At the receiving end of VIPdom : Suffering guest appearances
- Sangai Express Editorial :: April 16, 2013 -

At the receiving end of VIPdom. This should sum up the plight of many Imphalites during the 'guest appearance' stint of the Honourable President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee on April 15 and 16. Not only on the day of the visit but also on the day preceding the high profile visit.

All roads did not lead to Adimjati Shiksha Ashram, but certainly all roads, well at least many of the main roads, were kept off public on April 15.

The road stretch from Keishampat to the airport, where the office of The Sangai Express is located stood as a mute testimony to the sufferings that people had to face in the name of VIP security.

Make it VVIP here for it is the President of the country and none less. With the umbrella organisation of several armed groups, the CorCom, imposing a general strike as well as boycotting the visit of the President and given the law and order situation in the State, tight security for the visiting dignitary is a given.

However there is a dividing line between ensuring the safety and security of the President and plain inconveniencing the public. A line which may be fine, but which should not have escaped the attention of the people responsible for the security arrangement.

Ironic it may sound, but the boycott call which the armed outfits had given was a resounding success, if the deserted roads, as the President's cavalcade whizzed past, is any indication, all thanks to the measures taken up in the name of security. None from the public to roll out the red carpet.

No citizen waving the welcome flags by the road side as the President whizzed past the roads of Imphal.

Not only a question of inconveniences but also a question of the self respect and dignity of the people being violated.

How does one explain the situation when one is told that no vehicle should be parked in front of one's own office ?

Or when all the people living by the side of the road through which the high profile personality is to pass are told that they cannot come out of their houses ? Taking things a little too far and shorn of all sensibilities.

So much for high profile visits from Delhi. The President obviously must be oblivious of the inconveniences the people had to undergo.

This will not be brought to his notice, much like many of the projects which have been inaugurated but not yet opened to the public.

The window dressing exercise which the State Government launched with such gusto ahead of the high profile visit is an extension of this culture, where on paper everything looks in order, but nothing works at the ground reality.

Much as the window dressing exercise helped in camouflaging the ugly warts caused by the never ending Imphal Sewerage Project, the smooth passage given to the President's cavalcade hid the extreme inconveniences which the public had to undergo. The mindset needs a thorough sterilisation process.

For too long the public has been taken for granted. Ensuring the safety of the VIPs should not necessarily come along with the extra baggage of subjecting the public to humiliation.

And there is something very ignominious and humiliating about being told that one cannot come out of one's house, under the alibi of ensuring the safety and security of another man no matter how high a position he holds.

The people of Imphal have had enough of the inconveniences and heart burns due to some guest appearance stint from the mandarins of Delhi. Let the next time be a better and more sane experience.