Serial blasts : Weaving a conspiracy theory : Discernible emerging pattern
- Sangai Express Editorial :: November 04 , 2013 -
The emerging pattern is discernible. Launch a serial blasts, in the very heart of Imphal, but with minimum human casualty.
From October 18 to November 2, five bomb blasts have rocked Imphal and the human casualties read as three dead and nine injured.
A brief recap of the bomb blasts may just give a better understanding to the emerging pattern. On October 18, a bomb blast was triggered near Major Khul in the heart of Imphal with no human casualty.
This was followed by another bomb blast near the Government water supply scheme at Kangla fort and again with no human casualty.
The 29 October blast at Dharmashala, just a stone’s throw away from City police station, witnessed human casualty, with five including two students injured.
The deadliest of the serial blasts, at least till date, remains the Moirangkhom blast on October 30 in which three persons were killed while four others were injured.
There has been no respite with the latest blast occurring at Kalibari area on November 2, again with no human casualty. The pattern is clear.
Bomb placed in the heart of the capital city but take extra care not to inflict human casualty, with the Dharmashala and Moirangkhom blasts being the exceptions.
The interesting point is the conspiracy theories delicately woven around the blasts pattern, with some hinting that it could be a ploy to bring back the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the seven Assembly segments of Imphal Municipal Council.
This conspiracy theory becomes all that more interesting in the face of the fact that Amnesty International, India, Just Peace Foundation and others have launched a renewed campaign to free Sharmila, who has been under custody for the last 13 years ever since she started her indefinite fast to demand the revocation of AFSPA on November 2, 2000 following the Malom massacre.
It is also significant to note that the campaigns have been launched on the premise of the National Human Rights Commission crowning Sharmila with the slogan, ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ and questioning the State Government on the merit of the restrictions placed on people who want to meet the peace campaigner.
Relying on theories, especially of the type of conspiracy theory doing the round would amount to shooting in the dark.
This is a given and here it is important to take note of the findings of the police that the bombs which have been triggered are all of the same type.
An indication that the bombs have come from the shelf of one single group ?
A natural fall out of the series of blasts in the heart of the capital city is the enhanced security measures being taken up, especially ahead of Ningol Chakkouba when the market places are teeming with thousands of shoppers.
A blast, God forbid, if it happens during peak hour in the market places, would be catastrophic.
Time for all the arms of the security agencies to work in tandem and share information and of course time for the public to be vigilant and to remain alert at all times.
Venturing out to the market places cannot be get more dicey than now. This is the reality that one has to accept.
Another interesting development that has emerged from the smoke and gore of the series of bomb blasts, is the announcement by Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency MLA Kh Joykishan of the Trinamool Congress that he would extend an award of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who can give leads and clues to the perpetrators of the bomb blasts.
An award not announced by the Government but by an MLA and that too an MLA who sits on the Opposition bench and clearly an important message has been rung out.
Without raising any pitch or playing to the gallery, MLA Joykishan has delivered a punch on the Government.
It is not about the award of Rs 1 lakh, but the underlying message that should be understood.
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