August 30 killings : Muddying the divide : Public caught in the cross fire
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 08, 2014 -

Two persons killed in police firing on August 30 on a group of rallyists at Ukhrul.

Manipur cut off from the rest of the country with the United Naga Council crying foul and imposing a blockade on all roads that connect the land locked State to the rest of the world and the State Government not giving the slightest hint that it is ready to walk the extra mile to understand the sentiments of the people and accordingly take up measures that such an incident would not recur.

The result is there for all to see.

To state that it is the public who have been suffering is a point which everyone have understood but the tragedy is none are ready to come out in the open and say the bare facts.

No wonder then that a movement or a protest which is aimed at bringing the Government to its knees is increasingly seen as a tactic to let the ‘others’ suffer.

This is not the first time that the public have been at the receiving end of any public agitation and this will not be the last either.

Or maybe picking out the easiest and softest target is something which has come to be viewed as the best weapon to bleed the Government and have one’s way.

Not a healthy sign at all, if one may add. Everyone swears by the principles of democracy and the right to protest any policies and programmes of the Government but the ugly truth is, in the process to pile on the pressure on the Government, it is the public which have almost, always been turned into the favourite whipping boy of public angst.

A point which everyone acknowledges but which no one would like to address and this is one of the biggest tragedies of the place and for the people.

An example of a group of leaderless people, with no one to lead them on the right path.

In such a scenario it is not surprising to see some shady characters coming to the forefront and taking on the mantle of leadership.

No wonder then that Manipur has today come close to a chaotic place, where confusion reigns with no one ready to drill in some sense into the heads of the people, especially those whose only claim to fame is to create public nuisance.

Not surprisingly there have been charges and counter charges with the Chief Minister and the United Naga Council sticking to their guns and asserting that they have been wronged.

Not to be left behind, Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, who also holds the Home portfolio, has seemingly jumped into the fray and more than hinted that the August 30 rally was staged at the behest of some elements.

This obviously did not go down well with the United Naga Council, which have come out with a public statement, openly lampooning the Deputy Chief Minister.

Even as the United Naga Council went on the offensive and gave it back word for word to the Deputy Chief Minister came the report of how the people of Ukhrul and Manipur as a whole are coping with the situation.

So while the people of Imphal and the valley have had to cope with the strict measures take up by the Government to ration fuel and other essential items, the people in the hill areas too are feeling the pinch.

In other words it is the common people who have been at the receiving end but who cares ? Certainly not the Government nor the United Naga Council.

To say which side would yield first would be like shooting in the dark, but rest assured the common people will continue to suffer until a solution or a meeting ground is brought about.

A pity it is that it is always the common people who have had to face the music whenever any issue or problem erupts in the State and there have been many of late.