Hopeson Ningshen’s trial
- Sangai Express Editorial :: January 15, 2014 -

The brutality shown in the triple murder of Dr Thingnam Kishan, then SDO of Kasom Khullen sub-division, Ukhrul district and his two staff Token and Rajen was of extreme nature.

It was not murder but butcher.

Indeed, it sent a shock wave across the State.

The degree of brutality shown in the murder was responded by an equally massive outpouring of condemnation, irrespective of one's ethnicity or place of settlement.

Sheer barbarism manifested in the triple murder was matched by well coordinated, sustained, extensive and non-violent protest movements.

For the first time in the history of the State's protest movements, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc were put into effective use to highlight the devilish nature of the crime throughout the world and thus contributed significantly in the fight for justice.

What was interesting was, the highly communal murder evoked a strong reaction from all communities in unison.

In another word, all the communities of Manipur stood up behind the victims.

They were not ready to accept any attempt of vindication.

At first, NSCN-IM denied involvement of any of its men in the outrageous murders.

But it only added more fuel to the raging fire of people's bloodied sensitivity.

By then, more and more fingers were pointing to NSCN-IM. The accusing fingers were not simply pointed to NSCN-IM.

The fingers were directed by either some clues, logical arguments or may be a strong suspicion.

At last, NSCN-IM unable to defend itself from the constant bombardment by implicating questions, and disclosures made by some quarters came up with a clarification that the triple murder was carried out by its Lieutenant Colonel Hopeson Ningshen at personal level.

The retrospective argument is, why NSCN-IM took so long to explain the triple murder.

For a big, well established organisation like NSCN-IM, it would not be hard to gather conclusive intelligence of the barbaric murder even if it was committed by Hopeson Ningshen at individual level.

In the meantime, the State Government handed over the case to CBI and the CBI, after investigation, came to the conclusion that Dr Kishan, Rajen and Token were, in fact, murdered by Lt Col Hopeson Ningshen and some of his henchmen.

Cutting the story short, Hopeson Ningshen was handed over to the CBI through Naga Hoho and he has been facing trial since then.

Taking into account, the recent Sema revolt against the rebel outfit in Nagaland, NSCN-IM's response to the two issues is intriguing and inconsistent, at least outwardly.

The Semas were also demanding hand over of the NSCN-IM cadres accused of molesting some local girls.

But the NSCN-IM leadership rejected the demand and opted to go their way at the expense of antagonising one major tribe of Naga family apart from losing one of their designated camps.

They court-martialed and punished the accused, as per media reports.

However, in the case of Dr Kishan and his staff, Lt Col Hopeson Ningshen, in spite of his position as a high-ranking military officer, was handed over to CBI.

Was it because of the sheer brutality of the crime or active intervention or pressure by/from Government of India?

Did the triple murder case threaten the hard-earned Naga peace process?

These are some pertinent questions that come with the news of CBI Court reserving its final verdict for January 18.

Whether the January 18 verdict can replenish the tears that washed the battered bodies of the young SDO and his staff remains to be seen.

Time will only tell whether the verdict would be able to exorcise the evil in Hopeson Ningshen.

Nonetheless, the trial of Hopeson Ningshen, a military officer of NSCN-IM in an Indian Court has sent some very significant and clear messages.

It's time for reckoning and hopefully, the bloods of the three young men do not go in vain.