Whose Dhemaji ? Upgrading lies to an art
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 05 2011 -

The remains of the scooter at the Sangakpham bomb blast site - Pix :: Sangai Express

It did not come as a surprise to see the NSCN (IM) washing its hands off the Sangakpham bomb blast in the face of the accusation levelled by the State Government and the statement given by the Union Home Minister implicating the outfit in the bloodbath.

Simple reasoning tells us that the IM group would deny its involvement in the blast, which has rightly been dubbed as plain terrorism while on the other hand, the State Government can be predicted to stick to its version.

To any keen observer, who understands the political compulsion as well as appreciates what is known widely as credibility, the opposing stands adopted by the IM group and the State Government will be along expected line, but what is at stake here is not only about the question of which of the two sides sounds more convincing but about whether the stand off has the potential to dilute the man triggered tragedy.

This is especially true in the backdrop of the fact that the NSCN (IM) today evokes extreme responses from people on either side of the Lim divide.

As things stand today, already fingers have started pointing at each other threatening to paint the whole incident along communal and ethnic divide and this will fit the agenda of the brains behind the blast like a T.

For reasons that sound unreasonable and far removed from the reality, situation has come to such a pass than any adverse comment against the NSCN (IM) is deemed as being anti-Naga and any positive comments about the NSCN (IM) is interpreted as being a champion of a Greater Lim and hence against the interest of Manipur.

Such a mindset did not dawn over night but has been a gradual process and this is what the people can do without. Judging by some of the comments we have received in our readers' comment box in the net edition of this paper, it is clear that already some people have started exercising their minds on how give it an ethnic tinge and in the process shift the attention of the people from the actual issue.

This is what people should be on guard. The two school girls who were blown to smithereens by the blast impact surely had nothing to do with the Lim politics and it would be a grave injustice on their souls if this issue is allowed to shadow the terror that was unleashed on that day and which snuffed out their lives.

Whatever the case may be, it is undeniable that the Sangakpham blast was man triggered.

Whether the bomb went off accidentally due to the lack of professionalism on the part of the bomber or not is a different matter, but what cannot miss the eye is the point that it was not a hotch potch plan.

At the risk of sounding rhetorical and to raise a speculative question, the blast may have taken a more sinister turn if it did not explode accidentally, but hit the intended target.

The two sides including P Chidambaram will stick to their sides of the story, this is a given, but this opposing stands should not be allowed to stand in the way of taking things to its logical conclusion. Since the IM group has denied its hand in the Sangakpham blast, the question is whose Dhemaji will Sangakpham turn out to be ?

For all the names that may be attached to the NSCN (IM), it stands true that its leaders did not launch the movement to be terrorists. Rather it came into the limelight championing a cause which they believe in and in the process managed to catch the imagination of quite a large number of people.

However as in life not everything is in black and white in a movement taken up on behalf of a people and the movement launched by the NSCN (IM) is not an exception.

The very nature of an armed movement is suggestive of the looming possibility of the very movement to stray from the expectations of the people and cross the fine line that divides a movement launched on behalf of a people and plain terrorism that makes no distinction between the enemy and the common people.

In fact so fine is the dividing line between an armed movement or a revolutionary movement and plain terrorism that a slight shift from a people oriented path can see an armed organisation hurtling into the crevice of a terrorist outfit.

In most cases this comes about unwittingly and a sincere study into why the Rajkhowa faction of ULFA has felt the compulsion to apologise for the murder of Sanjoy Ghose and for the Dhemaji blast that killed a number of school children, will offer some fascinating insight.

While an apology is an attempt to exorcise the ghost of the past and redeem oneself, denial and that too outright denial of any wrongs committed is the fuel that can keep the wheels of heart burn and hatred churning.

It is when denial mode becomes the signature of an outfit, which first took up the gun on behalf of the people, that manufacturing lies is catapulted to the status of an art.

In such a scenario, the first casualty is truth and when truth becomes the sacrificial lamb, it will mean the need to lie more and more, ultimately leading to the complete erosion of its credibility and the faith that the people had reposed in it.

In such a situation the metamorphosis from an organisation which came to the limelight espousing a cause dear to the people to a terror outfit is complete. The tragedy that would befall everyone can only be imagined in such a scenario.

This is a point that should not escape the notice of the leadership of any armed organisations and given the fact that the North East is home to numerous armed outfits, this lesson is all that more important.

Manipur has been wounded on many occasions on account of this point not being acknowledged by many of the self proclaimed revolutionary organisations. The Lungphu incident is the right moment for the IM leadership to dwell on this point.

And we may well predict that the Sangakpham blast will one day be the Dhemaji of an outfit here.