Task cut out for men in uniform to restore peace
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: May 23, 2023 -

HAVING candidly admitted in his speech at the Anti-Terrorism Day observance held on Sunday that it was the failure of the government to comprehend outbreak of the communal riots and later contain the violence that brought untold hardships to all sections of the society, it is time that chief minister N Biren also shoulder the responsi-bility to protect villagers in the foothills from the continuous attacks by armed members of suspected Kuki outfits which are signatories to the tripartite suspension of operation (So0) agreement.

If life and properties of the Meetei villages adjacent to Kuki settlements and in the foothills could not be protected from the heavily armed militants then it is obvious that appeals for reconciliation and restoration of peace and harmony from various sections of the society wouldn't make any difference to the restive situation.

That there has been grow-ing frustration among the Meetei population against failure of the authorities concerned to prevent attacks could be comprehended from victim villagers demanding replacement of central para-military forces with state's security personnel and asking for issuance of licenced firearms.

With increasing number of Meetei villagers in the foothills mincing no words to assert that central forces can't be trusted to contain the violent activities of Kuki militants, it could be safely stated that the purpose of rushing in central forces has not yet been justified or validated, especially as not a single Kuki militant has been appre-hended so far with exception of one from Utonglok village in Dolaithabi area, who the village authority also claimed has been falsely implicated.

Accepted that, as stated by the chief minister, the riots broke out due security lapses and intelligence failure but there is no valid reason why the attacks and acts of arson in Meetei inhabited areas should linger on considering the fact that additional security forces in un-precedented numbers have been brought into the state.

Thus, in the same spirit the chief minister confessed that the government is re-sponsible for the unfortunate and sad incident, it is hoped that authorities concerned would step forward to shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding all the vulnerable sections of the population failing which the affected communities would continue to hold grudge and might be forced to resort to extreme steps to save themselves.

In such a scenario, all efforts of the government and concerned stakeholders to restore peace and revive the age-old cordial co-existence wouldn't fruc-tify.

Rather, any instance of the government lacking compassion to protect the soft targets as well as the central forces favouring one of the parties in conflict has the potential to deeply polarise the society on ethnic lines and might see increase in the number of armed groups, which in turn will be a headache for both the state and the central governments.

Moreover, the government authorities can't be naive that some youngsters from among the violence-hit and displaced families might be circumstantially forced to leave behind the comfort of home.

Therefore, it is imperative that the security forces working at the ground level discharge their duty impartially and win trust and confidence of both the affected communities.