Scalding posers from the Supreme Court : Notion of 'Us' Vs 'Them'
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 24, 2012 -
Supreme Court of India at Delhi
From, "Do it quickly. People are dying out there. File your report by November 19," to "How can a State Government file an affidavit stating that they are killing 'us' and so we are killing 'them'. Are we in a state of war ?," and the humiliation of the State Government has come full circle.
That is, if the Government has any sense of shame or conscience.
The first rap from the Supreme Court came after the State Government failed to respond to the Public Interest Litigation filed by the Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association, Manipur or EEVFAM for short.
The second rap has come after the State Government filed its report.
Much more than an elder or a teacher scolding an errant child or a student.
Innocent until proven guilty is the dictum and while the final word is yet to be said, the callousness of the Government to an issue as sensitive as this has been laid bare.
At the risk of inviting contempt of Court, for the case is still in the process of hearing, the scalding questions raised by the Supreme Court may be seen as somewhere along the line of 'first round to the petitioners.'
From the very reply which the State Government has filed before the Supreme Court, it is clear that the notion of 'Us' Versus 'Them' has been the driving force behind the understanding of maintaining law and order. A war ?
A question not raised by us but by the Supreme Court and stretch this to the point of the arguments raised against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, then it comes somewhere close to the understanding of unleashing the military amongst the civilian population in an undeclared state of war in Manipur.
Another whip lashing poser raised by the Supreme Court was, "Are you trying to make the National Human Rights Commission an alibi to all the killings ?"
Maybe herein lies the likely answers to many unanswered questions. Magisterial inquiry is another alibi which the State Government has been repeatedly resorting to down the decades, not to forget even Judicial Inquiries.
Over 1500 cases of extrajudicial killings is the allegation raised by the EEVFAM and while the allegations may be proven or not, what has emerged is the picture of a State Government hopelessly caught on the wrong foot while addressing sensitive issues.
Or is it a case of being the evidences too strongly built against it that they have no other choice but to come up with the notion of 'Us' Versus 'Them', which may be read as 'acting in self defence ?'
That this 'Us' Versus 'Them' has not gone down well with the Supreme Court is obvious.
It is early days yet and the case may drag on for years, but it is to the credit of the front runners of EEVFAM that they have managed to pool their resources and take the matter to the apex Court of the country.
An act which gives hope to all people who believe in the divine concept of justice.
December 4 is the date fixed for the next hearing and it will be interesting to see how the Centre and the National Human Rights Commission file their affidavits.
In the end, it is about justice, without which man will not be human beings.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.