Dastardly killing of 3 women, 3 kids : Lowest of low
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 18, 2024 -

This is the lowest of the low and making things all that more ugly is the absence of empathy or even a squeak of a noise from either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

And this is how Manipur has been burning since the last 18 months, starting from the evening of May 3, 2023.

From Phijam Hemanjit to Hijam Linthoingambi to the numerous others whose mortal remains remain untraceable, to now the kidnapping and butchering of three women and three children after five days in captivity.

The look of concern and bewilderment in the innocent eyes of 2 years old Laishram Chingkhei-nganba and 8 years old Telem Thajamanbi will continue to haunt the collective psyche of Manipur for decades to come.

Only God and the dastardly murderers will know the ordeal and pain that the other four, Yumlembam Rani Devi (60), Telem Thoibi Devi (31), Laishram Heitonbi Devi (25) and her 8 months old son Laishram Langamba were subjected to while being in captivity and this is what makes the murder of the six persons all that more spine chilling.

No one knows when Manipur will start walking the path of normalcy but the place has already seen some of the worst and most spine chilling killings and murders and it is amazing to see that Delhi seems to be the least concerned, with the Prime Minister more concerned with building brand Modi with his foreign jaunts while Manipur continues to burn and innocent lives are snuffed out with a pull of the trigger or a blow on the head with a heavy object.

For full five days the six women and children were kept in captivity and probably moved from one place to another and it was only late in the night of November 15 that news of the recovery of the dead bodies started surfacing on the social media.

Confirmation followed with Assam based media reporting the recovery of the bodies and on Saturday (November 16), Imphal woke up to loud protests from all the people.

Roadblocks were put up and sit-in-protests and rallies were staged all over the place.

The Government reacted in the way it had mastered ever since Manipur went up in flames on May 3, 2023 and quickly imposed curfew and put a blanket ban on net connectivity.

How effective the move of the Government would be remains to be seen, but simmering angst of the people can be easily deciphered from the manner in which people gathered and went from house to house of some MLAs.

Attempt to storm the residence of the Chief Minister at Luwanshangbam was thwarted but the crowds could not be pushed back at other places and at least three houses of the people’s representatives were torched while large damages were inflicted on the houses of the other MLAs.

This is how Manipur has been surviving from day to day since the evening of May 3, 2023 and this should more than underline the fact that Imphal and Delhi have completely lost the plot.

What is it that the people want from their representatives ?

To resolve the crisis is obviously the common denominator but how to go about it is the crucial question.

Should the MLAs resign to lodge their protest against the indifference of Delhi or should the MLAs initiate a move to effect a change in leadership ?

More importantly have the points that the people want been spelt out before the different MLAs ?

Or are their houses stormed to only lodge their protest against the failure of the elected leaders to resolve the crisis ?

The people need to be clear on what they want from the MLAs and what they expect them to do, else the strong protest movement will fizzle out in no time.

It is also time for the people to come under one common umbrella and chart out a common agenda.

Putting up roadblocks, setting on fire piled up woods in the middle of the road etc will not exactly come close to the understanding of working together, with a common objective and to put up a united case before the State Government.

Manipur has seen enough bloodshed and many have died for no fault of theirs and if after even 18 months of the turmoil going on, no united voice is raised now, one wonders whether such a time will come or not.

And for 18 months, Modi has refused to meet anyone from Manipur.