Yesterday (April 9), in a shoot out at Pangei Bazar, four CRPF personnel were killed and two civilians died and eleven persons, mostly public, were injured. Such incidents are routine and are thus normal in our lives in Manipur. We may read in the coming newspapers of revenge atrocities perpetrated by security forces. Again, this is routine and the public must bear with it.

The dead body of Thingujam Michael alias Dhirendra has not yet been collected 'by the relatives till the matter regarding custodial death has been sorted out.There is a JAC to continue agitation and road blockade in Thoubal line for an indefinite period. Our Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has candidly confessed that security forces could not be summoned to appear before Judicial Inquiry without the permission from New Delhi, which is true.

More than that, the Chief Minister said that he would issue instructions to security forces not to flout the order of issuance of arrest memo as per the directive of the Supreme Court of India. Whereas the Government of India must work under the judgement and directives of Supreme Court of India, the atmosphere prevailing in Manipur is of impunity from Supreme Court.

The State Government seems helpless.I was a Minister in the previous Government. I did not realise this incongruous situation in Manipur. So people will ask of me what I did as a Minister. My short answer is, before we could tackle this problem, the Ministry fell.

It looks to me that the Indian Army, Assam Rifles, the CRPF, the BSF and the State armed police (IRB, Manipur Rifles) and the State civil police are all working in different ways. It is like the story of the six blind persons who said that an elephant was like a wall, a tree trunk, a rope etc. depending upon where the hand had touched that particular part of the elephant.

The State Government must be able to see the elephant of insurgency in its totality. Problem of insurgency is not new. It happened in Malaya (now Malaysia), Cyprus, Greece, Kenya, Cuba, Indo-China and nearer home in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir etc. Cuba under Fidel Castro, Indo-China under Dr Ho Chin Min were successful uprisings.

The thing common in tackling insurgency problem is single line authority. General Sir Gerald Templer went to Malaya in 1946 not as simple General Officer Commanding of Army. He was High Commissioner as well. He was head of civil administration as well as GOC of all troops operating against the Communists rebels. KPS Gill, the then DGP of Punjab who sorted out the Khalistani rebels worked in close unison with the Chief Minister of Punjab.

Another thing common in successful tackling of insurgency problem is co-operation from people. Insurgents get sustenance from the public and thrive on them. In Punjab, it was between Chief Minister Beant Singh and KPS Gill who used to meet everyday in the morning and did all operations. There was no in-between. It was one-to-one networking. The Pangei incident is deplorable.

Insurgents should not use built up areas for laying ambush. God knows what will happen if such an ambush is laid at Singjamei parking. Such incidents can be used to draw public support against insurgents. The public must be on the side of law. Therefore the first thing to do is to sort out the command structure.

The buck passes everywhere and there is no place to stop.
The sooner the Chief Minister realizes this, the better it will be.
There must be a unified command answerable for all actions.
The buck must stop at the table of the Chief Minister.