The famous market was also the theme of the state’s Republic Day tableau this year.Priya Kharaibam, a third-generation pottery trader, questioned the purpose of elections if the status quo remains unchanged.”If everything has to go on the way it is going on, why do we need elections? What will change?” she asked.Against this backdrop, a traders’ group in the market called Manipur Keithel Phambi Apunba Lup has opted to abstain from engaging in election-related activities, citing governmental disregard for the populace’s well-being.”The decision to hold the elections shows that the government has no concern for the life and property of the common people. The people of the state have been witnessing a cycle of violence arising out of conflict between two communities for the last 11 months.””We have been facing immense hardship due to the protracted violence,” said Yumnam Ibeyaima, General Secretary of the traders’ body.The unfolding crisis stemming from clashes between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities has claimed over 200 lives, with thousands displaced and living in camps.Asem Nirmala, General Secretary of another traders’ body in the market called Lukmaisellup, lamented the lack of governmental responsiveness to the prolonged crisis, emphasising the urgent need for solutions over elections.”This is the time for solutions. This is not the time for elections. These polls are being enforced at the very wrong time.””We are contemplating whether we should either not vote or vote in unison against the government in power and give other parties a chance and see if there is restoration of peace. I am trying to counsel the women in the market but they are not keen on voting,” she told PTI.Some traders find themselves at a crossroads, contemplating whether to vote collectively against the incumbent government in pursuit of peace restoration.As many as 75 ‘Imas’ or ‘mothers’ (elderly women traders) from the famed market had visited Delhi in June last year and staged a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding a solution and opposing any territorial division of the state on ethnic lines.
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