Media & Manipur conflict : Getting there is easy, doing what to do isn't
New Delhi
Two of us - me and Editor, 'Nagaland Page" Ms Monalisa Changkija attended a seminar in Itanagar organised by the Rajiv Gandhi University. It was in 2014. One Imphal-based journalist and even a social activist also attended.
At the pre-working session breakfast table itself journalists resorted to usual chit chat and argument. One topic of discussion was 'how should journalists report during conflict situations'.
This seminar-cum-workshop was also attended by sizable students from Manipur and most of them were students from Don Bosco University in Guwahati. Sharing all these have become vital at this stage as Manipur today is in conflict and as usual 'reporting' of all taste and qualities are pouring in from Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and of course New Delhi.
One noted personality who attended the seminar was a Swedish journalist Bertil Lintner. We became friends and informally he described himself as a journalist -- who is 'hated' and also 'admired a lot' by a lot of Nagas.
I did a quick interview with him for 'The Statesman' based on Bertil's paper presentation and of course the discussions and debate at our breakfast meet.
One question I had posed him was - "What ideally should be the duty of journalists in such conflict situations?".
His response was - "As I see it, the duty of the journalists is to be as objective as possible. To give the news impartially without fear or favour regardless of sects or interests involved". To another question on the 'growth' of NSCN-IM and anecdotes if any as he had done interviews with Isak Chishi Swu, Bertil's observations are worth recollecting.
"I was accused of abusing NSCN's hospitality because I stayed with them for more than two months and then did not write the kind of propaganda they had expected." (The Statesman, Oct 18, 2014)
He further added, "I was often appalled by the way in which Indian Nagas treated the Myanmar Nagas. I had to write about that as well as the religious fanaticism. The outcome was that the NSCN had banned my book 'Land of Jade'. The truth was probably too unpleasant...".
All these could be relevant to share today as we have conflict situations in Manipur
and Nagas and other tribes both from Indian states and Myanmar are involved in the worst ethnic
conflict of 2023.
My next question to him was - "what happens when a journalist is a popular or a well known face".
His response was equally convincing and educative for us - junior to Bertll by years.
"I have told you enough on how a reporter should stick to factual reporting without any bias - other than deep consideration for all the innocent people on either side afflicted by conflicts and violence....My job is to present the readers with the truth. In the long run, I have seen the truth is always the strongest weapon for solving conflicts. As a reporter, I am at best an educator but not a peace activist".
In course of our discussions, Bertil also had said - "....when the truth is properly reported or exposed
and explained impartially can different parties in an ethnic or social conflict sit down and solve their differences".
Maybe it is high time we can reflect upon some of the points Bertil had made in 2014 both in the context of application of work ethics by journos and also at the level of policy makers and stakeholders if they want to resolve the problems and rescue Manipur and the rest of northeast India from an imminent dangerous like situations.
For we the journalists, there is a very old saying, the more 'unpopular' you are with your hosts and friends and acquaintances, probably you are doing your job better. Bertil also echoed this sentiment. "We journalists are not especially popular in certain quarters and we can't be. But I am old fashioned enough to believe that we have an important role to fill in the conflict areas, and that is to respect objectively".
Now what is happening with the media reportage of the situations and ongoing conflicts? Well this may not be the time for stock taking. But each regional and various state media coverage offers unique dimensions.
If Imphal coverage has been generally a pro-Meitei tilt, stories from Mizoram have generally focused on how Kukis have suffered and how well the Mizoram administration and civil society have responded to their aid. One critical observation from a so-called investigation team was-- a good many people including mainland media and intellectuals do not understand who really are responsible for the violence in Manipur that broke out on 3rd May, 2023.
"So smart has it been systematically preplanned, executed and displayed to the outside world in such a way that the true identity of the perpetrators – Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun’ remained undetected. Sadly, the victims who are at the receiving end of this state sponsored genocide are being portrayed as the culprits," such observation found faultlines with so-called pro-Meitei media.
Various versions to the conflicts have emerged. One such view is that the Kukis are being targeted and have been portrayed as poppy cultivators and illegal immigrants. The Meiteis’ grouse is that they cannot buy tribal land here. So, they want ST status. So it is more than just job and university and medical and engineering education.
One Meitei civil official has been quoted in a section of national media for having stated that ... it’s mostly the Kuki officers who dominate the top positions in the police and government today because they get the benefit of reservation. In short, media has miles to go before one sleeps and with so much killings and arson around, most journalists have fallen victim to insomnia.
Ends
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