Of ADCs and petrol pumps : Palpable tokenism
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 08, 2012 -

The irony is palpable. The paradox of the situation sticks out like a sore thumb in the decision of the Congress Government to let petrol pumps located within the Imphal Municipal Council remain open till 9 pm, with two to be on the round the clock duty, 24 hours, while the elected members of the Autonomous District Councils are made to dispense with their duties in Imphal.

The assertion of the Indigenous Democratic Front that all the elected members of the Autonomous District Councils, particularly Chandel, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul, should shift from Imphal and return to their home base is grounded on the principle of local self Government while the decision of the Congress Government to let the elected members of the ADCs function from Imphal rests on the premise of the personal safety of the Councillors.

It may not be exactly Imphal fixation, but this is a clear statement of the negligible reach of the Government in the hill districts and beyond the capital.

Not a healthy sign at all. Election to the Autonomous District Councils was held in June 2010 and the State had to pay a heavy price that was extracted in the form of the 63 days economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council to protest the election held under the amendment of 2008.

The threat perception to the people contesting the election was not hazy as the boycott call meant something more than a voice of disapproval by frontal Naga organisations and it ultimately metamorphosed to the demand for an Alternative Arrangements for the Nagas living in Manipur, as per the declaration of the Naga People's Convention on July 1, 2010 at Senapati.

The bomb blast at Khuman Lampak where the members of the ADCs were housed as well as the Sangakpham bomb blast on August 1 last year were all projected to be the threat perceptions under which the elected members of the ADCs had to live.

The contradictory signal emanating from the stable of the Congress Government is not confusing but it has the potential to mislead.

If confidence was the badge worn with aplomb by the Government while announcing that petrol pumps would remain open till 9 pm everyday then a nervous, weak-kneed and whimpering entity characterise the same dispensation in letting the ADCs from the Naga dominated hill districts to continue discharging their duties from a high security centre at Imphal.

The very fact that election to the post of Chairman of Sadar Hills Autonomous District Council was held at Imphal and not at its headquarters at Kangpokpi is also a telling testimony of how overwhelmingly the Government has failed to provide the sense of security to the people outside the periphery of Imphal. The bare facts should not be lost on the Government and its agencies.

The presence of the Government should not be restricted only within a specified geographical context. It should spread to all the nook and corners of the State. Mr Ibobi has seen it all and experienced it during the last ten years of his tenure as the first among equals.

Now he is into his third consecutive term and the sense of optimism and security should not remain caged within the confines of Imphal Municipal Council.

The question of well being and sense of security should not be equated with tokenism, which unfortunately is this presently, in its real sense.