Dr. Thingnam Kishan: In pursuit of a better Manipur
By Nongthombam Padameshwar Singh *
What would you feel if somebody, who is a guiding star for many, who dreams of a better society, and whom you know had to make an unnoticed exit from the stage of life's play? I don't have an iota of doubt in asserting that you would certainly want to get hold of the person responsible backstage and let him face all the dire consequences.
What is there to the play where the actor had to wind up his part so fast that he could not enact whatever he has learnt all through his life and propagate the seeds of truth and wisdom which he has gathered all along his pursuit of making ours a better place .
Today, Oja Kishan (as I fondly called him) is no more between us. He came to this world with a purpose. To make our State, Manipur a better place to live.
For long, the fabric of the state has been wrecked to the extent that people would just pray that they return back home safely every evening. This man of conviction and determination had never looked back ever since he was inducted into the civil services cadre two years back.
It had been his endeavor to fight out every social menace backed by the divine power of truth and wisdom and make the state a better place to live. But whom the gods love die young proved true for him as well. Some foes of goodwill and betterment cut short his life, along with two other souls who had accompanied and helped him.
Though not quite relevant, I would certainly like to bring in a picture of a feature film. By now, almost all of you would have watched the movie, Ghajini. In the movie they have a scene where both Sanjay and Kalpana are hit on their heads with a heavy iron rod. I just could not see the scène.
At that very moment, I simply thought," there could be nothing as violent as that, though it was just a set up for the movie". However, I was wrong. That is nothing if we know how Oja Kishan and his colleagues were brutally murdered. Bear with me for the violence that is being highlighted herewith.
Can you just imagine someone's face being cut continuously by a spade (hoe) and then hit hard on the head by some hard rock? This is neither an act nor a play, but a hard truth which we, as the people of the state, could not digest. Can there be anything more barbaric, more violent than this?
Are they human beings or have they been transformed to some beasts? What is the state government doing? Will the compensatory amount of 10 lakhs rupees and a government job to the next of kin of the deceased bring back him to this world? I have many more questions to rise. Meanwhile, I pray to the almighty that this is the last of such inhuman incidents.
He, who once wanted to change the state, is nowhere to be seen now. His butchered and troubled body is still lying unclaimed at the morgue of RIMS Hospital. The departed soul is still loitering around the body with just a wish that it could get back to it and accomplish all that he had set out to achieve for the people whom he loved a lot.
What a heavy price he had to pay for loving the state and its people so much? Back at his home, he had left three valuable lives that are always looking towards their house gate for his surprise comeback.
At such a crucial juncture of life, his wife has managed to maintain her cool and is now going to knock on the doors of law. Will she, her two little daughters and the family members feel contented?
Can you just imagine the level of trauma that they may be going through with, now? Let us pray that they certainly get what they deserve, the justice.
Today the noble soul is no more between us and the void that he has left would not be filled up perfectly. But the lessons which he had taught all of us will not go in vain. His pursuit of a better Manipur is still here.
We all will stand united, at least once, and make the sate a better place to live. A place sans violence, sans wars, sans every bad thing. We value you a lot. Let peace and solidarity reign over our minds, forever and always.
May his departed soul rest in peace. Adieu! Oh Baveheart! Hail to you.
* Nongthombam Padameshwar Singh, a resident of Chennai, is a contributor to e-pao.net regularly. The writer can be contacted at padameshwar(at)gmail(dot)com. This article was webcasted on February 19, 2009. The article was updated on February 25, 2009.
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