Matamgi Manipur

by Pradip Phanjoubam This article was originally published by the Times of India, Crest Edition on May 12 2012 at  http://www.timescrest.com/opinion/outsiders-at-home-7894 Two recent suicides have once again brought to the fore the vexed question whether the North-East has emotionally integrated with the spirit of India, and more relevantly, whether the India that supposedly represents this spirit has accepted the North-East. Dana M Sangma, a 21-year old management student from Meghalaya at Amity University, Gurgaon, committed suicide on April 24. This came close on the heels of the violent death of 19-year old architecture student Richard Loitam from Manipur at Acharya NRV School of Architecture, Bangalore. Dana was apparently humiliated in an examination hall for allegedly cheating, while Richard was beaten up by fellow students for toggling TV channels during an IPL match.  

This article was published by the Times of India on March 22 2012 at  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-2012-Manipur-worst-hit-by-terror/articleshow/12361177.cms Manipur is worst affected by militancy in the country, overtaking J&K and other northeastern states. Mizoram and Tripura are among the most peaceful states. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, minister of state for home Jitendra Singh said 246 militancy-related incidents occurred in Manipur in the first three months of 2012. During that period, 34 such incidents occurred in J&K. This year, 21 militants, five security personnel and seven civilians were killed in Manipur. J&K recorded killings of six militants and four civilians. In the other northeastern states, militancy-related incidents decreased from 424 in 2009 to 251 in 2010. In 2011, there were 145 incidents and 26 till March 2012. Violence by militants is on the rise in Meghalaya. In 2009, there were 12 such incid...