A poignant letter published in a leading daily by a student from Chandel caught my eyes and touched my heart. In the Ietter aptly titled “Don’t Play Politics with My Future”, he has vividly described the peculiar situation in which the students from ‘Naga dominated areas’ are going through.

The letter mentioned that his future has been to an uncertainty due to the tussle between the Government and the Naga students’ body over the textbook issue. He further decried the way precious textbooks bought with hard-earned money, were burnt and reduced to ashes. He also commented that not everyone involved in the issue could promise him a secure future.

The letter written by the student who hails from a poor farmer’s family perhaps speaks a lot about the insecure future faced by the students from the ‘Naga dominated areas’.

It also reflects how the tussle between the Government refusing the affiliation issue and the students’ organization fighting for the issue has put the life of the students in jeopardy. This column does not intend to side with either the students’ body or the Government. It is purely a reflection on how the student community is suffering because of the contentious issue.

The point is, there should be some kind of dialogue between the Government and the students’ body. By sticking to their stand by both sides, no solution can be brought about. It will only affect the students. Burning textbooks or vandalizing Government properties will not end the issue. Nor will the steadfast standpoint by the Government against the affiliation will give succour to the students.

Therefore, the only solution at sight is negotiation. Both sides - the Government and the Naga student bodies - urgently need to sit together, put their thinking caps together and chalk out an amicable solution. Everything is possible only when we talk and share ideas. In short the Naga student body and the Government need to realize that their tug of war will only give a sense of insecurity to the student community.

In fact, they are already insecure with the academic season about to end in a few months time. In addition, if the Government or the student body fails to understand this and keep on sticking to their stand, then it will only reflect that both of them care a damn about the students and that they are only interested in politicizing the issue. Period.

MOB ON RAMPAGE

Of late, there has been news of how mobs have shown their muscle power to exert their presence against Government establishments or its employees. One disturbing trend is targeting hospitals and doctors by disgruntled patients. The recent incident at Kakching Community Health Centre over the death of a woman during delivery is a case in point.

Doctors as we know swore by the Hippocrates Oath and under this oath, they are expected to perform their duties with utmost sincerity and sacrifice. Therefore, it will be wrong to say that a doctor has not performed well in the duties assigned to them while examining patients. Deaths related with delivery cases are not rare.

I do not subscribe to the fact that the concerned doctor who performs the delivery case must have actually neglected his duties and deliberately killed the patient. Life and death are at the hands of God and blaming the doctors will not be a healthy trend.

According to experts, for every hundred deliveries made, five or six definitely requires caesarian. For an ill-equipped hospital say in remote areas, it means five or six deaths are caused due to complications in deliveries. So does it mean that the Public Health Centres in these areas have to close down and refer the patients to lmphal or nearest district hospitals ?

This is to say that we can always reduce the mortality of patients whether they are delivery case or surgery case. However, we as human being cannot stop a dying patient in spite of all facilities and good doctors. If we allow such trend to continue, it is feared that one day we will blame all doctors for every dying patients irrespective of cases.

Another trend, which is threatening to become a slur on our society, is the burning and ransacking of houses who are accused in social crimes. More often than not, the families are boycott by the Leikais and ordered to leave the place. Such news is often published in the newspapers about the ostracized families.

The question is how the whole family can be blamed by the society when one of its members commits a crime. Better still, does the civil society has the right to dismantle house or burnt them into cinders ? Where is the civil law ?

This dangerous trend of branding a family as anti-social just because of one black sheep in the family is very unfortunate. Every right thinking and conscientious persons, local clubs, meira paibis and organisations should condemn such acts of arson and violence.

After all, in a civil society, there is something, call law, whose responsibility lies with the rightfully enacted law-keepers. Moreover, the law-keepers should also ensure that such mob violence is taken care of and whoever is responsible for such vileful acts should be immediately booked and sentenced.

JOURNOS ON BACKPACK

For eight days, the journos and the volunteers of two students’ bodies spent their time at the Vangai Range in Tipaimukh sub-division to look into the pitiable condition of the people there. Many surprises were in store for them.

For instance, a woman lost her wooden khabei (spoon) while food was being cooked for the team. The woman was in tears and wailed about the loss. When they enquired why she mourned for the cheap khabei, she replied it was not cheap for her.

To buy that khabei, she has to travel by steamer on the Barak to the nearest market place, which will cost her more than a hundred rupees. The journey back and forth including her fooding to buy that little insignificant khabei will cost her more than three bucks!

The team was also fed only on tin fish. Imagine having tin-fish for eight nights and eight days. They informed that even today the small of tin fish disgust them.

And what happened? One of the journos on returning home found that the wife cooked tin fish lovingly for him.

Needless to say, he threw the food flying to the nearest bin.