Making the helpless pay
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 19, 2011 -

Manipur is sinking deeper and deeper into depravity by the day. There was a time, confident as we are of the intrinsic values of our society, when we thought many of the appalling crimes known to mankind would never visit us.

How sadly mistaken we were. Crimes and violence of the most despicable nature is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives.

In yet another shocking and senseless act, the lifeless, bullet ridden bodies of the father and son duo – Soram Ibomcha, 60 years of age and Geetchandra, who was just 25 years old, were found abandoned at Ketanlok hillock Tangkhul village on Dec 16.

Soram Ibomcha, a chowkidar at the irilbung Water Supply along with his son, were kidnapped by some unknown gunman in the night of Dec 7 for ransom made on the PHED.

During all these days when their whereabouts were not traceable, there were numerous appeals for their safe release from the family members and various civil society organizations but the abductors did not pay any heed to these pleas, and two innocent lives were snuffed out.

What can be more deplorable than killing someone for ransom? How can a life be bargained away for money?

What compounds the tragedy is the fact that the father and son duo were poor, defenseless people, in every sense of the word, trying to eek out a living and they had absolutely no say over the working of the department on which the monetary demands were made.

Members of the victims’ family who were already in an extremely vulnerable state even when the bread earners were alive, will be hard pressed to fend for themselves.

The tragedy also exposed the deteriorating law and order situation in the state and the inability of the agencies responsible of maintaining the same to come to terms with it.

In these past few months there has been series cases of threats and coercion, of placing/ presenting of bombs in residences of many an individual.

A blast at the high profile Sangai Festival claimed the life of a rickshaw driver and only a few days back, a bomb was planted inside the PWD building after managing to sneak in through the highly fortified complex which is guarded round the clock by a contingent of the CRPF.

Even though the people of Manipur has made their peace with price of living in Manipur, taking everything in their stride, right from artificial deprivation of essential commodities to violence and coercion of all sorts prevailing all around, yet incidents like this comes as a sharp reminder, try as hard as might to forget, of their vulnerability, of the precarious nature of their lives.

As an immediate response to the deteriorating situation, the law enforcing agencies need to tighten up security measures which should reflect in a more safe and secure environment.

The state government would do well to remember that it is the government’s bounded duty to secure the life and property of every citizen of the state and not just the VVIPs, VIPs who are have been security cover round the clock.

It needs to take proactive and preventive measures instead of just waiting for the next tragic incident to happen.

Side by side, the society in general needs to come out strongly against such despicable crimes.

All efforts should be made to put a brake on this downward slide of our society.