Case of Kamalbabu since Nov 25 : Convenient to silence him ?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 06, 2024 -

The question is, will the story of Laishram Kamalbabu end with the statements coming from the Kohima based Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) that intensive searches are being conducted to trace him with no accountability fixed?

Kamalbabu entered the high security 57 Mountain Division headquarters at Leimakhong on November 25 and that is the last that has been heard of him.

The log book kept at the military headquarters shows his entry but the signature column against the departure column is blank.

An open and shut case this should be, for the man is missing from within the military headquarters and accountability should be fixed.

So far there is nothing to show that some sort of action along the line of fixing accountability has been taken up and this is that is flummoxing.

Ten days after Kamalbabu went missing, no one, other than the statements from the Army PRO, including the Army authority has deemed it fit to speak on what is happening.

A highly fortified place and it is only natural that CCTVs must be installed at all the strategic positions within the Army garrison and one wonders why nothing has been said of the footages from the cameras.

Or is it a case of the CCTVs conveniently conking out at the time Kamalbabu went missing or when his family lost all contact with him?

Either way this line of explanation is not going to cut ice with anyone for how can critical installations such as CCTVs be left defunct inside the campus of such a critical Army headquarters? Simple question which would not have blown over the heads of anyone with a modicum of intelligence.

Not surprising that with no trace of the missing man even after 10 days, conspiracy theories are doing the round and what has added that bit of substance to such theories is the report that there is a road running through the Army headquarters which connect to the infamous German road that runs between Churachandpur and Kangpokpi.

So is the stretch that connects to German road and which runs through the Army headquarters at Leimakhong a sort of a free passage primarily used by the Kukis and when one says this it also includes free movement of SoO cadres inside Leimakhong Army headquarters.

Why is the Army authority quiet on this?

Or is it a case of the Army caring two hoots about what is being said?' Unacceptable by any stretch of the imagination but a distinct possibility when New Delhi has not deemed it fit to even explain the status of the SoO pact after it expired on February 29 this year.

Stretch this observation a little bit and the question, why is it that Delhi deems it fit to pump in more and more security personnel while questions have been raised on whether the security personnel have been given standing instructions to go soft on the SoO militants, to serve a larger political gameplan of Delhi, seems to fit the reality that is seen at the ground.

Scary it is to even think that someone can so easily disappear from inside a place as highly fortified as the headquarters of 57 Mountain Division and this is where it becomes necessary to look at the disappearance of Kamalbabu as something more than just a man missing.

Is it a case of Kamalbabu coming across something which the Army would not have wanted the world, particularly Manipur, to know ?

Did he see something which he shouldn't have ?

These posers should not be understood as just some speculative questions, for here is a man reported missing with no trace inside an Army headquarters with nothing to indicate that accountability would be fixed.

Kamalbabu's case also brings back to mind the case of some media persons who had gone to Leimakhong side with the Army only to find themselves surrounded by Kuki people, baying for their blood.

No one knows if there were any SoO militants amongst the Kuki villagers who went on the offensive against the media persons, but now with Kamalbabu still untraced after 10 days, it would do good to explore all the possibilities.

Something is not right and the question who is engineering the ongoing clash has become all that more relevant now.