Thangmeiband, the epicentre : Distasteful politics
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 14 2019 -

The epicentre is obviously Thangmeiband and not surprising for this is the place of the late N Babysana whose death has crippled Imphal for some days and is threatening to return anytime again.

Seen along this line it is again not surprising to see the BJP led Government at Imphal seeing the hands of the local MLA, Kh Joykisan who happens to be from the Congress in the intense stand off between the JAC formed in connection with the death of the young school girl and the State Government.

This is the tragedy when political hue and colour is sought to be given to the uproar of the people against the death of the young school girl.

As the MLA representing Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency it is expected of the local MLA to take a keen interest in the case and see that it is taken to its logical conclusion.

On the other hand it is also expected of a BJP leader from the same Constituency to jump into the fray and seek justice for the young girl child.

The agenda seems to be common but a closer look however says something entirely different.

One cannot help but get the uncomfortable feeling that in trying to neutralise the MLA of Thangmeiband AC, the BJP led Government is using what it thinks is its best armour-utilise the service of its men in the Constituency and run a smear campaign against the local MLA.

Nothing perhaps exemplifies this better than the open declaration of State BJP vice president Jyotin Waikhom that Kh Joykisan is running a ‘misinformation’ campaign ostensibly to discredit the efforts taken up by the Government to get the case resolved.

Tough to believe that such an approach can help defuse the situation in any manner.

If, as the BJP VP has charged, the MLA has unleashed a misinformation campaign, will it help stop the campaign ?

Moreover are the people so gullible that they would soak up any misinformation campaign ?

The answer is best left to the professional politicians, whose penchant for drumming up issues and whipping up passion is well known, but in the process any attempt to dilute the death case of Babysana would not be doing justice in any sense at all.

The two sides may have the best intention in mind but the core issue is the death of the child.

True the State Government has already approached the CBI, and this is where the BJP VP has a point.

But it would be so much more productive on the part of the State Government to keep the people updated on the status of the case.

If the CBI has not yet responded, then it would be right for all to know that the Central agency is yet to respond, but yet at the same time the State Government should not just rest satisfied but pursue the matter to its best ability.

It has a friendly Government at New Delhi and this is all the more reason why the needed pressure need to be applied for the Central agency to take up the case.

It would be a greater tragedy if the case of Babysana is allowed to get lost in the dust kicked up by the politics of pulls and pushes between two politically opposing sides .