Revoking the suspension order : Buckling under pressure
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 02 2016 -

Buckling under pressure. It is now clear.

The State Government gave in to the pressure mounted by the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) and placed the five policemen under suspension.

It was not out of belief or sheer conviction that the five cops were suspended and the decision of the State Government to revoke the suspension order barely four days later should be more than enough evidence of this observation.

This is not how a Government should function.

If the five cops did nothing wrong on February 14, then why place them under suspension in the first place ?

Or if the State Government was convinced that the five cops needed some disciplining then why revoke the suspension order barely after four days ?

The State Government obviously has a lot to explain to the people.

Now that the suspension order has been revoked, the NSF has convened an emergency meeting on March 3 at Hotel Japfu and the outcome of the proposed meeting can only be imagined.

The question is now what ?

It is no longer about who was in the wrong or right on February 14, when the policemen allegedly stopped the NSF delegates at Mantripukhri while they were on their way to Ukhrul to attend the Lui-Ngai-Ni festival.

It is now more a question of whether it is desirable that the Government should be functioning in such a manner ?

If the Government was convinced that the cops were just discharging their duty then why place them under suspension in the first place ?

The charade stinks. Now what ?

Will it be a case of the NSF again coming out with another extremely radical directive as banning all vehicles belonging to Meiteis/Manipur in Naga inhabited areas after the March 3 meeting ?

Or will it be something more radical ?

Or will good sense prevail and will the NSF take up other mode of protest against the whimsical stand of the State Government ?

Tough to say at the moment, but the State Government has not exactly shown itself in an exemplary manner.

On the other hand, the NSF too need to come to the realisation that targeting a community on the basis of the conduct of some policemen absolutely makes no sense.

Best it is for the NSF and everyone to realise that the people of Manipur have had to suffer the conduct of the policemen for long and why not take the people along if they have anything to say against the conduct of the cops ?

Makes no sense to identify the conduct of some policemen with a community and likewise it will make no sense to identify the Government with any particular community.