A moment of shame for Manipur : A goof up or a sick mentality
- Sangai Express Editorial :: February 17, 2014 -

CM Okram Ibobi Singh speaking to Times Now

Long Ibobi.

Long here does not refer to the long in the English language, but to a type of spear like weapon, with multiple sharp pointed edges something like say ten spears made into a single weapon.

An analogy drawn from the observation that whoever the Chief Minister seeks to nail, he makes no mistake about it.

This is about power politics where no punches are spared to down any potential rival to the chair and where the dividing line between vile and political acumen becomes extremely blurred.

That Chief Minister O Ibobi has mastered the art of flattening any potential threat to his position and cosying up to the power centre should be clear from his track record.

A facet which not all the present set of politicians in Manipur possess and it is to his credit that he has managed to come up tops in the political world of dog eats dog.

However what is increasingly becoming clear down the years is his utter failure to translate the Long analogy to address issues besieging the people and the land.

If Mr Ibobi has mastered the craft of staying one step ahead of his rivals both from within his party as well as from outside the fold of the Congress then in equal measures he has utterly failed in articulating the aspirations of the people in the public domain.

He did it when he was interviewed by NDTV during the more than 100 days of highway blockade in 2011, goofing up and coming up with incoherent answers to the questions posed.

This time again he has outdone himself again when he said that the crimes perpetrated against the North East people in the metros such as Delhi are not 'serious crimes' in an interview given to Times Now some days back.

The rest was lost in incoherence. Lack of mastery over the English language or failing to read the pulse of the people ? Not serious crimes.

This when even the President of the country has dubbed the attacks on the North East people as 'extremely distressing', with the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi and others expressing similar sentiments.

More than a sure indication that while Mr Ibobi happens to occupy the chair of the Chief Minister, there is nothing to suggest that he is a leader of the people.

A point which The Sangai Express had raised a couple of days back. With the interview clippings going viral on the internet, many people from Manipur must be hanging their heads in shame.

For a man who is into his third term as the Chief Minister of Manipur, the people expect something much more than this.

In speaking to the media, Mr Ibobi is not speaking for himself but representing Manipur.

A point which should not be forgotten at any cost.

Remember most of the attacks on the North East people have been against people from Manipur and for the Chief Minister to say that such crimes are not 'serious crimes' is blasphemy !

Or maybe the Chief Minister may have wanted to say something which would not inflame the passion of the North East people, especially in the backdrop of the attacks on the non-locals in Manipur, but certainly he could have put it in a much better way.

This is unacceptable from the Chief Minister of a North East State but then as pointed out earlier, Mr Ibobi seems to be just occupying the chair of the Chief Minister falling short of being the leader of the people.

This is a shame for all the people of Manipur at the moment and a clarification from the office of the Chief Minister should be issued at the earliest for it amounts to saying that what the goons in Delhi and other metros have been doing are acceptable.

It is a tragedy in one moronic statement, the Chief Minister seemed to have exonerated the culprits.