Probable tip of the iceberg : Manifestation of the 'nexus'
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 26, 2013 -

Tip of the iceberg. This is probably what it is.

The police have already registered three cases and the six accused have been produced before the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thoubal.

The matter is in the Court now and further commenting on this particular case may just amount to entering the sub-judice territory, but the need to build a strong case should be underlined.

Probably the biggest drug seizure in the State, in terms of its monetary value pegged at nearly Rs 30 crore, and the presence of a well established drug cartel or intricate network of drug barons should be above any doubts.

Well connected, well protected, influential with huge financial and political clout and yes ruthless, they would be.

Certainly it would not be an easy job to crack down on these elements but a beginning has to be made somewhere and this is perhaps the right time.

Send out the signal that no one is too powerful or too influential to escape the long arm of the law forever.

Adopt a zero tolerance policy towards drug trafficking and drug smuggling. Start with the January 11 drug seizure at the Tulihal airport, where everything points to the hands of some well connected people.

Too tough a call to expect from the Government and its agencies ?

A question worth pondering in the light of the unceremonious manner in which the Special Intelligence Unit was disbanded after the drug seizure.

A standing testimony of how far the hands of the drug cartel have penetrated the system.

A commendable job Thoubal police did in unearthing the drugs loaded on the three vehicles, but this should just be the beginning of the journey towards cracking down hard on all those who have been making a mockery of the law.

To see the February 24 Pallel episode in isolation would be a mistake. It should be seen in its entirety.

It should be seen as happening in a place where the dividing line between those who represent the Government and its agencies and those whose agendum run contradictory to the premises on which the Government runs and functions, has become extremely blurred.

The unholy nexus runs deep and this nexus has manifested itself in different shapes and sizes and has come to occupy the public domain.

The Pallel incident should be seen in the context of a place where officialdom and contractordom have become two sides of the same coin.

It should be seen in the realm of the reality that is Manipur, where service or dispensing one’s duty has come to be equated with pleasing the fancy and whims of the political class and the Babudom.

A place where sycophancy has come to replace merit.

A zero tolerance policy against drug smuggling and drug trafficking can only come close to a reality when a total or a significant change in the mindset of the people who run the affairs of the State, is effected.

This is where the power of the people, the voters becomes important.

Despite the commendable job that the police did in detecting the drug loaded vehicles, it remains that it is the failure of the Government, or more correctly, the nexus between Government agencies and the smugglers which have helped in creating the drug cartel. The have clout, will do, mentality is clear.