Happy New Year!
- Sangai Express Editorial :: January 01, 2009 -

Today is the first day of the first month of the year 2009. New Year always brings new hopes and new resolutions.

When we set foot into the New Year everyone of us has not only wished that it would bring us peace, prosperity and progress, but also set down certain agendas.

Although we hoped at the beginning of last year that the new year would usher in better times, it has as we all had experienced turned out to be worse times, if not the worst.

The past year as usual with beset with bandhs, strikes and agitations that rocked the State throughout the year.

For many days Manipur was on the boil. The CM's residence was attacked, the Governor's residence was also attacked and most disturbingly 18 people were killed when a bomb was exploded at Ragailong.

The Government is still not financially healthy, but that has not stopped the JAC of AMTUC and AMGEO to go on strike demanding the implementation of the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission.

On the other hand, hundreds of people were killed in insurgency related incidents. While the law and order situation continued to be fluid the political leadership preferred to look the other way and condemn the Common Man to more inconveniences.

Nothing illustrates this better thatn the ludicrous decision of the Govcernment to block the road leading to the house of the Chief Minister as well as Babupara after 6 pm, following the bomb attack at the residence of the Chief Minister. Moreover after the Raj Bhavan was attacked one side of the two way lane was blocked off in the evening for some days.

With new hopes and resolutions we step into the New Year. Again we in The Sangai Express wish that things will improve for the people of Manipur from today.

But we have to learn lessons from past mistakes. Many of the people will agree that endless bandhs have made life more miserable for the common and poor sections of the society.

We know it from the fact that we are routinely flayed by the common people for carrying bandh reports.

In a few months time we will be exercising our franchise. Our politicians made a mockery of democracy as a result of the wrong choices we made, the voters.

Our politicians and bureaucrats, we fervently hope, will also review their performances in the year gone by and make honest and sincere efforts to better their working system.

The State needs to pay a serious attention on curbing wasteful expenditure while resource mobilisation needs to be taken up on a war footing.

Another issue, which should not be ignored is effective policing. A lot needs to be done to win back the faith of the masses to the State police.

The Sangai Express wishes its readers and people of Manipur a Very Very Happy New Year.