The great June 18 uprising and the 18 great souls

Samarjit Kambam *

18 June 2001 - A tribute to all Martyrs :: Downloadable Wallpaper by Mahesh Konsam
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There is a proverbial saying, "The maker is the rightful destroyer". In a democratic state or nation, this amply applies to the people. It is the people that can form or topple the very government of a state or nation. And there is no greater momentum than the collective movement of the people.

History is endemic with one sublime force – the force of the people, a force so strong that it can't be reckoned with. This very awe inspiring force had brought down many authoritarian rules and many governments throughout the world. This force had created numerous rifts in a nation as well as bringing forth many disgruntled elements, entities and pieces into one united nation.

Long before the June 18, 2001 uprising the people were already fed up, pissed off and outraged at the almost dead system of the then prevailing governance of the state. The reason for the dire and harrowing scenario of that day was that people brought forward the wrong leaders from amongst themselves leaving the State in a sorry and pitiable state.

Just like a wound being left unattended, the people's sentiment was kept in the 'hurt' threshold for too long. Result - the angst and fury of the people were unleashed on that day as the common people's emotion could not be contained any longer. The people couldn't bear the pain, anguish and dissatisfaction against the mute leaders of the state any more. I hope it was a great lesson well conceived by the leaders and other big shots running the state of Manipur.

I am writing this piece not by guessing blindly nor through listening to any tell-tales, reports or narrations from anybody. I, as a citizen of the state and member of the society am also a part and parcel of democracy and honestly speaking, I am also one of the umpteen numbers of people on that very day who came out on the streets.

Firstly, the protesting people turned up from every directions shouting slogans, carrying banners and effigies of leaders and merged together in front of Governor Bhavan, near Chief Minister's bungalow and the proximity. Shouting slogans and burning effigies of leading spring-footed politicians of the state were the first course of that day's recipe of unflavoury incidents followed by the main course containing mixture of huge amount of tear gas and rubber bullets served by security forces.

Instead of moving backwards, more and more people congregated from every directions and the crowd only got bigger. A huge chunk of protestors further rushed towards the main site with the crowd's fury rising with each tick of the clock. Then all of a sudden without any order or direction from anybody the irate crowd turned their shouting with angst into actions of revolt. That's when the government buildings and other assets were rampaged, burnt, broken and damaged at many sites simultaneously. The police personnel guarding the Assembly building had no other option than to surrender to the crowd, luckily they were spared.

Anger is a negative emotion, a mental darkness, an unwanted quality gifted to every humans. It is natural for us human beings to get angry, the main solution is controlling and managing it. But everything has a limit. The pent-up anger could not be contained amongst the people any longer on that fateful day. So, from a technical point of view, the people were innocent.

It was the system, the issue, the state of affairs of governance and the insensitive outlook of the leaders running the state of Manipur towards the sensitive issue of the people that were to be blamed. No doubt, an uprising of such magnitude erupted. Though lots of public properties were damaged, none of the leaders, bureaucrats and their kins were intentionally harmed or injured which is a crystal clear example of kind-heartedness and compassion - a static quality residing amongst the hearts of the people amidst the roller coaster fervor of choleric outrage and furor.

As the authorities running the state had turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the sensitive and sentimental public issue against the "Extension of Ceasefire Without Territorial Limits" (a simple sounding but deceptive clause) which was carried out between NSCN(IM) and Govt of India furtively, it is only natural that the public had to do the 'Job' which can be considered as deemed fit as the political leaders, higher dignitaries, big shot bureaucrats were in a state of 'coma' during that critical timing where they should have acted or reacted to win the faith of the public.

It is to be kept in mind that civil wars erupt when the rulers of the state or nation turn a blind eye to the plight of the people and when the people consider the leaders or authorities as good as dead. Nevertheless, it was a great uprising and it was lucky on the part of the state government that such an uprising didn't erupt into a civil war.

Unfortunately, under the command of some high ranking police officials with contorted mindsets, the CRPF personnel posted as sentries in the nearby vicinity started firing live rounds from their SLRs indiscriminately towards the crowd at Sanjenthong and Imphal Head Post Office areas, near Chief Minister's Bungalow and in front of Governor's Bhavan. I saw many who were shot and splattered with blood.

And the moment I will never forget in my life was a patriotic soul who, just besides me, was shot and hit in the chest where the back side of his chest gave way to the bullet's impact as if it was about to bifurcate into two. He himself was drowned in his own blood - a gory and unsavoury sight, a living nightmare of sort. Later on, I came to realise that he succumbed to his injuries and died on the way to the nearest hospital i.e. JN Hospital, Porompat. I witnessed many others who were hit by bullets.

Thanks to the IRB personnel posted there for their rapid action of helping the wounded ones by taking them to JN Hospital. Most of them could not make it. Some of them died instantly on the spot, some after reaching the hospital. When I reached JN Hospital, I saw body bags of the great souls brought outside one by one. It was the most soul-sinking and heart-rending moment of my life.

If those great souls stayed comfortably at their cosy homes, they would not be dead but those souls with great patriotic fervor never compromised on the territorial integrity of our state of Manipur and sacrificed their lives for our motherland and for our better tomorrow. I pay my humble tribute to the 18 GREAT SOULS of June 18, the day which has been declared as "The Great June Uprising Day".