Growing cases of unexplained killings : The question of why
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 30, 2014 -

Unexplained killings. Not so much a question of who carried out the killings (though this is no doubt important) but why.

A testimony of the ground reality that anyone may be murdered or killed nonchalantly with the killer or killers smug in the knowledge that he or they can walk away with it.

The killer or killers could be anyone, State or non-State actors and Manipur today stands as a mute spectator to the mayhem that is being orchestrated all around.

When such a practise becomes the trend, then killing or murder no longer becomes something socially deviant.

A train of thought that seems to have caught on the imagination of quite a lot of people who have the means and the resources to pull a trigger or plan a murder.

What does it take to pull a trigger, seems to have caught on the fancy and whims of quite a number of people.

Abhorrent, it really is and this becomes all that more acute when one listens to the story of those who have been left behind by the victims and all those who have fallen prey to the trend of mindless killings.

Some killings have been documented and have been highlighted to the world while on the other hand there are some cases which have been kept away from the public domain.

With awareness spreading, human rights champions and civil society organisations have taken the extra effort to ensure that no killings or excesses perpetrated by the State agencies go unnoticed.

This much is welcome but what have gone unnoticed or without stirring the mass consciousness are the killings and excesses committed by some non-State actors who have mastered the art of cooking up an enemy or someone who is supposed to be standing against their movement.

And it is here that no reasons are furnished for any killings that are committed with a sense of impunity.

The Sangai Express does not have the figure of those killed or widowed or orphaned by non-State actors who are pretenders at the best but the recent past is enough indication of the blood that has been spilled senselessly.

In the September 29 issue of this paper, a story of a young orphan and his grandparents who have taken the responsibility of looking after him after the father was killed by cadres of an ethnic based and active in the hills underground outfit was published.

A heart rending story it made and the matter of greater importance is to study how long the people as a whole should continue to meekly take such an unexplained killing lying down.

This was but just one story that was published and there must be many more such similar stories.

It was not so long back that two women were killed when a bomb exploded in a shop at Ukhrul district headquarters.

Till today no one has claimed responsibility for planting the bomb.

The dead continue to just make up the body count and the people continue to remain indifferent.

A case of a people brow beaten into quiet submission ? Not an exhibition of a tolerant mindset nor a show of forgiveness.

Adding to the list of unexplained killings are the stories and tales of widows and orphans and there is nothing to crow about this.