Abduction shadow in Karong AC
Reading the fine print
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 19, 2012 -

The abduction of two election workers of Congress candidate DD Thaisii, who is contesting from Karong Assembly Constituency needs to be read more deeply than the question of two supporters of a candidate being held captive by some unidentified persons.

How seriously has the State Election office taken this case is a matter of conjecture but the fine print should not be missed.

The abduction could not have been the handiwork of any rag tag army of desperadoes or some gangs cobbled up at the last moment and common sense tells us that it cannot be equated with cases of abduction which are for plain ransom, though the question of money cannot be entirely ruled out in this case too.

A bigger political agenda behind the abduction is a distinct possibility and this is all that more reason for the office of the State Chief Election Office to get cracking and send a no-nonsense report to the Election Commission of India, which in turn may inform the Union Home Ministry.

The need to involve the Union Home Ministry in this particular case should not be lost on anyone. It is also significant to note that the two workers were abducted in Senapati district, which is otherwise known as one of the few places in Manipur where the guns have gone silent.

In as much as peace is desirable, it also has the potential to pull wool over the eyes of the common people. Under the garb of peace, political agenda can be pursued by coercing the people into quiet submission and this is perhaps the right time to question whether all the candidates in places where the guns have ostensibly gone silent can move about freely and canvass.

This is all the more reason why the ECI needs to be more sensitive while going ahead with the election process in areas which are understood to be peace zones or else bust the myth of peace once and for all.

For far too long, coercion, extortion, abduction and all sorts of threats and intimidations have been going on under the garb of peace and the abduction of the two Congress workers in Senapati district fits in perfectly with the manner in which the term peace has been bandied about to pursue a political agenda, the means for which are anything but peaceful. We are not jumping the gun in any way, but it would be in the fitness of things to consider and study the overall election scenario in the Naga areas under which Karong Assembly Constituency comes under.

It is one among three ACs which are set to see a straight fight, the other two being Kakching AC in Thoubal district and Moirang AC in Bishnupur district but the similarities end here for unlike the latter two ACs, it may be said that the Congress candidate at Karong AC is up not only against the Naga People's Front nominee but also the United Naga Council, which has publicly announced that it would be supporting the NPF candidates.

The very definition of election entails the question of support and opposition and accordingly there is nothing extraordinary in the decision of the UNC to support the NPF. However the question is whether the Election office is ready to tackle the question of covert violence in areas where peace ostensibly reigns.

Apart from the standing instructions given to the signatories of the Suspension of Operation groups to stay put in their designated camps in the run up to the election, what other steps has the ECI taken up to monitor the activities of the groups which are in political engagements with the Government of India?

If groups belonging to SoO have been instructed to abide by the ground rules then logically it should also extend to all groups which have inked peace pacts with the Governm

ent of India. The point is whether this logical extension figures high on the priority of the Election office or not.

All political parties including the latest entrant to the election arena of Manipur, the NPF, have their own set of aspirations and what they intend to deliver to the people, but when strong arm tactics are resorted to, when the choice of the people is dictated by the use of force and threats, then it is time to start questioning the very notion or purpose of the political parties concerned.