Mr. Yambem Laba, the chronicler of events of Manipur, has been involved in a whirlwind of social and political junctures at the state level. In this episode, we discuss about the senior journalist’s stand on the Scheduled Tribe reservation issue of the Meitei community and the demand of the Inner Line Permit System in Manipur. He says that the Meitei community is very much threatened and has the possibility of ‘dying out’ because of the influx of outsiders into the state of Manipur. The ILP movement was essentially started to save the Meitei race from potential extinction. However, he fears that perhaps the agitators of the movement have failed to understand the dynamics of the Governance system at work at the Centre. He says that the demand of granting Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community is the only manner by which the Meiteis can save themselves and prevent getting close to being wiped out like the Tripuris in Tripura, Bhutias and Lepchas in Sikkim and the Kacharis in Cachar. These mentioned communities have become negligible, marginalized and almost close to extinction in their own land of birth.

The humble reporter feels that the mindset of the Meitei community is stuck with the ‘Meitrabak’ concept; extending from the Surma valley to the Kabaw valley. He says that this kind of thinking needs to be changed and people need to realize that the Meiteis are now confined to only four districts of Manipur, having no say in the other districts. Our guest also reveals that he is now contemplating on starting a Meitei people’s front, uniting the Meiteis belonging to different faiths; a platform where the Meiteis can at least come and meet, irrespective of religion, with the underlying motto of ‘Live and Let Live’.