections of the people in Manipur couldn’t exercise the right to movement by road. They had no options but to fly to move to other places,” added Pillai.

He stated that it’s the fundamental right of the people to move by roads. “But the people in the hills in Manipur faced situations where their right to movement remained on the paper,” added Pillai.

The former home secretary said that the “government has now taken the right step to deal with the situations in Manipur”. Manipur recently came under President’s Rule after almost 18 months of ethnic strife. Media reports have stated that more than 250 people lost their lives after the May 3 outbreak of violence.

“Tremendous damage has been done in Manipur (by months of violence).The process to healing wounds of the communities will be slow. While maintaining the territorial integrity of Manipur, dialogue with empathy is key to restoring normalcy in Manipur,” said Pillai.

He lamented that certain groups in Manipur were targeted with fake news and misinformation. Pillai stressed that fact-based information dissemination is key to deal with situations in Manipur.

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