Other than Sanjit, Rebika
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 21, 2009 -

To better understand the trail of tragedies that the July 23 incident has left behind, we need to look beyond Ch Sanjit and Th Rebika. The story of Sanjit and Rebika, was definitely the most tragic of the incident, but we should not lose sight of the fact that five others were also injured in the incident with practically no help or a word of comfort from the side of the Government.

The injuries caused to the five other civilians should not be left on the footnotes of July 23, for they too were victims of an incident, in which they had no hands at all.

Anyone of them could have also met the fate of either Sanjit or Rebika and it was sheer providence that the bullets only injured them and did not take their lives. The story of Golmei Mangal is another manifestation of how ruthless and insensitive the State Government has become.

Here is a man, a Grade IV employee, looking after the needs of his family which includes his parents, wife and children and today he stares at the grim prospect of losing one of his arms.

Compounding his woes and sufferings is the complete indifference of the State Government.

The other four victims may have been more fortunate, in the sense that they do not face the prospect of losing their limbs, but do their situation warrant the Government to adopt such a stand offish stance ?

Any Government, which is there to look after the interest of the people, should have had the courtesy and the sense to extend all the help it could to the unfortunate people who were shot and injured for no fault of theirs.

Or is it a case of the Government blaming them for being at the wrong place at the wrong time ? The bullet wound must hurt, but what has added to the anguish of all sensitive people is the complete indifference of the Government towards their plight.

With Golmei Mangal showing no signs of improvement, he is set to go to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, where infrastructure is definitely better than at RIMS.

Taking a patient to Delhi, entails not only physical discomfort and sacrifices the family members have to put in, but also heavy expenses.

Already the family of the unfortunate man is reeling under acute financial strain, with the children, who were studying outside, forced to come back home. This is a tragedy but the disturbing part is, the Government does not seem to think that what happened to the five others were nothing unfortunate.

The Government needs to be jolted to the reality. Their pre-occupation with cracking down on the protestors and slapping them with the National Security Act, needs a serious rethink.

It is when the Government comes to be perceived as one which does not have the interest of the people at all, that the alienation process goes to the extreme side.

On the part of the people, even as the agitation against the July 23 incident goes on, let's not forget that there are five others, who escaped death by the skin, and are undergoing treatment, which has emotionally, physically and financially stretched them to the limit.

Is there any way in which the people could help them ? This is a question worth pondering over.