The art of lying : Know the facts first
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 27, 2012 -

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything". This wisecrack from American humorist Mark Twain (1835-1910), who once lamented over 'the decay in the art of lying', can very well sum up the predicament of incumbent Chairperson of Imphal Municipal Council (IMC) Mr N Raghumani who is trying his level best to extricate himself from the issue of street vendor license provided to a non-Manipuri in an unauthorized manner.

Reacting to a news report published in this paper on its July 24 edition, Md Raghumani convened a press conference the following day and contended that Ram Das Shanker, the non-Manipuri in question, was provided with a Hawker License and not street vendor license.

Apart from the re-verification done by Hueiyen Lanpao on the license in the possession of Ram Das, wherein it is clearly written as street vendor license and not Hawker license, the hollowness of the contention of IMC Chairperson becomes more pronounced from the five-point press note distributed among mediapersons during the press conference by none other than Mr Raghumani himself.

In the first point of the press note, Mr Raghumani tried hard to explain that the space provided to non-Manipuris for selling fruits and vegetables in front of Bheirodan High School at Dharmashala was effected in 1981 by the then Imphal Municipal Board.

However, he fails to see that in the same press note, the name of Ram Das Shanker has been clearly mentioned among the Street Vendor Licensees.

There is a basic difference between a Hawker License and a Street Vendor License. Giving Hawker License means providing space for hawking goods in certain designated areas, but Ram Das Shanker has been enjoying the privilege of running a vendor in a particular area permanently since 1981.

And this can be possible only if the license issued in favour of Ram Das Shanker is a street vendor license. Interestingly, license to street vendors cannot be given to anyone other than the street vendors of the three Ima Keithels of Khwairamband Market.

These are some of the simple facts that should be known to every elected Councilor, member and other official of IMC, and it's unfortunate that the Chairperson did not do his homework properly before coming to the press conference to insist that the report published was false and misleading.

Moreover, it is sad to know that Mr Raghumani tried his best to wash off his hands from the whole issue by asserting that issuing of vendor license to the non-Manipuri took place long before he was elected to the post of Chairman and the license has not yet been cancelled as there is no alternative arrangement.

Here, what we would like to point out is that regardless of when one assumes the post of Chairman, it is expected of any elected public representative to leave no stone unturned for keeping their house in order instead of looking the other way, especially when the irregularities have been pin-pointed out.

The test of true leadership lies in solving the problems and not in running away from them. What if someone comes tomorrow and says that the problems were not of his creation but of the previous Chairperson? Think over.