2015 set to go down as a bad year : Days of street protests
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 23 2015 -

2015 will surely go down as an unpleasant year to a good number of people.

Students denied their right to education, thanks to the endless days of street protests, first in the valley area and later in the hills, 10 young men killed in police action, one in Imphal and nine others in Churachandpur.

Already September and in a little over three months from now, the world will be bidding goodbye to 2015, but is there anything which the people can look back to this year ?

Inner Line Permit System or a new legislation to check the inflow of non-local people into the soil of Manipur and obviously the Protection of Manipur Peoples Bill, Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh Amendment) Bill and Manipur Shop and Establishment (Second Amendment) Bill will continue to stick in the minds of the people for years to come, for obviously different reasons.

There is nothing much to suggest that the protest in the hills, particularly in Churachandpur district, will subside and it remains to be seen how the Government intends to deal with the matter.

It is also more than obvious that no one has sincerely given any thought to the plight of the young students, who have already lost a great deal of time, thanks to the days of street protests.

It is an issue which will go to Delhi, that is if it has not yet gone there, but so far there is nothing much to suggest that Delhi is seized of the seriousness of the matter here.

After days of street protests, rallies and stand offs with the police, the Centre has deputed the Internal Security Secretary of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to confer with the State Government as well as to talk with the civil society organisations of Churachandpur.

It remains to be seen how effective the visit of the official will prove, but it would also do well to remember that out of the nine people killed in Churachandpur, four died on August 31 and three on September 1.

The last one passed away after a few days at the hospital. This was preceded by the death of another student at Imphal on July 8.

The visit of the official is no doubt welcome, but a look at the long interval it has taken for Delhi to take cognizance of the gravity of the situation here should tell something.

This is despite the fact that law and order is primarily a State subject but it is more than right to question whether what is happening is strictly a law and order issue.

Moreover it would also do well for Delhi to acknowledge the fact that all the deaths have come about in confrontations between the State forces and the protesters.

This is not to say that Delhi should interfere in all aspects of governance here, but the recent incidents are more than enough indications to merit the attention of the Centre.

As stated before there is as yet nothing much to suggest that situation will return to normalcy soon and this is where the people need to reach out to each other and try to address the all round trust deficit that has emerged in all its ugliness.

It is a pity that 2015 has gone so badly for everyone.