Sir,

I write this to augment the good words written about Manipur by Dilip Misra in this column (Star of Mysore dated July 23), with my experiences during the visit to that State in January 2022.

The main intention of that trip of mine to the North-East was to see the land, mingle with people and learn about their lifestyles in this farthest corner of our nation. I was in Manipur for three days and stayed along with my wife, her sister and two grown up girl children, at a home stay in the outskirts of Imphal, the capital.

We visited the popular tourist places in and around the city. Further, we wandered around the streets in the rural side, visited petty shops and talked to people.  It was my experience that people in the region are largely simple, friendly and peace-loving.

Our visit to places like the Kangla Fort, the Women’s Market, the Govindajee temple and the remote tribal village Andro, proved that life in this beautiful tiny State is not much different from that in our part of the country. Manipur offers some exceptionally fascinating places like (the world’s only) floating wildlife sanctuary and the world’s largest all-women’s market also. But, sadly the State is burning now, making news for all the unpleasant reasons.

It is a pity that the Central Government has shown scant regard for the situation in Manipur and our ever energetic Prime Minister has been busy making his ground stronger in election-bound States, rather than paying attention to the emergency calls. I pray our brethren in Manipur see peaceful days back again early.

– Yadupathi Putty, Krishnamurthypuram, 24.7.2023

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