Cutting short trip to Senapati : Much more needs to be done
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 10, 2025 -

Delhi should take note, take note of not only how the Kuki-Zos are hell bent on derailing any initiative taken to put Manipur on the track of normalcy but also how the people who matter here abysmally failed to read the situation and connect it to how the move to allow people take the road route from Imphal to Senapati fell flat on its face and the point should be clear.

Fell flat for the bus that left Imphal International Airport to proceed towards Senapati after passing through Kuki dominated Kangpokpi district had to turn back without reaching even Kangpokpi district headquarters.

From video clips which have gone viral on social media, it is more than clear that nothing much was done to pre-empt any trouble from erupting on the National Highway.

On March 1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued the directive that free movement of all the people across the length and breadth of Manipur must be restored.

And it was in line with this instruction that a passenger bus was flagged off from Imphal airport.

Likewise a number of vehicles carrying essential items also left the airport for Churachandpur.

While the trip to Churachandpur, after passing through a number of Meitei dominated places such as Malom, Nambol, Bishnupur, Moirang etc went off without a hitch and reached Churachandpur safely, the trip to Senapati while crossing Kangpokpi district was severely disrupted, forcing the security personnel to open fire and in the process kill a young man besides inflicting injuries on many other protesters who were out in full strength on the highway to block the passage of the vehicles.

Apart from one young man being killed and injuries to many others one bus was set on fire and overturned by the strength of the sheer number of protesters out on the road.

Not something unexpected for in the days running into March 8, the Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) and another organisation had made their stand clear and that is not to allow any free passage on the highway.

This is something which should have been clear to the big guns in the State Government and as things have revealed there was nothing to show that anything worthwhile had been taken up.

Why this is so is the question which the Security Advisor and the DGP should be raising within themselves.

From the day that the Union Home Minister announced that free movement of people would be ensured from March 8, one had expected things to move accordingly with the security force tasked with the job of sanitising the highway but there was nothing to indicate that something along this line had been taken up.

As things turned out on March 8, it was a free for all for the protesters as they came out on the roads and put up barricades wherever they wished and rained blows and catapulted the security personnel who were out to ensure free passage of people.

As things have shown, two civilian passengers who had opted to take a ride on an MST bus had to cut short their journey and turn back from Keithelmanbi.

This is where questions arise on whether any of the regular road opening exercise such as sanitising the route, asking people to keep off the route etc were taken up or not.

Given the situation and taking the reality into consideration-in the face of the strong stand adopted by CoTU-it is a bit surprising to see that the head honchos in the State Government completely overlooked the need to impose restrictions on either side of the National Highway.

Why were people, who soon transformed into mobs, not restricted from gathering by the roadsides ?

Why weren’t relevant Articles of the CrPC invoked and restrictions imposed and which would have given the needed muscle to the security personnel to deal with any eventualities ?

Why wasn’t curfew imposed on either side of the Highway ?

The end objective of the Union Home Minister in announcing March 8 as the date from which free movement of people would start is clear, and it is a tragedy that the importance of this date did not seem to have been acknowledged by the people who matter in the State Government.

It should be more than clear that opening the highways will need much more than just grand announcement and the needed ground work should be taken up.

The Security Advisor and the DGP should take note of this.