Arson at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 16 2011 -
THE OFFICE premises of the Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports was set ablaze on April 12, 2011. In the process vital information on service matters were consigned to the flames, unfortunately it seems that this was the very purpose of carrying out the arson.
It this were a one time happening, no matter how irreparable the damage, people would have absorbed the painful loss of crucial data with stoicism. But tarry a while, and let as all take a few steps backwards.
In 2006 the bill section in the Electricity Department was reduced to cinders in a clear act of arson. In the process a huge number of bill records were destroyed by the fire. There is a pattern in this madness, that is, get rid of important documents, particularly if the records may compromise your position.
Are these new developments in what is now our warped society? The sad answer is no. In the early 1890s Major H. St. Maxwell then British Political Agent in Manipur was said to have fallen in love with a Manipuri princess.
This infuriated both nobility and the general population. Countless acts of arson cropped up. The simple submission here being, before we lose the thread of reasoning being, we as a people may be prone to commit acts of arson to achieve our minds. One could also ask whether, at present such acts are confined to official institutions and their staff members.
Again the answer has to be a no. We come across so many examples of mobs burning down private property, including moveable ones like vehicles, or even homes just to strike home a point.
Whichever way you look at these 'fires' the authority should take a no nonsense stand.
Perhaps it is time to realise that we need to go to the police for help. Our state may be geographically and demographically very small, but our police force is one comparable with the best in the country, may be better than the police force of many small countries.
This is not what we had consciously started out to achieve, but circumstances have led us to this reality. The full capability of the force can be utilised to anticipate, apprehend and book culprits who are bent on committing criminal acts of arson to destroy unfavourable official records.
This low brow attitude of criminals should not go unchecked. One hopes if they are brought to book with strong enough evidence, the courts too, in the interest of the innocent public, will enforce the stringiest of punishments if the arsonists had been taking advantage of the law and order situation in the state. Let it be made known to them that their bluff has been called.
The work can start by tracking down the perpetrators of the arson in the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex and bringing them to justice. Let us make it known to the criminals they will be caught, punished and exposed.
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