The Delhi Association for Manipur Muslims Students (DAMMS) and the All Manipur Muslim Students’ Organisation (AMMSO) on Friday raised strong condemnations against the accusations made against the Pangal community in the state.
In a joint statement, DAMMS and AMMSO stated that sections of people are engaged vigorously in creating highly intoxicated hatred between communities living together in a bid to further the violent chaos. The Pangals in Manipur have become an easy target for some sections by trying to humiliate, insult and blame the whole community for almost anything unwarranted happenings in the valley of Manipur, it stated.
“We all acknowledge that there exists individual(s) black-sheep(s) in every community- be it the Meiteis or the Pangals. We have to collectively identify such individual(s) and get them punished accordingly. But, humiliating and blaming a whole community for some individuals’ fault is not anything that any sane society would undertake,” it stated.
It has become a routine, for the last some days, to directly target and taint the Pangal community for almost anything unwarranted being happened by producing half-baked rumours and fake narratives and then posting the same on social-media platforms for large public attentions and furores against the ethnic Pangals, it mentioned.
The viral videos are then adjusted with the already-tensed sentiments in the public towards creating a collective hatred against the Pangals, who because of their neutrality in the violence are already being constantly questioned with anger and despise by certain sections, it further stated.
However, despite continuous provocations to join in the violence from both the warring communities, the Pangals, despite being the most economically backward community in Manipur, have been standing firm against the violence and putting up every effort possible to broker peace between the warring communities, it stated.
It further stated that the Pangals are engaged in serving the administrative lacuna of the state due to mass transfer of Meitei employees from hills to valley. The Pangals are valiantly engaging in driving goods-trucks along the tensed national highways, bringing in goods into Manipur valley from outside, and helping in maintaining the demand and supply-chain of the Manipur valley.
The Manipur society still lacks acknowledging and understanding the role every community plays during these trying days, it mentioned.
The violence has now badly affected not only the warring communities, but also everyone in the state in varying degrees and emotions. At such a time, the Meiteis and the Pangals cannot let the enmities and divisions being created by some hate-mongers in society to propagate any further, it added.
