Lamlai's Misfortunes: Bestial murderers on the prowl - Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 29, 2010 -

A series of unfortunate incidents has been happening in areas of Lamlai assembly constituency of late. Suddenly there has been an upsurge in crimes in that constituency. During the last ten days starting from July 19, at least six or seven incidents of crimes, some of which were violent and fatal, had occurred.

Apart from kidnapping two minor boys, aged between 12 and 13, by unknown armed persons in the broad daylight of July 19, and abduction of another youth, who is the son of an active supporter of Health and Family Welfare Minister Ph Parijat, by cadres of KCP-MTF (Mobile Task Force) of City Meitei, shooting of yet another youth in both legs also by cadres of the same underground outfit on the night of July 19, then an attempt to abduct the son of a Gram Panchayat Pradhan when he was not at home by armed persons believed to be cadres of the same outfit on the night of July 25, but fled when residents from the neighbourhood rose up as one and tried to catch them, had also happened.

Then the most unfortunate incident of shooting a housewife to death on the night of July 26 has happened. This was also an act carried out by the KCP (MTF). The outfit has claimed responsibility for the killing saying that the incident happened when the deceased woman tried to snatch the arms from the cadres of the outfit who wanted to meet her husband. It's a different question how many people would believe the claim that the unfortunate mother of four children, a woman of 45, had the wisdom and courage to make an attempt to snatch the guns from the hands of some two or three cadres of the underground outfit.

All these incidents of abductions, shooting, killing and making demands for extortion from families who are CPI members, and workers and supporters of Minister Parijat are inter-related. The KCP (MTF), according to press releases published in the media, has been deliberately carrying out all these activities to teach Minister Parijat a lesson that he has to live with all his life.

The armed underground outfit, one of many offshoots of the original KCP, has accused the Minister of appointing many staffs of the JNIMS through the backdoor by collecting bribe-money and doing contract works to the tune of crores of rupees, etc, and vowed that the outfit would attack the Minister's active workers and supporters with the aim of weakening the Minister's political base in Lamlai A/C.

The armed group has made its intention of weakening Parijat politically very clear. In the latest press release issued by the KCP (MTF), it was stated that the party may not be able to make a candidate win the assembly election but it would be able to make him defeated.

Now the whole chain of misfortunes that had been caused in different parts of Lamlai A/C comes down to a violent campaign of political vendetta against one political leader of CPI, who happens to be a Minister in the present SPF ministry in the state.

Before all these misfortunes began to befall the electorate of Lamlai A/C, mainly the workers and supporters of Minister Parijat, there were media reports that the same outfit had made demands to the Minister to appoint some persons in JNIMS as doctors or some other post, give the outfit order for contract work and finally to pay up some crores of rupees.

Shri Parijat flatly refused all those demands, and explained that he was not the appointing authority of JNIMS, which is run by a Society headed by the Chief Minister and so on. The CPI state leader has described any armed group which calls itself a revolutionary organization but indulges in kidnapping innocent persons for ransom, appointment and contract works threatening, killing, and all such illegal and inhuman activities as terrorists.

Obviously, this has infuriated the KCP (MTF) and now the hostility. But no one can see the logic behind the attacks on the innocent workers and supporters of the Minister, going so far to the extent of shooting to death an innocent mother of four children, who just happened to be the wife of a supporter of the Minister, and making accusations after killing her.

These are the very acts which people of Manipur and the world have always been calling terrorist acts. There can never be justification for the violent attacks on innocent people, who are just trying to eke out a living by doing little things what they are doing, just to give a message to a political leader.

Such acts of cruelty can never make a dent in the political career of a particular leader, rather would make the people rise against the very outfit and reject its professed ideologies, whatever that may be. An armed organization, which calls itself a Yawol Lup (revolutionary outfit) is not expected to turn its guns toward the people.

When it does so, it stops to be what it claims to be, instead it becomes a terrorist group. This must dawn on all concerned, and stop targeting innocent people henceforth. Meanwhile, where are those brave sons and daughters of the soil who can bring the state to a grinding halt for months together by launching agitations against killing in "fake encounters"?

Doesn't killing of an innocent mother at her doorstep in the dead of night by armed militants merit a united movement of the people?

On the other hand, the authority needs to take all necessary actions to see that no further unfortunate incident happens once again in Lamlai A/C or any other place, for that matter.