A tragedy of a road mishap : Nightmare at Noney dist
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 22, 2022 -

A tragedy it is. Wordsmith, that is what journalists are known as, but when a tragedy of this proportion strikes, objectivity invariably takes the back seat and it is humaneness which comes to the fore, making it extremely difficult for those in the profession of collecting reports and events and presenting the same to the people as news or information.

It is this situation which all those in the profession of disseminating information to the public must be facing even as reports have been collected, collated and efforts made to put the same in a readable report for the people to ingest.

The mind refuse to move. Words which automatically come to all those engaged in the profession of putting events into words to present them as readable news items to the people fail to tell a coherent story as the heart is anguished.

Nine, including at least seven young students killed, as the bus in which they were travelling hurtled down the roadside somewhere at Noney district.

The figure of nine at the moment is tentative as different agencies and reports from different sources have put different figures.

Whether the number increases or decreases from the figure of 9 that have so far reached the office of The Sangai Express should not make too much of a difference for the tragedy has already struck.

No one would have thought that young students, who were out for a study tour would meet such a tragically untimely end and this is what makes the accident all that more saddening.

Road accident is the term that is being used now for want of a better term and one wishes that one is more adept in the English language to capture the figure of deaths as well as convey the sense of loss and the tragedy that goes along with it in just two words.

Definitely ‘road accident’ does not do justice to the immense sense of loss and the over bearing sense of tragedy that snuffed out the lives of such young and promising students.

There could be any reason for the tragic incident and while getting down to the bottom of things is important so that such incidents may be checked in the future, there is no denying that today that is, December 21, 2022, Manipur weeps and stands in sorrow and anguish.

Expectedly condolence messages have come pouring into the office of The Sangai Express and while words are but poor comforter, it is nonetheless significant to note that the people as a whole have risen as one to share each others’ sorrow.

Poor comforter, no doubt, but it is still significant to note that Manipur too shed her tears along with the bereaved family members and the parents of the deceased school going students.

It was also heartening to note that as news of the tragic road accident spread, many of the private hospitals in Imphal had pulled up their sleeves to meet any medical exigency.

Special arrangements being taken up and being readied at the health centres reflect nothing but the readiness to chip in with whatever one can in the given circumstances and this something to be acknowledged by one and all.

This is the beauty of mankind and encouraging to note that Manipur does not lack in this in any way.

If this is how Manipur has responded to the tragedy, it would also do good for those active on the social media, particularly Facebook, to be a little more sensitive to the sense of tragedy.

A little more than disconcerting it was to note that many did not hesitate to share the scene of the accident on the social media and this is where a little degree of sensitivity will definitely help all.

At the same time it was encouraging to note that it took some sensitive and conscientious individuals to come out and plead with all concerned to stop sharing the heart breaking accident scene on the social media.

This was good sense speaking and one wonders whether this had any impact on the other media users.

A little more sensitivity is the need of the hour.

Poor comfort it is, but The Sangai Express share the grief and pain of everyone, particularly the parents over the tragedy.