Lest we forget...
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 11, 2009 -

Ever since Tehelka came out with the damning photo sequence of Ch Sanjit being frisked, herded and shoved inside a pharmacy at BT Road, only to emerge later as a man ‘killed in an encounter,’ Imphal has virtually been under a siege.

The 48 hours State wide bandh called by the Apunba Lup has been followed by the indefinite curfew clamped by the State Government and interspersed in between have been the many pitched battles, rallies and protest demonstrations demanding fitting punishment of the police commandos, who eliminated Sanjit in the fake encounter, and resignation of the Chief Minister.

The present uproar is the culmination of years of bottled up frustration and the Tehelka expose' served as the perfect outlet for the people to give vent to their anger. This is expected, but lest we forget, we should also remember that a young pregnant woman was also killed in the BT Road incident.

The high pitched voice of protest raised against the custodial killing of Ch Sanjit should not drown the innocent and frightened cry that the 2 year old child of Th Rabina raised the day his mother was killed in front of him.

The unsaid words of the child murdered in her womb should not fall on deaf ears. The silent tears that were shed, when the picture of the unborn child was flashed in this newspaper should water and nourish the seeds of justice.

This is the bottomline.

The Judicial Inquiry that has been decided by the Government should cover the case of Rabina too and it should not be merely an appendage. And when we speak about the case of Rabina, certain questions arise, which the Government should answer.

It has been two weeks since Rabina was shot to death and the make and type of the bullet, which hit her forehead, should be clear by now.

What about the post mortem report ?

Will the Government come clean on this, or have all the material evidences been destroyed ?

How many empty shell/s was/were recovered from near the body of Rabina ?

Why were forensic experts not summoned to the spot immediately ?

These are questions which the Government should answer. Apart from staging fake encounters and earning encomiums for this, it is a scary thought that we have a bunch of gun wielding, trigger happy, group of people called police commandos, who do not know how to over power a single man in a crowded place, without firing.

This thought is all that more gloomy, given the fact that police commandos were inducted for the specific purpose of counter-insurgency operations and they are supposed to be a crack team.

However, judging by their conduct in public places, there is nothing to inspire confidence.

On the other hand, the people have every reason to view them as a bunch of undisciplined men in uniform, who think that throwing their weight around equals gallant acts.

The picture carried by almost all the newspapers published in Imphal on August 8, which showed the police commandos, on their bikes, wielding lathis, with the pillion riders standing, is ample proof of a sheer lack of discipline.

Was such a stunt a part of their CI training ?

Such roadside acrobatics are best left for the circus.