Allegations of racial abuse against a Minister : Mr Ibobi cannot take this lightly
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 30 , 2014 -

Do not take oral orders from your political bosses.

This was the Supreme Court of India sometime back to check the rampant misuse and abuse of power by the political class. Fast forward by a few months and what do we have here today.

A student body, the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur accusing Agriculture Minister Md Abdul Nasir of using highly inflammatory and racially charged words against a mid level Government official for not following his instructions.

If what the ATSUM has alleged is true then there should be no reason why the Minister in question should not be pulled up and docked under the relevant provisions of the law.

On the other hand if it is some wild allegations then the official who put up the matter before the student body should be penalised without any exception.

This is not a trial by the media, but on closer look, it sounds a little far fetched that a middle level officer of the rank of Zonal Educational Officer would have the temerity to concoct such allegations against a Minister and this point should be noted by the higher ups.

Failure to do so will only further aggravate the situation especially in the face of tribal organisations such as the United Naga Council dubbing the State Government as the ‘communal Government of Manipur,‘ with even the Chief Minister Mr Okram Ibobi Singh being dubbed as the biggest enemy of the Naga people and by extension the tribal or hill people.

This is not the first time that Md Nasir has found himself in the thick of some ugly episodes.

Some time back it was the accusation levelled against him by one of his former trusted friend and aide that he was physically assaulted and threatened inside the venue of the Sangai Festival.

That the matter died in due course of time without any concrete actions or course of investigation being taken up is another matter, for it involved two former friends, but this time it is different.

This time it is about a Minister casting racial slur against an officer and if this is true, then nothing should be left to chance.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi and Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam cannot afford to be seen as protecting their flock in the face of such a serious allegation.

On the other hand, it also stands true that ATSUM or for that any matter, no one or no organisation should try to communalise the issue as that would amount to treading the same path of allegations raised against the Minister.

We are not jumping the guns and saying that whatever ATSUM has had to say is the Biblical truth for the past is enough indication that student organisations here are not exactly angels.

On more than one occasion student organisations have crossed the line and taken things into their own hands, thrown their weight around and indulged in behaviour that is unbecoming of students.

Yet at the same time, they have been highlighting issues of public importance, forcing the Government of the day to see the things that matter to the people.

In many ways what happened on April 24, the day the official was verbally subjected to ‘racial abuse’ is a reflection of how Government officials have been brow beaten into quiet submission by their political bosses and how Government officials have been cosying up to their political masters to garner some benefits.

A vicious cycle one may call it and this is one of the biggest banes hitting Manipur. Certainly Mr Ibobi, Mr Gaikhangam and the collective Cabinet cannot and should not take the allegations raised by ATSUM lightly or else it will add more gist to the tag, ‘communal Government of Manipur’ given by the UNC.

The point is, given the situation in Manipur, the State Government cannot afford to have any errant officials or Ministers who do not hesitate to throw their weight around, especially when they go to the extent of racially or ethnically insulting anyone.