Subject: Absolute Condemnation of Republic TV’s Malicious, Fabricated, and Defamatory Vilification of the Khulmi Bridge and the Kuki-Zo People.
To,
Republic TV’s recent broadcast criminalising the Khulmi Bridge as a "drug trafficking route" is not merely bad journalism—it is a malicious act of character assassination, deliberate disinformation, and dangerous, hate-fueled propaganda.
The statements peddled by the Editorial Board, Republic TV, and Linthoi Khoirom cross the line from reckless sensationalism into outright defamation. Your network is actively manufacturing toxic lies, completely detached from the reality on the ground, to target and demonise the people of Chandel, Tengnoupal, and Churachandpur districts.
1. A Monument to Survival vs. Studio-Manufactured Lies
The Khulmi Bridge over the Imphal River was built out of raw desperation and human suffering, not the imaginary criminal syndicates invented inside your television studio. For years, the total abandonment by the state government left residents completely isolated, forcing them to risk their lives daily.
During the monsoons, this river became a death trap. At least eight people have drowned and lost their lives trying to cross the river in emergencies. Families were forced to wade through lethal currents just to access emergency healthcare, buy basic food, and send their children to school.
Where was Republic TV’s "investigative journalism" when these citizens were drowning? You were utterly silent.
The Khulmi Bridge exists solely because the Kuki-Zo people refused to let more of their children and elders die while the authorities turned a blind eye. Because the government failed in its most basic duty to protect human life, Civil Society Organisations of Chandel District, in coordination with the Kuki-Zo leadership, built this bridge themselves through crowdsourced community funds and manual labour.
To twist this historic, life-saving triumph of community survival into a cheap drug-smuggling conspiracy is morally bankrupt and utterly repulsive.
2. Intellectual Dishonesty and Total Lack of Ground Verification
Your allegation that the bridge is an unchecked route for the drug trade is laughably absurd on its face. Had your newsroom bothered to perform even a shred of basic fact-checking, you would know that security forces are stationed a mere 100 meters from the bridge.
But Republic TV does not care about facts. You did not visit the site. You did not speak to the grieving families who lost loved ones to the river. You did not interview the villagers. You did not review the formal appeals submitted to the Governor of Manipur that went ignored for years.
Instead, you chose the cowardly route: sitting in high-tech, air-conditioned studios, screaming over microphones, and passing toxic judgment on a marginalised, vulnerable community whose daily struggles you are intellectually incapable of understanding. Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-Chief, must learn that shouting at the top of his lungs cannot manufacture evidence, and theatrical outrage can never replace real journalism.
3. The Unforgivable Betrayal by Linthoi Khoirom
Ms. Linthoi Khoirom’s complicity in this hit-piece is uniquely shameful. As a journalist from Manipur, and as the daughter of Khoirom Loyalakpa (Editor of Naharolgi Thoudang), you cannot claim ignorance.
You know the harsh terrain of the hill districts. You know the absolute administrative neglect, the crushing geographical isolation, and the infrastructure deficit that the people face.
For you to weaponise your platform to peddle a half-baked, heavily biased, and unverified narrative against your own state's most neglected citizens is a profound violation of journalistic ethics. You have chosen to trade professional integrity for prime-time ratings, actively deepening communal divides and sharpening the prejudice faced by the Kuki-Zo people.
4. The Real-World Danger of Your Propaganda
Let us be completely clear: your broadcast is dangerous. In a highly volatile, conflict-ridden environment, labelling a vital civilian bridge built by the Kuki-Zo community as a "drug cartel asset" acts as a direct dog-whistle. It incites hatred, invites state hostility, and paints a target on the backs of an entire community.
You have insulted the hard-earned money, blood, and sweat of the ordinary citizens who built this bridge. You have spit on the memory of the eight victims who died because a safe crossing didn't exist. You have reduced a humanitarian tragedy into a vulgar television circus.
If Republic TV possesses even a shred of genuine journalistic courage, leave your protected studio desks. Travel to the Khulmi Bridge. Walk across the bridge. Look into the eyes of the families who buried their relatives because of state neglect, and see the reality for yourselves. Until you set foot on the ground, your network possesses absolutely zero moral authority to lecture the people of the hill districts.
Journalism is a public trust; it is not a license to manufacture conspiracies, bully vulnerable communities, and broadcast unverified nonsense. The Khulmi Bridge stands as a testament to public sacrifice and government failure. It exists because our people died, the state remained silent, and the community chose to save itself.
Be ashamed of what you have broadcast. Correct the records immediately.
Issued by:
Kuki Inpi Media Cell
Editor’s Note: All authentic Press Releases and official communications of Kuki Inpi are published on www.kukiinpi.com. Media houses and members of the public are advised not to rely on any Kuki Inpi Press Release that is not available on the official website.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments not related to the topic will be removed immediately.