Khousabung – The panacea to Thangting/Thangjing dispute

Mangminthang *

Creating new subdivisions for administrative convenience and to bring people closer to administration. How sweet it sounds! Howsoever it sounds sweet, the issue of late has begun to morph. A tragedy, indeed.

Notwithstanding the good intention, the same seemingly acted as a catalyst for communal enmity among the already polarised sections of the people in this part of the globe where communal cauldron is seemingly simmering. The case is point is Thangting subdivision, which gets stuck in acrimonious dispute before serving its intended purposes.

Thangting subdivision, which is among the five new subdivisions created by the State Govt last year, has been mired in controversy of late. It is more unfortunate that some communal forces have been using it as a rallying point to incite communal antagonism among the people of the area, who coexist and live in harmony down the decades.

As things stand today, arguments and counter arguments spread over incessant debates and disputation over the name, Thangting or Thangjing will be endless. Going by the claims made from two opposite quarters, there seems to be endless contestation in the use of both Thangting and Thangjing.

As such, it would be prudent to find an alternative to both Thangting and Thangjing so as to put to rest the controversy once and for all without losing sight of the basic purposes.

The Government might have been least bothered that the name ‘Thangting’ would trigger controversy and animosity among the hill and valley dwellers when it first came out with the idea. It might not also be the objective of the Govt to fan communal passion in naming the subdivision.

Therefore, it is anticipated that the Govt is already initiating a frantic search to find a hypothetical remedy to the issue before another ugly turn of event occurs. (The unwarranted incident recently at Torbung was there for all to see.)

It may be recalled here that majority of the people covered by the new subdivision want the Govt to declare Khousabung as the new subdivisional headquarters. To this effect, various organisations of the area have submitted umpteen memoranda to the authorities concerned including the CM, Dy CM and MLAs concerned.

Amongst others, the ideal location and easy accessibility, neutrality of the people are the points raised by the people who advocate locating the subdivisional headquarters at Khousabung.

If we may add, Khousabung is also among the two District Council Constituency headquarters —another being Leimata DCC, under Henglep Assembly Constituency of Ccpur district covered by the proposed subdivision. While Leimata DCC headquarters lies in the periphery, Khousabung is in the centre.

Its proximity to the district headquarters is also simply ideal for opening an administrative centre. Besides, the chief of Khousabung village has already conveyed to the Govt about the availability of land for setting up the subdivisional headquarters at his village.

Then what is deterring the State Govt to rename the new subdivision as Khousabung subdivision? Is it waiting for another ugly standoff between opposing groups?

Or is it waiting another upheaval from the public? Or is there any hidden or insidious agenda to exploit communal divides? If not, then, it is now more than the time to change the name to ‘Khousabung Subdivision’ and make the subdivision functional without any further delay.

Declaring Khousabung as the subdivisional headquarters as soon as possible will be like the proverbial hitting two birds with a single stone. That, contestation and dispute over a name will be put to rest gradually. It will also be doing justice to the people of the area, which people of the area have been deserving for this long.

Government’s perceived unwillingness and incapability to act in the interest of the genuine social justice will, in all likelihood, surely find a backlash in the days to come.

Rest assured, there is no alternative to end the issue peacefully other than ‘Khousabung.’ In this case, Khousabung is the panacea to the endemic Thangting-Thangjing imbroglio. Let us all remember the maxim; it is better late than never.