Not
long back I remember seeing a banner that says something like '20/22 players, 2
in the morgue'.
The sspp fc belongs to the paite (Zomi) speaking tribe while the muvanlai fc consists mainly of the thadou (Kuki) speaking people.
Recently the Manipur Legislative Assembly, the law making body of the North Eastern State of India, passed 3 an anti tribal bills under mysterious circumstances. The drama was so strange that it goes something like... the bill was introduced in the Assembly on Friday and passed on Monday. The tribals both Nagas, Kukis and Zomis were protesting against the passage that 9 young boys were shot dead on 31 August, 2015. The protest was prolonged by not burying the dead untill the demand of protesters was met.
When some sections of the people insisted on joining the tamchon tourney, and when muvanlai and the sspp fc were slated to meet in the finals my imagination ran high.
What if 20 players ( 10 on each side) are fielded at the beginning of the match and the banner displayed for the media to
take notice of.
In
this regard mention may be made of the fact that among the nine young men who
lost their lives in the turmoil, Paulianmang (23) a Paite
speaking boy, is a fervent football player. Similarly Khaijamang (11) an eleven
year old boy speaking thadou too is no doubt, a lover of football.
I
supposed that these are the boys who the youngsters, who put up the banner had
in mind while drafting it. My imaginative mine went to the extent of wondering
whether the semi-final matches were fixed. Under normal circumstances an 11
year old boy is not expected to be in the first lineup of a football match, let
alone sit in the bench. When Messi played with the senior side of fc barcelona
against espanyol on october 16, 2004, he was about 17 years old. But
imagination and a little bit of fact may work to show the world that the
Manipur tribals have a deep grievance against the state Government.
Tears
began to well up the inside of my ENT. What if both teams send 10 players each
into the pitch at the start of the match and the crowd holding out a banner
saying, "20 players, 2 in the morgue" !! The priority should be to
telecast the banner to the world and not the match necessarily. The winner be it
sspp or muvanlai, hardly matters. I didn't make any suggestions. Coz I trusted
the boys more than I trust myself.
If
materialized/implemented the match might even set the trend for a new kind of game
in the world of football, say like 'the 3 bills game'.
