Photo Courtesy: nenow
Imphal: Kuki Inpi Manipur took a swing at Republic TV this week. The group blasted the network over a broadcast that tagged the Khulmi Bridge as a drug trafficking route. They claim the report is a total fabrication that smears the Kuki-Zo people living in Chandel, Tengnoupal, and Churachandpur.
The bridge sits over the Imphal River. It was not built for crime. Locals pooled their own money and labor to put it up after years of government inaction left them stranded. Before the span was finished, at least eight people died trying to cross the water. The community built it to save lives, not to move contraband.
The group noted the bridge sits in the shadow of security force camps. It stays under constant watch. In an open letter to Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, the organization stated the report was "false" and defamatory to their community. They contend the network failed to talk to locals or verify basic facts on the ground.
This kind of reporting stirs up trouble. Kuki Inpi Manipur warned that the broadcast inflames tensions in a state already ripped apart by conflict. They want the channel to pull the report, issue a formal correction, and start checking facts before they air stories on sensitive regional issues.
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