Spare the bullets, use the spade : Saluting three departed souls
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 19, 2013 -

Funeral Procession for the last rites of the SDO Th Kishan and his two staff on 23rd Feb 2009 :: Pix -Gnet

There are killings and there are killings.

While the intention behind all killings is the same, that is snuff out the life of someone, there are differences in the manner in which killings are carried out. Prefixes and suffixes may be added to all types of killings.

‘Spare the bullets, use the spade’ was obviously the instruction issued to carry out the triple murder of Dr Kishan, Y Token and A Rajen more than four years back.

The battered bodies, most of them on the cranial areas, more than suggest this. This is where the brutality of the killing manifests itself clearly. It was also obviously premeditated.

Abducted from Ukhrul district headquarters on February 13 in 2009, the battered bodies of the three were found abandoned at Taphou Kuki village in Senapati district on February 17.

Abducting them from Ukhrul district headquarters, which is inhabited by the Tangkhul community and abandoning the lifeless bodies in a Kuki dominated village and the evil designs behind the killings become all that more clear.

Hate killings cannot get more blood curdling than this. Intentionally point the compass of suspicion to another group of people and it should be clear that the killing was not only hideous but also had a very evil design. This is what makes the murder of the then SDO of Kasom Khullen and his two subordinate staff all that more reprehensible.

A genius of a mind, but demented, at work, if one may add. Four years down the line and justice still seems elusive.

It took only four days for the three to be killed in the most horrendous manner imaginable and yet it has taken more than four years to deliver justice.

The justice delivery system can be tediously slow and frustrating, but keep faith in it, is what all must do.

The wounds should heal, of course, but the scar will remain but it would be grave injustice to the souls of the late young officer and his two subordinates if the scar is allowed to become cancerous.

Black sheep. This was the term that the NSCN (IM) used to disown and describe Hopeson Ningshen.

Understandable, in the sense that all organisations will certainly have black sheep amongst them, but it is open to question whether this pronouncement came with a sense of conviction or was nothing much more than a damage control exercise.

Only the conscience of the leadership of the said outfit can answer this but for the people as a whole, it is important that no single community is held responsible for the gruesome murder.

This would be against the principle of the murdered officer as well as his two men. This would also be against the spirit of Manipur.

Full credit to the people for keeping their sanity in check and not giving the killings any communal tinge.

A very important lesson for all, especially for those who have been using the ‘communal accusation’ tone, left, right and centre, particularly in connection with the indefinite bandh called in the valley area during the Christmas season last year.

Just as death is inevitable, there will be cold blooded murderers donning the mask of human beings and carrying out their devilish plots.

History is testimony to this. Just as death is inevitable, it is also important for the people to ensure that some deaths do not go in vain.

And certainly the deaths, the most brutal ones at that, of Dr Kishan, Y Token and A Rajen should not go in vain. In saluting the departed souls and in pursuing justice, let the voice of sanity prevail and defeat those which have been trying to divide the people at all cost.

This is the ultimate tribute that the people can pay to the late three souls.