September 12th, Sonipat: “Manipur Beyond Conflict” was a symposium hosted by the Jindal School of Journalism and Communication (JSJC) on 11th September 2023 at O.P. Jindal Global University. The event was organised by JSJC Dean Professor Kishalay Bhattacharjee’s students from his course “Off-Centre”, and Professor Bhattacharjee served as the host for the panel. The panellists for the event were Dr. Mary Grace Zou, convener of the Kuki Women’s Forum, Angshuman Choudhary, an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), who works primarily on the Northeast and armed conflict, and Professor Samrat Sinha of Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), who specialises in Post-Conflict Recovery and Public Health. Dr. Zou had a defamation case filed against her by Metei activists for comments made about Manipur’s violence in an interview with The Wire.
The event was organised to highlight the conflict “going beyond Manipur”. Siddharth Pillay, a third-year student at JSJC and one of the organisers of the event said the aim of hosting the symposium was to talk “beyond the violence.” “We got a lot of flak for the title it because the conflict wasn’t over, but we weren’t talking about the conflict, as such. What we mean by ‘beyond conflict’ is how the people are affected through healthcare, through legislation, etc,” he said.
Professor Bhattacharjee began the discussion with Professor Sinha’s view of the conflict and recovery in Manipur, who touched upon the ‘humanitarian pathologies’ in aid relief – a concept that investigates the consequences and ethics of humanitarian assistance. Professor Sinha also spoke about the weaponisation of healthcare, with relief being given locally and not by the central government, as well as funding cuts. “For the first time, denial of medical care is being used as a weapon,” he said.
Mr. Angshuman Choudhary spoke about ‘negative peace’ and ‘positive peace’ in terms of conflict relief and recovery in the future. Negative peace is the absence of violence, and positive peace refers to the absence of indirect and structural violence – to compensate for the damage that has been caused in Manipur, there needs to be a reinstation of positive peace.
“We are going to lose a generation,” said Dr. Mary Grace Zou when asked about how the conflict is going to impact education. Chandel and some other parts of Manipur currently have the highest number of ‘ghost schools.’
The violence in Manipur began in May and continues still. The symposium served as a platform for answers to questions that are plaguing policymakers, activists, and state servants across the nation and was a thought-provoking event for the students. The event saw student participation from different schools in JGU, specifically students from JGLS and Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA).