Today on Independence Day for the first time I am not happy though I had attended the official function of Manipur government’s Independence Day celebration. Many of us wished each other Happy Independence Day but surprisingly I could not reply back with the enthusiasm I should have done.

It’s been three months and more that I am witnessing conflict, violence and death all around and the pain of partition is being realised. We have allowed a forced partition of our own state that has been invaded by some unknown people displacing our own citizens from their own homeland.

The bloody fight is not what we expected from an Independent country. We got our Independence from the colonial British but our own state is being now invaded by some homeless refugees with sophisticated arms and we are just some mere spectators.

Who is responsible for today’s situation and why are we allowing the conflict to continue? Our children are not able to go to schools, the internet is shut for months and the economy is in shambles. When will we restart? When will these killings stop?

If we really have to celebrate Independence day, then we should also celebrate our freedom. Where is the freedom? Curfews and militarising the zone to create a fear psychosis will not help recite the National Anthem from the heart. Bring back normalcy, give people their land back, settle the displaced people, then only we can say that we got back our freedom.

Manipur got its Independence from the British and was a free country but with the merger of Manipur with India in 1949, the Government of India has partnered with Manipur and people of Manipur had equally accepted the democratic form of Governance that India proudly boasts of being the Mother of Democracy.

But as Manipur bleeds, the Union is allowing a sense of alienation, a sense of betrayal and a sense of rejection which is natural for any citizen if the state is not able to protect lives and property of its own people. Taking up arms would be the only alternative left for people if we do not stop this mindless standoff to create an artificial partition of a state – a state that was a Kingdom and India promised to protect its integrity.

It is now time to introspect whether to allow further, to continue the conflict and escalate the situation. All are affected and ultimately it is the common man who suffers. No one should suffer and we should allow our children to get educated and give them economic independence and not fall prey to the nefarious elements of the society.

Let’s bring back the law of the land and take forward our country to a progress path that we can be proud of in days ahead and give our next generation a future so that they do not blame us for not doing what we should have done, at the right time.

Let us celebrate Independence Day, we hope we do the right things and not destroy our future. Let us rebuild Manipur and contribute to the country’s progress.

Happy Independence Day!