Ukhrul: The chairman of Heinganglok village has issued clarification over The Sangai Express news item of June 10 under the headline, “Tangkhuls, Meitei vow to jointly safeguard State,” saying that Heinganglok villagers was not aware of such meeting.
“We, Heinganglok villagers, are not a party to the meeting or the said resolution and refute such gross misrepresentation, which belies our trust. Any mistake of such proportion that amounts to false propaganda will not be taken lightly,” said the clarification from Heinganglok village.
Ukhrul Times have learnt that of the 19 villages who were signatories of the agreement, as per Federation of Haomee statement, 5 Tangkhul villages namely Sada Khunbi, Sotun, Lungthar, Gwarok Maring, and Heinganglok confirmed they were not part of the meeting.
Out of the 19 villages (which falls under Kamjong, Kangpokpi and Thoubal Districts foothills) that participated in the meeting with Federation of Haomee, as per their statement, 13 villages belong to Tangkhul community, while 6 villages comprised of Meitei villages
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The remaining 8 Tangkhul villages that participated in the meeting, as confirmed by sources were Chakama, Komlaching, Shungriphai, Tangkhul Khullen, Irong Ato, Irong Aze, Somrei, Horton.
Chairman of Heinganglok village, Winner Sareo clarified that the “press report issued on June 10 by Federation of Haomee meeting deliberating on the theme “Know your identity” falsely quoted Heinganglok village as one of the participants and signatories of the agreement to “Jointly defend and safeguard the State” based on “Friendship and trust”.
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Meanwhile, Ukhrul Times reached out to Yazing Vicisy Secretary General, Federation of Haomee over the controversy surrounding the news report clarified that the paper [The Sangai Express] misinterpreted the term “Iramdam” in their statement. “”Iramdam” which means “my land” is coined in our statement, but the meaning of this term was misconstrued. What Federation of Haomee meant in the statement was the land of the individual villages. The villages signed the agreement as per their own village capacity, and it was never intended for the State of Manipur, nor the term Manipur was coined in the statement.””
When asked for comment over the 5 villages seeking clarification that they were not present in the meeting on June 10, the senior member said, “Yes, some of the villages who were invited did not turn up in the meeting. I will leave it at that.”
It may be noted that all together, there are 17 Tangkhul villages under the Shangpun Chingsang foothill area.
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Speaking to Chairman Shangpun Chingsang, he told this reporter that the meeting was arranged due to several issues facing the villages in the foothill areas. Sporadic firing, power cut in the villages allegedly by neighboring villages, as well as blockading of roads by other community created many trouble for us. Hence, when the meeting was called for better understanding, for peaceful co-existence under the theme KHOW YOUR IDENTITY convened by Federation of Haomee, about 8-9 Tangkhul villages participated.
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