Tall claims but different figures No clear picture as yet
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 13 2015 -

Tall claims but different figures. 15, 30, 50 and in some instance 100 or more than 100.

These are the figures which have been purportedly given the Army authorities with regard to the number of militants who have been eliminated in the crackdown launched along the Indo-Myanmar border.

Here again the exact place of the crackdown is in doubt.

While the Indian Army has stated that the operation was carried out along the border, with occasional forays into the territory of Myanmar, the neighbouring country has asserted that there is no report of any militant being killed on its soil.

This is the situation following the June 4 ambush in which 18 personnel of the Dogra Regiment were killed.

As claimed by the militant groups, the deadly and clinical ambush was jointly carried out by a combined team of the NSCN (K), the KYKL and the KCP.

The statistics of 18 dead is perhaps the only figure which can be said with a degree of certainty.

With India responding to the deadly ambush swiftly and in line with the gravity of the attack, the casualty could have been any figure.

However the worrying part is the varying figures that have been trotted out so far.

With the border areas virtually kept off limits to the media, there is no other way but to rely on the official statements issued by the military top brass.

There is just no way to verify the figures trotted out by the military.

In the process what the public get as information are only half baked.

This is where doubts may arise and ultimately such a climate cannot be conducive for anyone.

Also good to remember that all the figures have been trotted out at New Delhi with no one addressing the media in Manipur, though Manipur is the centre of the ‘war’ theatre.

Doubts and suspicions are sure to ignite thoughts of conspiracy theories and in such a case it is the truth which becomes the casualty.

In Imphal, the Assam Rifles spokesman or the Public Relations Officer has more than made it clear that there is no question of the security personnel exceeding their briefs and harassing the public at Paraolon and the nearby villages.

This is the official stand and with no independent investigation possible at this point of time, the Imphal based newspapers have to rely on the communique issued by the PRO of the Assam Rifles.

What however has not been answered till date is the question of why the media in Manipur has been left out in the cold.

A point which has already been raised here in this column and more than likely that this will go unaddressed.

What happened on June 4 was unfortunate for loss of human lives can never be good for anyone.

And it is here that the Government of India need to come to the point that what is needed here is a political solution.

Too many people have died and there is nothing to suggest that things will take a turn for the better.

It is for the Government to do something constructive for it makes absolutely no sense to keep on killing each other.

Bullet for bullet sounds catchy but then remember this is the real world that one is talking about.

For starters clear the doubt and answer the questions which have not been answered so far.