Menace on the roads of Imphal Suffering VIPs
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 09, 2013 -

Suffering the category of people who come under the tag VIP.

No speed limit, one way traffic norms be damned, the red light at the traffic circle may just be another decorative piece put up, the no tinted glass norm is for the lesser mortals or to borrow a phrase from a Union Minister, for the cattle class, and clearly the people of Imphal must be suffering from an overdose of VIPs playing havoc with their daily movement.

Wailing sirens, security escort exercising their lung power and waving a lathi in the air to tell the ordinary people to make way for someone important and demeaning and trampling upon the dignity and self respect of the public cannot get more complete than this.

Getting a kick out of harassing and insulting the sensibilities of the people and suffering VIPs cannot get more absurd than this.

Given this uncomfortable position of the common people vis-a-vis the VIPs, the recent tinkering with the idea of empowering all check posts along the Imphal-Moreh route to check vehicles of VVIPs and VIPs, seems like a poor joke, with very low taste.

Ideas may be explored, decisions may be taken, but what ultimately counts in the end is the implementation of the decision at the grass root.

Given the mentality of the people who come under the category of VIP, can the people really believe that vehicles of VVIPs and VIPs will be checked along the Imphal-Moreh route ?

This despite the high profile drug seizure along this same stretch on February 24 ?

Such a mentality can have a cascading effect and as things stand today this can rub off on those who come anywhere near this class of people. And so it is that Manipur sees hangers on and kith and kins of VIPs throwing their weight around.

For long, the biggest nuisance on the roads of Imphal have been the people who come higher up on the ladder of influence and authority.

And so it is that from the political netas, to the officials who move around with a flag post and siren, to the uniformed personnel who are given security escort, all have come under the impression that the road in Imphal is the best place to demonstrate their status.

It is this mindset which has percolated to every sphere of public life and it is not surprising that Manipur continues to be caught in a time warp.

Surviving on power supply for 4/5 hours in a day of 24 hours and this is about Imphal, the capital city, getting water through the tap only twice or thrice in a week and that too for only a couple of hours and truly the understanding of governance cannot get more warped and absurd than this.

The connect between the VIP syndrome and the utter lack of governance should be seen in its correct perspective.

It is the disconnect between those in positions of power and authority and the governed which is being played out in the form of the division between the VIPs and the common people on the roads of Imphal and it is this disconnect which has manifested itself in the failure to deliver to even the most basic of needs such as power and water supply.

A corrigendum may be line here. The 4/5 hours of power supply is only for those who come under the nomenclature of the public, the ordinary people.

Load shedding and power cuts do not apply to those who are known as VIPs. The farce continues.