Hot air hot air

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Hot air, hot air, hot air

By: Thangkhanlal Ngaihte *

Manipur has tottered on. From one cataclysmic incident to another. There are 'fresh developments' occurring in perpetual flow as days pass. The newspapers are having their hands full. But, in the end, nothing ever changes.

It was not long ago when we were treated to the moving spectacle of outraged public maintaining vigil against the Assam Rifles at 'no-man's-land' in Moreh. Then, came the life attempt on Journalist Ratan Luwangcha and the frenzied reactions that follow. The din was yet to subside when Sub-Inspector L. Lokhon and three of his subordinates were gunned down at Thoubal.

Then, even before there was time to take a deep breath, we were witness to the sobs-and-tears press conference given by Ms. Maibam Naobi. All hell broke loose. Presently, the Naobi case and the news of multiple rape charges against the UNLF in Tipaimukh area are tied down in a keen contest to capture more newspaper space.

I have been trying to make sense of these continuous outbursts. Is there an end-purpose to the agitations, or is it a case of dead-enders venting frustration in the blinding darkness? What do these continuous protests show about us as people?

Let's leave the Tipaimukh case aside for the time being. In the Maibam Naobi case, we have social organizations in Imphal demanding nothing sort of public hanging of the guilty Commando personnel. In the State Assembly, some MLAs demanded the disbanding of the entire Police Commando unit itself.

The newspapers go along with the mood of the maudlin crowd and dispensed contrived outrage freely. The five erring personnel have since been suspended from service but the protests and 'wakat meephams' continue and reports said that 'more than 100 voluntary organizations' take part in them.

Impressed? I am not. And I will tell you why.

On June 1, 2004, a combined team of the Bishnupur IRB and Police Commando came and raided a house at my own locality in Churachan-dpur. They were looking for ZRA militants. The raiding party completely ransacked the house and decamped with all conceivable household goods, including a gas cylinder, electric inverter, cash, Telephone and reportedly, even ladies' underwear.

On their way up, they make entry into a Church and damaged some furniture. They shoot at a small boy as he ran on seeing them. In the commotion, one elderly woman even falls down unconscious. This incident had occurred a few days after another group of Commandos were caught red-handed picking pockets at New Bazar, Ccpur. The erring personnel were identified and quietly transferred. I was witness to both these incidents.

These are not aberrations. The so-called Police Commandos have always been associated with incidents like this. We all know that. They will roam the streets and fire blank shots without any apparent provocation. They will loot and plunder at will. They are the law unto themselves. In fact, the common understanding in Churachandpur was that if the Commandos are around for whatever reason, then you ought to take good care of your pocket and yourself.

Inside their barracks, these commandos drink and fight and shoot. A friend of mine, who had gone on duty in the last election at Jiribam area told me that even the officers simply dare not to interfere with their subordinates when darkness sets in.

If they capture any suspected militant, may God help the poor souls! Ask them of their exploits in private, and they may willingly talk of how they broke the suspect's fingers at leisure inside the Jeep itself. (See also Lamka Impressions, June 6, 2004: Fighting and Fuelling Insurgency).

This is not the first time the Police Commandos have been accused of ill-treatment of women either. On November 12, 2005, six persons, including a women, who were driving to Churachandpur from Imphal around 8 pm were searched and robbed by Police Commandos near Moirang. News reports said that the women was taken aside, stripped, groped and molested.

She was reportedly told that if she agreed to sleep with them, whatever has been taken from her would readily be returned. In this particular incident, the Police and the victim party reached amicable settlement the next day and the air was maintained that nothing like that happened. But, I was told it did happen. And this is just one random example.

Why are the Police Commandos so bad? It's not hard to find out. The Manipur Police Commando units were a product of militancy itself. They mainly comprised of surrendered militants. They were absorbed into the force without proper training-not just of the physical kind, but of discipline, service rules and human rights.

They are, essentially, cannon-fodder against their erstwhile fighting comrades. They are poorly paid and housed in cramped, miserable living quarters. Many of them will face certain death if they ever took off their uniforms. It was not long ago when they themselves held protests and even threatens mass suicide, to highlight their miserable living conditions. Putting myself in their shoes, I am not sure I will behave any better than them.

In fact, under the circumstances, the Thoubal Police Commandos' retributive action against Ms. Maibam Naobi is quite understandable, even as it cannot be condoned. There is at least a clear provocation; their boss has just been gunned down by militants who allegedly have some association with her. I don't like it, but this kind of vindictiveness is something that is common with militaries everywhere in the world. And knowing the Police Commandos for what they are, what else do we expect anyway?

I would have been glad if our loud protests were to lead to serious self-introspection and reappraisal of the society which breeds people like the Commandos and militants. Unfortunately, that's the one thing we loathe to do. It is not in our culture to face problems head on and tackle them from their root upwards. Hayeng da touge.

The Chief Minister, his ministers, bureaucrats, society leaders know well that the saturation-level protests and piecemeal measures like suspension from service etc mean little. They are aware that everything will return to their old, normal pattern once the dust settled.

There will soon be another big incident and everybody will drop this issue and rush to the next. We have no time to bother about the big picture. It's much easier to run around empty streets and shout bloody murder.

In a paper presented during the two-day Seminar organized by the ZHRF, Delhi Cell recently, the resource person, who I know is a man of high integrity and commitment, and who have seen Manipur state closely from inside and outside, bitterly observed thus: "Today, all the people of Manipur, more so the Meiteis eat, sleep and dream symbolism, without the walk!". Whether we like it or we don't like it, that's regrettably the way it is.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
-Bertrand Russell.

Thangkhanlal Ngaihte wrote this article for The Sangai Express.
This article was webcasted on March 13th, 2006

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