Deconstructing UNIKAS

I went to the UNIKAS' annual freshers Meet recently only to storm out of the auditorium hall with feelings of anger and hurt. In case you haven't heard of this organisation, it is a students' union of Manipuri students hailing from Kakching and studying in Delhi.

The very idea behind the existence of this organisation is flawed. If every district or leikai in Manipur starts going the UNIKAS way, we will have a multitude of micro organisations in the Capital, and of course I would find myself belonging to Wangkhei-KAS. Similarly students from Uripok will have their Uripok-KAS and those from Khurai their own Khurai union and so forth.

Ours is a small state, and at this point of time we should be promoting the unity of all the Manipuris, instead of distancing ourselves from one another in our own holier-than-thou cocoons.

At the UNIKAS function which I attended, I almost felt left out and began to see myself as an outsider. The irony is that I was a Meitei and so were all the members of the UNIKAS.

UNIKAS is an organisation that serves no purpose at all, other than alienating one Manipuri from the other.

I believe there is an organisation called MSAD that aims to bring all Manipuri students in Delhi under one platform, irrespective of one’s place of birth.