The last day of the year dawned like any other normal day in Churachandpur, the people of the town still in a festive mood, the Christmas hangover still lingering over their heads. Christmas had come and gone; but there was still New Year that the fear gripped populace of this town could look forward to.

Shopkeepers opened their shops in anticipation of making big financial gains, festive season are the times when Customers don't mind digging deep into their pockets or wallets, it is the time when indulgence of any kind is welcomed, for Christmas and New Year comes only once a year.

Christmas time and New Year is a time for joy… a season to be happy. For this predominantly Christian town of Manipur, the whole month of December till the New Year is the biggest festive season & the biggest festive occasion, and one that is really looked forward to by the young and old alike. The shopkeeper looked for 'a killing' in their business on a day like this.

Everyone seemed to be in jovial mood… people swept by the festive spirit for a while seems to have placed in the backburner issues of grave concern like 'the landmines killings' of their brothers and sisters in the interior hill villages of the district. The apparent lack of concern on the part of the State Government towards the victims of this had already ruffled many feathers…. but in a true spirit of the festive season the people wanted to leave behind all the cares of the world at least for sometime, spend some quality time with their love ones who had come home for the winter and celebrate the festival in its truest essence.

Everything went on as usual; people shop around… the festive ambience provided the right setting for catching up with friends and meeting up with old acquaintances. The 'Chicken Shop' had young men making a beeline waiting to buy their share of plump broiler chicken… which would later be 'sacrificed' for the occasion of the New Year Eve, fried or roasted over the fire in the company of a beautiful belle.

It seemed like any other 31st December until the unexpected news of the assassination of the IGP (Intelligence) T. Thangthuam IPS, reached the town. The initial reaction of the town was 'Shell Shocked Numbness bordering disbelief'. All of a sudden the mood change, the festive ambience of the town was brushed away like a gust of wind by this so tragic news.

The town sunk into deep despair, shop-keepers down their shutters and people stayed off the roads. With every passing moment the high all pervading tension seems to be escalating. The jovial mood was now replaced by the cold chill silence, somber atmosphere prevail as the widening gulf of despair and sorrow encompasses the town.

On hearing the tragic twist of fate, I hung my head in disbelief ….fate had played such a cruel game …being assassinated on the last day of the year was too much of a shocker. Fate had once again caught us humans unaware.

To be a victim of Life's open grave when there was still the New Year to look forward to with one's own family was a little bit too ironic. My initial reaction on hearing the news was one of shock and disbelief. It took sometime for the news to sink in itself in. Terror had struck once again… and it had struck with such deadly accuracy that it left the convoy of security men accompanying the late IGP with no time to react, that too in broad daylight.

The attack was well timed, swift, brutal and merciless, the preciseness of the attack had rendered once again the whole Administration of Manipur redundant & outwitted at will by men on the other side of the law. Many unanswered questions like How? Why? When? Whom? Soon surfaced on the minds of many thinking Lamkaites and the CHIKIMS as a whole.

The assassination of the most senior most Police officer from the Hills did dampen the festive spirit of the season. The Festive mood of the last day of the year was changed right away from one of revelry to one of sorrow…. as clouds of despair, sorrow and grief so immense cast its shroud like shadow over the whole District of Churachandpur., The town came to standstill, young men poured out into the streets -their grief turning into anger.

There has always been a simmering discontent and unhappiness towards the present Government due its open apathy towards the victims of the landmine blast. The Government inept attitude and failure to sanitize the villages (of the interior parts of Ccpur Dist) in and around which these 'explosive death traps' have been laid, had only further doused the flames of the people anger.

It may be pertinent to mention here that the Government had earlier signed an agreement with the ZSF (Zomi Students Federation) in this regard.... MOU are for the government nothing but a means to an end, and Promises made to the people are like eggs meant only to be broken.

The Pulse of the Hill People of the Southern District of Manipur has been one of a simmering discontentment towards the SPF Government. As fate could have it, the assassination of the IGP (Intelligence) T. Thangthuam was the last straw on the Camel's back.

The Brutal Assassination sparked off wide spread unrest in the town … the incident soon assumed communal overtones. The tension was palpable, and for a moment it looked like things were going really out of control.

For a day two, the town looked all set to descend into a state of complete chaos, anarchy and mayhem had it not been for the District Administration who swung into action, and with the active co-operation from the Community Leaders of the town managed to defuse so tense a situation which could have snowballed into a further and more bloodier confrontation.

The D.C. Mr. A.K Sinha deserve all the applause for reaching out to all the sections of the Society, for chalking out a solution, which stemmed the rising crescendo of anger. The Failure of the Manipur Police Department to protect one of its own top ranking Officers will not really enhance the credibility of the Police Department in the eyes of the people and the Nation as a whole. One cannot help but wonder if the Manipur Police too had become 'A Neutral Force' like the Mumbai Police??

The 31st December Assassination will not all augur well for the relationship of the Hill and the Valley. The Killing Shri of T. Thangthuam IGP (Intl) was unfortunate but what happened in Ccpur in the aftermath of it was also no better i.e. - the specific targeting of members a particular community, who were in no way related to the ghastly incident lacks foresightedness.

It is in times of Crisis like this, that our tolerance and humanness are put to the test, and venting out our anger on innocent people who were not all related to incident will not adhere well being of all. Two wrongs can never and will never make a right.

The Revolutionaries have displayed once again their striking prowess, and the assassination of a top Police Officer of an IGP rank sends out a strong message that no top official in the Civil or Police Department are really safe, and that the Men from the other side of the Law could strike and pluck them out at will if they want to.

The 31st December Assassination was executed in such a proficient and accurate manner, that one cannot help but speculate the existence of 'A Mole', An Insider… In an administrative phraseology - 'A Squealer', but we are not drawing any conspiracy theory here

In the aftermath of the IGP assassination, the repercussion of it was being felt by the Police Department, one policeman was reportedly manhandled and roughed up by an angry mob, it was a naturally corollary as the local populace were disillusioned with the Police Department after the untimely assassination of the IGP.

In a damage limitation exercise the Manipur Government did one right move by re-posting L.D. Lhatoo, IPS as the Superintendent of Police, Churachandpur. Lhari Dorjee Lhatto in his earlier tenure as the SP of Ccpur had generated a lot of goodwill. Lhatoo re-posting as the top Security officer of the District was a move, which was really welcomed.

The icing on the cake was the posting of Lamka's own son H.Thanghaulien, IPS @ Jimmy Gangte as the New SDPO (Sub Divisional Police Officer). To draw an analogy from the Comic world, I am sure this Batman (L.D. Lhatoo) and Robin (H.Thanghaulien) duo of the Churachandpur Police will pack a mighty and friendly reformative punch.

Even if the Big Wigs of the State who are provided around the clock security 24/7 are not really safe….Then imagine the plight of us the common man.

The Babus and Netas who would come speeding on our pot-hole filled roads with their convoy of arrogant security men with ' a don't mess with me' look writ large on their faces, their siren blaring (and if you happen to drive your own vehicle in front of them, they would press their horns so loud and would pass you by with a speed which would almost knock your car off the road, and if you took a little time in steering your vehicle to the side to let the 'VIP' pass by, then you would be at the receiving end of the choicest of abuse from their security men)….with the least of concern for civilians vehicle are also not really safe.

Is it poetic justice? If you ask me, I would shrug my shoulders and throw my hands towards the heaven "I don't know".

In Manipur - there are actually no laws, no rules. Law Makers are also Law breakers (they are all mentally still). Our Politicians and our so-called Leaders… Well! Let us not waste an ounce of energy on them. In this state of 'Money -Pur' … anything is possible.

The Line delivered by the inimitable one and only Marlon Brando in his role as Don Corlone in the Hollywood Classic ' The God Father' - 'Everybody is for sale at the right price', ' The Killing was nothing personal but purely business' is truly relevant to the State of Manipur than anywhere else. Justice in Manipur lies in the barrel of the loaded gun Words - Mere Words will not be enough to express the pain so great and the immense grief felt by the sister Communities of this town.

Hatred at the pull of a trigger had snatched away from us 'A Senior Police Officer of India' and Lamka's very own son. His untimely and brutal death had left behind a void, which no one would be able to fill. The Communities of Churachandpur cutting across communal and ethnic lines mourned the death of T. Thangthuam; for once the communities were united in grief and the gory incident made them realize the futility of their bloody communal wrangling.

The tragic death of T.Thangthuam is an irreparable loss to the State of Manipur as a whole, to the Hill Communities in General and our brethren Paite Community in particular. We the other CHIKIMS Communities share their pain, anguish and bereavement, we want them to know that 'their loss' is also "our loss".

On the day of mourning called by the All Tribal Students of Manipur (ATSUM); the people of Churachandpur cutting across communal lines paid their last respect to the deceased IGP Shri, T. Thangthuam, by hanging their respective community's flag at half mast. In a communal town like Churachandpur, there could be no greater respect and no greater tribute than this.

A shattering hailstorm of bullets may have cruelly snatched away from our midst one of the brightest and most efficient officers assigned by the Central Government to the Manipur Police Department (a betrayal in his own State, A State he had served with distinction).

The Reality is indeed a bitter pill to swallow; but truth is always stranger than fiction and Life is not a movie….no retakes here. Pu T. Thangthuam may have been assassinated but to me and many of my fellow Lamkaites and members of the CHIKIMS around the Globe - 'He died while on duty, He died a true soldier, in his uniform with his dignity, honor and self respect intact'.

May his soul rest in peace eternal on that beautiful shore where the roses never fade.