Armed security men at the work place
Not a status statement
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 08, 2012 -
There is nothing remotely connected to a status statement in having armed security personnel at the work places of journalists.
Rather it is more like a damning statement on the situation in which scribes are constrained to work.
Once again security guards have been posted at the offices of the newspapers in Imphal and while the efforts of the Government in ensuring a sense of security amongst the scribes is note worthy, it also says something profound about the manner in which any rag tag group of armed persons can threaten the men and women involved in the profession of disseminating information to the people.
Something much more than professional hazards.
The irony of the situation lies in the fact that the threats to the life and limbs of the journalists have come from some self proclaimed sons of the soil, who have all gone on to don the mask of doing something meaningful for the people and the land.
The modus operandi is easy enough to grasp.
Float a group and cap it off by christening it with a highly sounding patriotic name and announce the arrival through some statements released to the media and presto a new group of sons of the soil has emerged.
It is when media houses refuse to go along and publish their statements that threats begin to spew forth.
It is this situation which has been dogging the smooth functioning of the media and clearly the understanding of professional hazards cannot get clearer than this.
Money, and easy ones at that, is obviously the answer to why so many groups, all with dubious antecedents, have sprung up all over the place.
Aiding the mushrooming growth of such groups is the absence of any coherent approach of the Government towards the conflict situation in the land.
When rag tag groups of desperadoes are accorded importance enough to engage them in peace process or political dialogue, then it can only make the situation extremely vague and fluid.
A fertile ground for desperadoes to group together, coin a name, announce their arrival through the media, make easy money and then make themselves politically important.
It is here that the Government seems to have a vested interest in ensuring the presence of such groups, which can have immense nuisance value.
It is this politics of peace parleys and underhand dealings that need to be studied thoroughly.
Such armed groups serve the purpose of creating a smoke-screen and send out conflicting messages.
The media seems to have become the first target of such dubious ploys and thoughts and it would do good for the discerning citizens of the land to appreciate the circumstances under which journalists have to dispense with their duties.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.