Concern over safety of husband : Explain ‘devious purpose’
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 07 2018 -

The Sangai Express does not know the details, but in dubbing the FIR and the media interaction held by Ranju Singh, wife of Lt Colonel Dharmvir Singh as ‘maligning the image of the Army for some devious purpose,’ it would be in the fitness of things for the Army to spell out what the ‘devious purpose’ is.

This can go a long way in clearing the air of suspicion and distrust between the security personnel and the people of Manipur.

One understands that the Army has its own set of rules and regulations which are not privy to the public, but since Ranju Singh has come out in the open and the Army has rebutted her statement to the media, the matter is now out in the public domain and it is only natural that the public would want to know what is happening at Leimakhong where the 57 Mountain Division is headquartered.

The lady in question here must have surely feared for the safety and security of her husband and this is why she went public and addressed the media at Manipur Press Club on July 3 and common sense says that no one would simply resort to pointing a finger at the Army when one’s spouse is in the ‘custody’ of the Army.

There could be something more and this is how The Sangai Express sees this development.

That this latest development has come about at this juncture could not have been worse for the Army, coming at a time when the Supreme Court is breathing down hard on the neck of the security personnel over the alleged extra-judicial killings case filed by EEVFAM and HRA.

And it is here that the Army or security personnel have come in for some hard knocks from the Supreme Court after the Justice Santosh Hegde Commission started its investigation into six cases picked up at random some time in 2012.

The lady did not stop at just addressing the media but also went ahead and lodged an FIR at City police station and it is on the basis of the FIR that the High Court of Manipur has directed the Army to produce Lt Colonel Dharmvir Singh and the Lt Colonel who picked him up from M Sector Lt Colonel Nanda, Major Rathod and an unknown JCO and some armed soldiers on July 11.

More than apparent that this is a case which simply cannot be swept aside that easily.

Significant to note too that the matter is today no longer confined within the boundary of Manipur, with numerous correspondents of newspapers based outside the State and news agencies covering the press conference convened by Ranju Singh.

The follow up stories too must have been covered, such as the summon order served by the High Court to the Army.

More attention will be given when the said Lt Colonel and the others who picked him up appear before the High Court of Manipur on July 11.

So far it is the Court which has stepped in and one wonders how long it will take the police to act on the FIR filed by the wife of the Lt Colonel.

The drama that has unfolded and will unfold in the coming days cannot just be brushed aside as an internal affair of the Army, for what is central to the story is the concern of a wife over the personal safety and security of her husband and this should say something significant about how politics can permeate all aspects of life, in the Army too.