Unity on Wheels: Bridging the Divide in Manipur

THE recent flagging off of the National Integration Tour 2025-26 by Yumnam Khemchand Singh at Keithelmanbi is a heartening sight in a landscape that has seen much darkness lately. Seeing 24 young students - representing the Meitei, Kuki, Naga, and Meitei Pangal communities - travelling together to cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari sends a powerful message. It is a brave attempt by the Assam Rifles to weave back the torn fabric of our society. For these children, the tour is more than just a holiday; it is a rare chance to breathe outside the confines of conflict and see a world where their identities do not dictate their safety. We must appreciate the effort to remind the younger generation that unity is still possible, even when the elders have struggled to maintain it.

However, we must look beyond the symbolic handshakes and smiles for the camera. While the Chief Minister speaks of collective progress, there is a painful irony that cannot be ignored. Many Kuki-Zo students are currently stranded in an educational limbo. While COHSEM has made documents available online, an online PDF is no substitute for a physical original certificate when applying for jobs or higher studies. These students cannot safely enter Imphal to collect their hard-earned originals from the board offices. If we are truly talking about integration, then access to one’s own education should not be a matter of life or death. A tour across India is wonderful, but the freedom to walk into an office in your own state capital is the real benchmark of a settled society.

The government’s silence on certain wounds remains deafening. During the crisis the viral footage of a Meitei youth allegedly burning a collection of Kuki-Zo educational certificates is a deep scar on our collective conscience. Education is the only ladder out of poverty and crisis; to burn a certificate is to try and burn a person’s future. If the administration wants the public to believe in the sincerity of these integration tours, it must show that there is accountability for such hate. Why has the perpetrator not been nabbed till today? Real peace is built on justice, not just travel itineraries. We hope this tour inspires the youth, but we also hope the leaders find the courage to protect the basic rights and dignity of every Kuki-Zo student back home.

~ Zogam Today | Editorial [06.03.2026]