11 Assam Riles makes its presence felt
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 20 2011 -
IT ALL began with the arrest of George Kamei by troops of 11 AR in Tamenglong District Headquarters on March 27. Kamei was the NSCN-IM's 'Town Commander' and he was apprehended on the charge that he was an 'extortionist'.
The step ired the IM set up and promptly demanded the immediate release of Kamei by 11 AR.
They reasoned with the by now familiar reasoning that a 'government to government talk' is going on between the Government of India and the Government of the People's Republic of Nagalim (GPRN), the political wing of the NSCN-IM.
And that much bigger stakes are involved than the arrest and detention of an IM 'Town Commander'.
They opined that seen in the bigger scope this was a trifle of little consequence, subsequently an unabated suspense hang in the air. In an anti-climax, after a couple of days in detention, 11 AR handed over George Kamei to the Imphal West Police Station.
Suddenly the veneer of 'government to government' peace talks started peeling off and from such a lofty height the issue of concern came to be centered on George Kamei.
Kamei's supporters were left speechless with indignation. However as they kept scratching their heads to find means to tackle the irritating way their demands had been addressed to, another two persons were found to be 'extortionists' and again were duly handed over to, you guessed right, the Imphal West Police Station.
Whether these two were associates of the 'Town Commander' one is not sure. One thing can be guessed though, that the CO of 11 AR had decided it was time that the wings of arrogance of some people in Tamenglong area needed to be clipped.
George Kamei's supporters faced with a formidable opponent then decided to confront the issue by going back to the time tested device of a 'bandh'.
But their worthy opponent is obviously a man who does not go for half measures. He decided to meet the bandh head on. He had an unexpected ally in the form of a populace fatigued by bandhs.
Anyway a 48 hour Zeliangrong area bandh was called on April 17. To rub salt to the wound 11 AR conducted free medical camps on 18 April distributing medicines for free, in many areas in Tamenglong district.
As ordinary citizens what do we get to understand from this prickly stand off?
The obvious answer is, leave us, the innocent people, alone.
We discourage any type of confrontation and all we ask for is not to be dragged into any fray to which we are not a willing party. We are tired of being banged around just because we live in Manipur.
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