New Delhi — Hejang Misao, a Manipur-based social activist and founder of InSIDE North East, who runs the Gun2Pen project aimed at helping youth and women affected by violence in the state, has now found himself embroiled in a major controversy over his statements in a YouTube interview. However, responding to the NDTV report, Hejang said, “They twisted my word.”
NDTV, in a report on its website, claimed that in the YouTube interview, Misao spoke about the “need for escalating the Manipur crisis in order to keep the demand for a separate administration alive.”
According to NDTV, Misao stated in the interview that the struggle for a separate land has been going on since his forefathers' time, and despite having multiple factions of insurgents with numerous different demands, all of them finally managed to agree on one issue — separate administration.
The NDTV report further quotes Misao as saying, “The separate administration movement has reduced now. We will not get this chance anymore, and such an opportunity will not come again. We should use this moment to create an even more chaotic situation, so that anyone who sees us will say we can never live together.”
In the same report, NDTV claims that Misao added, “After the Manipur violence, the armed groups have come together on one demand. This is a work of God. But the Meiteis don't want to give us a separate administration. SoO groups also signed that Manipur territorial integrity won't be harmed. But God's plan seems to be about giving the Kukis a nation, and I feel it is there. If there was no violence, we would not have got a chance to demand a separate administration.”
When The Mooknayak questioned Misao about whether the statement “If there was no violence, we would not have got a chance to demand a separate administration,” were his words, as NDTV quoted, he replied, “I was saying they ( (the Meitei community)) chased us out, burnt our houses, killed our people that create space for demanding separate administration. That's how they twisted my word.”
Misao further said, “It was my personal opinion and I clearly mention time to do away arms movement and shift to public movement democratically be it rally, peaceful protest etc (that's part I spoke in English). Why they drag in the organisation I am working with (they have sinister design).”
When asked whether NDTV contacted him before or after publishing the report, Misao told The Mooknayak, “They never contacted me.”
Clearly, after reading NDTV’s published report, most people could develop a negative opinion about Misao. He himself acknowledged the impact, saying, “One unfortunate thing is our donors are questioning me after seeing the NDTV report.”
It should be noted that Misao, as a social activist, runs the Gun2Pen project to restore peace in the state. The project includes youth and women affected by violence, and he relies on donations from the public for this work. However, after the publication of this media report, he now faces defamation.
When The Mooknayak asked if NDTV’s report would affect the Kuki community’s demands to the government or weaken their movement, he expressed hope, saying, “Whether it fades or not I don't know. My concern is the loss of precious lives due to arm conflict must come to an end.”
Misao also told The Mooknayak that after the NDTV report was published, the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Churachandpur instructed the Officer-in-Charge (OC) to locate him. The OC began pursuing him, saying, “There is no FIR yet, but there is pressure from the Meitei community.”
Referring to an earlier interview with News9, Misao recounted, “During our discussion on Manipur, I gave a clear message that now is the time for both communities to wake up and come to their senses and stop these killings. Sitting together and starting dialogue is the only solution.”
This part of the above report has been updated after publication of the news. Responding to The Mooknayak report, NDTV Editor Debanish Achom has refuted Hejang Misao's allegations through a detailed rebuttal. Achom pointed out that Jamkhojang (Hejang) Misao has not yet provided a complete English or Hindi transcript of the YouTube interview, which was originally conducted in his dialect. NDTV claims to have independently transcribed the interview using three different sources fluent in the dialect.
He emphasized that merely reporting a denial without independently verifying the content would be misleading. He noted that Misao's denial was already prominently included in the NDTV story.
Achom directly challenged Misao's claim that NDTV did not attempt to contact him. He stated that the news team made multiple call attempts over two consecutive days, during which Misao did not answer. " We have shared the screenshot of the calls we made, which can be crossed checked with his mobile call history", Achom stated.
It is worth mentioning here that NDTV journalist Debanish Achom belongs to the Meitei community while Hejang Misao belongs to the Kuki community.
Jamkhojang (also known as Hejang) Misao is the founder and CEO of Integrated Social and Institutional Development for Empowerment (InSIDE North East), an organization that works for the empowerment of children, youth, and women through the Gun2Pen project. Having grown up in an environment of conflict and having personally been affected by gun-related violence, he started this organization to help individuals directly or indirectly impacted by violence.
Misao is a prominent social activist from Manipur with numerous accolades to his name, including the Sadhguru National Award. He has also been commended by former President of India Ram Nath Kovind for his passion, commitment, and innovation toward inclusive and quality education for the empowerment of women and girls. A fellow of ChangeLoom, Youth Involve, MSDS-Rythm Foundation, Misao has more than 20 years of experience working in development sector.
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