Personal fiefdom : Right of way :: Loud silence of the Govt
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 14 2015 -

The loud silence of the Government is deafening. Borders more on indifference and arrogance.

A couple of days back the security escorts of the Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly assaulted a police officer but so far the Government has preferred to maintain a stoic silence.

It is this silence which is hard to digest.

The assault itself was unacceptable, but more shocking and intolerable is the complete silence maintained by the Government.

Okay, the escort commander has been placed under suspension, but the silence of the Government is unacceptable. Something has to give.

The victim in this case is a police officer and one can imagine the state of the ordinary folks whenever the VVIPs or those who come under this infamous tag choose to move around the crowded streets of Imphal.

Assaulted for not giving them the right of way. This was the reason and nothing else.

And since when have the roads and streets of Imphal become the personal fiefdom of anyone ?

A reflection of the mental make up of those high and mighty who have increasingly come under the impression that all roads and streets are theirs by birth and the lesser mortals should give them the right of way.

This is not how democracy works. Maybe the time has come to teach all these VVIPs a lesson or two on motoring and speeding around in a crowded place like Imphal.

On the other hand, this was something that may be said to be just waiting to happen.

All uniformed personnel and the masters they serve have come under the idea that whenever they move around the lesser mortals should give them the right of way. Insulting and totally unacceptable.

A look around should be more than enough.

Anytime one of the political netas and the suited, booted officers have to move around, they do so with the sirens blazing with the security personnel in the pilot vehicle frantically shooing off everyone.

Totally unacceptable.

It is good that a hue and cry has been raised.

Time for everyone to come together and say a big no to the culture of VIPsm on the roads and streets.

At the moment, the Speaker and his security escorts are projected as the villain/s of the piece, but in reality this is about the mindset of the people.

It is not only the political netas who have come under the illusion that they own the roads and streets they travel on for the same mentality too has taken a grip on anyone who comes higher up in the pecking order of the Government.

This is why one sees security personnel whistling and waving their arms to tell others to make way for their bosses on the roads.

A daily sight it is and the sense of humiliation that one experiences whenever they step out of their home is something which everyone here must have felt at one point of time or the other in their lives.

Just shows how uneducated these elements are.

At the moment it is one SI, a police official in the State Government, but tomorrow it could be anyone.

The time is more than ripe for the Government to crack the whip and let it be known that no one has the right of way.

A lesson which should have been drilled into the heads of all those who go by the name of ‘political leaders’ and officers. Let justice prevail.

Book all those who assaulted the SI and yes let the Government say sorry for the act of goondaism and accordingly take up corrective measures.