Brief mid-year post mortem
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 15, 2009 -

We are now in the middle of year 2009 and if we are to look back at the days gone by since Manipur stepped into 2009, then there are some major incidents, all ugly ones, which immediately come to mind.

The major incidents which can be reeled off at the snap of the finger and which continue to haunt the psyche of the people are undoubtedly the murder of SDO Dr Kishan and his two subordinates, Y Token and A Rajen, the assassination of Professor Islamuddin on the campus of Manipur University, the alleged custodial killing of L Satish, the brutal murder of contractor Shantidas and the series of attacks on migrant workers which have already claimed a number of lives.

The Siroy stand off was no doubt a major news maker, involving as it did the NSCN (IM) which is in a peace dialogue with New Delhi, but we can keep aside this story for the moment, for the simple reason that fortunately good sense prevailed and there was no blood bath. The question that begs an answer and some deep introspection is how the civil society organisations responded or reacted to all these ugly incidents which we have mentioned.

Another question is how did the Congress led SPF Government respond to all these disturbing and blood curdling incidents. By any yard stick, we have to say that the civil society organisations responded maturely and fittingly to the dastardly killing of Dr Kishan and his two men.

The outpouring of grief and anger was not confined to any geographical corner of the State and this was a welcome development, given the fact that almost all issues have widely been seen through the narrow divide of the hills and the valley.

Not only was there an uproar in the valley area, dominated by the Meiteis to which the SDO and his two men belonged, but there were spontaneous voice of condemnations from the hill districts, particularly from Ukhrul and Senapati. This was a pleasant development, not seen since the kidnapping and later murder of Baby Lungnila Elizabeth in 2003.

Surprisingly and disappointingly, the same intensity of public outpouring of grief and pain was not witnessed when Professor Islamuddin was shot dead inside the sanctum sanctorum. Yes there were and are voices of condemnations and even today sit-in-protests against the murder of the late Professor are going on, but somehow that sting and spark witnessed when the bludgeoned bodies of the SDO and his two subordinates were found appear to be lacking.

Maybe it was the nature of the killing, one which had all the elements of cruelly and hatred written all over the killing of the SDO and his men, plus the somewhat communal tinge, given the fact that of the six men abducted, three, all Tangkhuls were set free without harm, while the three killed were all Meiteis, while the other came in the mould of the daily killings that we hear and witness frequently, Shot to Death.

However it would be prudent to remember that just as Dr Kishan was seen as a young man with ideals and potential, Professor Islamuddin too was seen as a beacon of light, especially amongst the Muslim community. Whatever the case maybe the little difference in the responses from the civil society organisations is starkly visible.

Coming to the series of attacks on migrant workers, there have been no vocal voice of protests or condemnations and this brings us to the question of whether it is because they were not sons of the soil or seen as some people who had usurped the earning avenue of quite a large number of indigenous people.

Either way, this does not speak well of the civil society organisations. As for the killings of L Satish and Krishnadas, the civil society organisations did raise their voice, but these voices appear to be too localised, one at Singjamei area and the other at Thoubal district.

The Government's response to all these incidents have been one of a knee jerk reaction with nothing substantive to show that they have their ears on the ground and are willing to go that extra mile to ensure the security of the people.