Protest, but do it responsibly call : Dangerous mischief makers
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 13, 2024 -

Murky hands of politics?

A politics of going incognito to some place, create trouble there under cover of the ongoing crisis in the land and promptly disappear ?

These questions should be understood in the back-drop of the statement given to the media by senior IPS officer and IGP (Intelligence) K Kabib, 'It was due to the participation of people from far off areas that violence erupted during the protest rally held yesterday at Kakwa'.

The senior IPS officer went on to name the places from where the trouble makers purportedly came from, but a point, a very powerful and significant point has been delivered.

Even as the police held a media conference advising the young students to stay clear of all instigators, the Uripok Apunba Lup (UAL) also informed the media that the protest at Uripok on September 10 night included quite a number of participants from other places and that they were violent.

It was to keep a check on such unruly behaviour and conduct that UAL decreed that henceforth no late night or evening protest would be allowed in the areas that come under their jurisdiction without their prior consent.

A case of stating that acts or arson or destruction at any place need not necessarily be the act of people of the place where the violence erupted, but were carried out by folks from other places.

One can definitely smell something fishy here and the hand of politics becomes evident in such cases.

The police too would not have spoken to the media without an inkling of what is happening at the ground and here is a case of some elements trying to hijack the very purpose of holding a protest demonstration for some political gains.

It was just a day or two earlier that the SP of Imphal West police Ksh Shivakanta delivered an impassioned address to the young protesters who were all out in their school uniform to stage a protest rally.

Stage the protest rally but do it peacefully.

Where is the need to throw projectiles, including huge stones at the police, was the rationale of this line and the intrinsic message of the police officer should not be lost on anyone.

Makes absolutely no sense to wind up a meira rally or a torch rally in the night by piling up woods and setting them on fire in the middle of the road.

Makes no sense at all to pull out the fencings from the road median and pile them up in the middle of the road.

The only purpose such mode of protest will serve is inconvenience the movement of the people and further damage the road.

Look at the huge potholes which have sprung up across all the roads and lanes of Imphal.

Such potholes and damaged roads only add to the misery of the common people.

Brings to mind the line, cutting off the nose to spite the face and it is more than clear that some section of the people are more than eager to make this a reality for Imphal.

People rightfully have reasons to feel frustrated and taking to the streets and roads is but one way of airing one's sense of frustration with the situation but when this is understood and acted upon as destroying public and even private properties then it is time for a serious relook at the way people articulate their frustration.

Reports of private CCTV cameras and even private hot mix machineries utilised for mixing building ingredients being targeted will not come anywhere near taking up the case of the people.

On the contrary it will only add fuel to the angst and despair of the people.

Blocking roads, especially late in the night is another approach that needs serious introspection.

Anyone out late in the night is out for a reason including emergency cases and blocking his or her way is nothing but has all the potential to consign the real reason of the people's protest to the dustbin.

This is not how a responsible people behave.

This is certainly not what Manipur needs at this point of time for such inconsiderate show and such show of muscle power will only add more gist to the stand of all those who have challenged the idea of Manipur.

Let all protests work to the advantage of Manipur and don't let it belittle the idea of Manipur.