Lessons from July 23, 2009 : Reduced to a footnote
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 24, 2012 -

Tehelka photos negate BT road encounter theory - TSE News on August 01 2009

Three years down the line and the profundity and the bizareness of it all is clear.

If not for anything else then at least the Summer of 2009, post the BT Road incident of July 23, should serve as wake up calls on three extremely important issues.

The graphically gory shots of Th Rabina lying in a pool of blood just beneath the BT Flyover, the damning sequence of pictures published by Tehelka which showed Sanjit being accosted, shoved inside a Pharmacy only to be later brought out as a victim of a shoot out, the numerous protests on the streets of Imphal and the circuseque picture of cops pillion riding and waving their lathis while announcing pack up time or curfew hours are images which capture the true story of Manipur.

Pictures that effectively tell the story of how insecure life for the common people can be on the streets of Manipur, the overwhelming sense of insecurity that ultimately constrained the photographer to send the tell tale pictures to a publication outside the State, the arrogance of the State via its police personnel and how public outrage and days of protestations can get derailed or be thrown off track due to many reasons, chief being poor vision on the part of the leadership behind the movement.

These are synonymous with the July BT Road incident of 2009.

The interesting question is whether the people have learnt any lessons from these stormy days or not.

Classes were boycotted for close to four months, the streets of Imphal were literally choc-a-bloc with protests and the arrogance of the police and the State came out in all its full glory which in other words meant trampling upon the dignity and sentiments of the people.

At the time Rabina and Sanjit were shot dead in 2009, the then SPF Government was just into its second innings, after the 2007 election and fast forward three years and the people overwhelmingly returned the same dispensation to power with a never before seen verdict.

Public memory is no doubt short, but the matter of greater import is not about the particular case but about people's perception of the overall reality.

It is therefore not surprising that today no one seems to exactly know what has happened to the case.

But then who cares ? That the deaths that crippled the State for days and jeopardised the academic pursuits of young students for close to four months have been reduced to an annual affair and a footnote in history is a tragedy that speaks volumes.

It is about accountability and about responsibility, not only on the part of the Government but also on the part of the people.

No one has been shot dead under similar circumstances on the streets of Imphal since then but there is nothing to suggest that the overall situation has undergone a change for the better.

The arrogance of the police continues, making the divide with the public all that deeper.

No confidence building exercise is seen, despite the intention stated more than once by the new Home Minister.

A sharp reminder that intention and actually getting things done are something far apart.

Time is on the side of the Congress Government, having come to power only in January this year, but time will have no meaning if the political will is not there.

See a Photo Gallery section on BT Road Shoot-out and its aftermath

Read the entire News timeline on BT Road Shoot-out 2009 here