Pathetic show of the Govt for over 576 days : Jiribam to Leimakhong
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 29, 2024 -

Schools to re-open from Friday but till the time this commentary is being penned down, the Government has not yet spelt out on the status of curfew, which has been in force, with some few hours of relaxation period, since the evening of November 16.

Tough to say whether the decision to reopen schools was taken with the Government coming under the impression that the situation has improved or due to the growing voice of dissent against the school closure move.

Or whether the decision to re-open the schools was taken keeping in mind the fate of the young students.

Whatever the reason could be, this is the time for the people to reciprocate that they do respect the institutions of learning and the uniform that students wear and ensure that young students are not made to come out on the streets to protest against the Government.

This is important and it is for this very reason why The Sangai Express had voiced its concern when young students were herded out of their classrooms and made to protest on the roads of Imphal to demand the extension of the Inner Line Permit System to Manipur.

This was some years back and all the more reason why everyone concerned should take note of the need not to drag in school children in adult matters and surely protesting against the ineffectiveness of the Government to ensure the safety of the people are matters which should be dealt by the adults of society.

Having said this, it is also important for the Government to acknowledge the reality, a reality which says that six people, all women and children were abducted from a relief centre opened at the vicinity of Jiribam police station only to be found bludgeoned to death after some days.

The Government should also study and acknowledge that situation has come to such a pass that a man has gone missing from inside an Army camp, Leimakhong Army camp in this case with no progress made so far in the operations launched to trace him.

In short, Imphal and Delhi have totally failed to ensure the safety and security of the common people and it is against this that people have taken to the streets to air their grievances against an ineffective Government.

No wonder mobs took over in some cases with the residences of Ministers and MLAs coming under attack.

It is against this backdrop that the Government took recourse to the only steps which it seemed to have mastered and that is to impose curfew, close schools and suspend internet connectivity.

With no official notification received yet, one may assume that curfew is still on and the suspension of internet service will stand till the evening of November 29.

Imphal today looks like a scene lifted straight out of a Hollywood WWII film where roads, which are deemed important are barricaded and most of the vehicles are diverted to other routes.

Precautionary measures, one can understand this, but the real issue is not the diversion of vehicles per se, but the potholed filled roads that one is forced to take due to the diversion measure.

Imphal will have to think out of the box to tackle with the situation.

It has to put in that extra efforts to see how the Prime Minister can be persuaded to meet representatives from Manipur.

It has to walk the extra mile to make the Union Home Ministry more pro-active.

Imphal and the different civil society organisations will need to pool their thoughts together and see how the North East region can be taken along to present the case of Manipur effectively before Delhi.

For over 576 days Manipur has been literally burning and if during this period Imphal has not been able to come out with a workable plan to effectively put the case of Manipur before Delhi, then what more can one say except that Imphal and Delhi have lost the plot completely.

This however should be no reason to sleep over the matter and let more and more innocent people die.

Time to seriously study and explore why the Prime Minister continues to be so indifferent to the tragedy that is being scripted here on an almost daily basis.

Time to study why Imphal has miserably failed to present the case of Manipur before the world effectively.

Time also to question whether the different course of actions taken up by the CSOs have had the desired result or not.

The ongoing clash has taken a heavy toll on everyone and written clearly over this is the pathetic failure of the Government to resolve the issue.