Silence of NE Govts to Bezbaruah report : Lethargy and indifference
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: Ocotber 20, 2014 -

Lethargy and lack of application of the mind.

This much is true in the failure of the State Governments of the North East region to submit their own set of recommendations and suggestions to the MP Bezbaruah report to the Centre.

Intolerable is the word that comes to mind.

There is as yet no indication that the State Governments of the region, particularly Manipur have put its mind on the inputs submitted by the Bezbaruah Committee and this should more than say how serious the Governments are to the well being of the common citizens, who have been at the receiving end whenever they cross the proverbial chicken neck.

Will not come as a shock or a surprise if it comes to light that none of the State Governments and its babudom have minutely gone through the report submitted by the Committee.

Indifference when coupled with ignorance can be a dangerous cocktail and the failure of the North East States to respond to the intimation of the Centre more than aptly sums this up.

In the face of this fact, the tough talk adopted by some political leaders of the region after the series of assaults faced by students from the region in some metros appear to be nothing more than an exercise in playing to the gallery.

Not the time to make empty noises but to get down to the rudiments of addressing the issue.

The Bezbaruah Committee is one of the few concrete steps taken up by the Centre to deal with the discrimination faced by the people of the region in mainland India and though it has come rather late in the day, this is an opportunity for the Governments of the region to show that they are concerned about the issue.

A damning indication that the State Governments are least bothered about the safety and security of the people in mainland India.

A train of thought that runs contrary to the idea of how a Government should function.

The silence maintained by the State Governments of the region is more than deafening and it could also be taken to mean that the silence is also an indication that they are ready to accept whatever have been given in the report. No sharing of thoughts.

In many ways it also sends out the message that the State Governments have not given any serious thoughts to the young students and professionals who have to go outside the region to pursue their studies or earn a livelihood.

For all its shortcomings, especially when it comes to addressing the sense of alienation felt by the people of the region in mainland India, Delhi has done the right thing in sending the Bezbaruah report to the North Eastern State Governments to seek its own recommendations.

This means that Delhi wanted feedbacks from the region. Not surprisingly the State Governments have preferred to maintain a silence, that is hard to digest.

All the noises and uproars raised in the aftermath of the murders of Richard Loitam, Reingamphy, Nido Tania among others as well as the systematic targeting of the people of the region in 2012 were just that-noises.