Exerting pressure on the Govt : One ends, another begins
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 28 2015 -
Restrictions on the movements of the people. July, 2015 has been this and much, much more.
Curfew on the one hand and bandhs on the other. And there is nothing much to suggest that things will improve in the near future.
In the middle of the different forms of protest and agitation launched all over the State, stands the Government.
No magic formula but yet at the same time it has to be said that there is nothing much to suggest that the State Government has given it any sense of urgency till date.
So it stands that even as the people of Manipur have just come out from one bandh, particularly in the hill districts of Manipur, another bandh has started.
The bandh which was effective in the hill districts was imposed by the Naga People’s Front in protest against the inordinately long time it has taken for the State Government to form the Autonomous District Councils.
There may be reasons for the delay, such as who has the authority to appoint the two Council members in each ADC, but it defies logic that so far the Government has not rolled out a single reason for the long delay.
Remember the results of the ADC election were announced on June 10 and more than a month after this, nothing seems to have moved towards installing the District Councils.
Such an approach smacks of brushing aside the lofty ideals of democracy at the grassroot level, especially in the hill districts.
The 24 hour bandh may be over but already the NPF has delivered an important political message.
This is something which the State Government could have avoided, if only it had applied its mind to the issue. It is also important to remember that the elected ADC members were sworn in after an inordinate delay.
Why this was so was again never explained to the public and more importantly to the newly elected ADC members.
So one bandh called by the NPF has ended and another one has begun.
As in the past few days, this time too, the bandh has everything to do with the movement launched to demand a strict legislation to check the incursion of non-local people into the State of Manipur.
The JAC formed in connection with the death of Sapam Robinhood, a young student who was killed in police action on July 8, has every reason to feel peeved with the State Government.
Granted, the State Government has instituted a Judicial Inquiry to probe the circumstances leading to the death of the young student, but remember the probe panel was appointed only when the protest movement intensified after Robinhood’s death.
More than indicative that the probe panel has been instituted, not because the Government wants to punish any wrong doer/s, but to placate the people.
This is what is hard to digest.
In short it was within the reach of the Government to have avoided the two bandhs, if only it had paid more attention to the mood of the people.
That it preferred to look the other way is obvious to all.
Manipur is passing through a critical phase and this is certainly not the time for the Government to remain a mute spectator.
The two bandhs should be a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted, especially when it concerns the interest of the people.
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