ADCs functioning from Imphal : The security quotient
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 16, 2012 -

Petrol pumps open round the clock in Imphal and offices of the Autonomous District Councils of Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul functioning in Imphal.

Top this off with the inability of the Sadar Hills District Council to function from its headquarters at Kangpokpi and the irony of the situation will not be lost on anyone.

Clearly the writ of the Government does not seem to extend beyond the small, congested area known as the Imphal valley.

In as much as the ground reality reflects the failure of the State Government to instil a sense of security amongst the people, it also stands true that the armed groups, which are supposedly in ceasefire agreements with Delhi and Imphal, are not anywhere near to abandoning their time tested approach of using guns and muscle power to brow beat all opposition into quiet submission.

Election to the Autonomous District Councils was held more than two years back amid the high pitched boycott call given by the United Naga Council in the Naga areas.

This is predominantly the reason why the ADCs of Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul have not been able to shift base to their respective headquarters and this defeats the very purpose of holding the election in the first place.

Now it is the time for Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council to find itself in a similar situation.

The politics of pulls and pressures within the SHADC is a different matter, but it says something profound that the Council has not been able to function from Kangpokpi after the recent change of guard, wherein its Chairman was shunted out of office in a no confidence vote.

The situation appears to have come full circle now with 14 members of the Council demanding the removal of the new Chairman of the SHADC. This however is not central to the idea of this commentary.

Among the reasons trotted out by the dissident Councillors is the claim that the Chairman has not been successful in making the Council function from its headquarters at Kangpokpi.

There could be many reasons for this, but what is starkly evident is the failure of the Government to instil a sense of confidence and security to make the Council function from its headquarters.

Simultaneously it is also a damning statement on the reach and influence of certain armed groups, which evidently has had a hand in how the Council functions.

Either way it does not speak well of the Government. All the armed groups active in Sadar Hills are party to the Suspension of Operation agreement inked with Delhi and Imphal and the probability of some or one of these groups having a hand in the internal turmoil of the Council is something which cannot be ruled out at all.

The same thing goes for the Autonomous Councils in the districts of Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul and the significant question that arises is if duly elected members of the District Councils live in such a climate of anxiety and apprehension then the situation the common people find themselves in can only be imagined.

Not surprisingly the 24 hours petrol pump idea seems like a poor joke.