A smashing Pandora's box ?

Thoudam Imomacha Singh *

Jubilee Hall of Regional Institute Of Medical Sciences (RIMS)

Despite high magnitude of corruption at various levels in Manipur, the culprits could always manage to go scot-free. The reason is manifold. Most of the corruption-mongers belong to coteries. In fact, many of them are normally work for a powerful dispensation.

The nature of these corruption-mongers is always usually heartless and they are used to taking advantage of the poor plight of commonman. The poverty-stricken people are always trapped into their dragnet. No doubt, there are also people although extremely poor, but remain orally high and much disciplined in life.

Such people may be a rare brand at such a time of cut-throats in the present day society. But what one need not forget is that the erring high and mighty ones are now behind bars in many states of India and elsewhere in the world. But if we look at the context of Manipur punishing the big and famous is yet to happen.

In reality, people who claim to be champions of public service and humanitarian workmanship are always camouflaged with secret designs in hand. Examples of such type of man are not rare in Manipur. About a couple of years back, a senior army officer of an army unit in Manipur was found involved in smuggling on the Moreh-Dimapur National Highway. He was arrested and put behind bars.

A number of officers and the other ranks of the Manipur Police were also found involved in identical cases of smuggling and they are also facing trial in appropriate courts of law. What is bizarre in such matters is men in uniform are supposed to be ethical and smart in exercising the power and responsibilities entrusted to them, but they act otherwise.

In governance, fixing responsibility for a lapse is a big mantra, but this principle is seldom followed. A news item published in Hueiyen Lanpao Manipuri Daily on 2nd October, 2014 reported about a blast in a Durga Pujah makeshift shrine in the heart of Imphal city claiming the life of a commando personnel of Manipur Police and injuring 16 other persons.

A very tragic incident. In fact, the intelligence network whatsoever that exists in Manipur has miserably failed, at least, pertaining to this incident. However, regarding this dreaded incident, nothing was heard about fixing responsibility. Unless the criterion of fixing responsibility for a serious lapse is restored, no responsible officer would bother to learn a lesson.

The erstwhile Central Library in the heart of Imphal city was burnt down on a Cheiraoba day, as if a mad man burns his own head. Crores of rupees would never be able to restore the value of those books which were turned into ashes. The author still believes, no responsibility was fixed for such an extraordinarily heinous crime. But the episode would ever remain haunting the memory of public intelligentsia in the Manipur polity. The loss was indeed invaluable.

The mindset of criminals who always prefer to have gone scot-free is obviously encouraged by the vivid inaction of the concerned officials or departments of the present dispensation. It is always believed that such occurrances in the past may now draw the attention of the persons who are at the helm of affairs so that they might be able to contemplate about measures which would be useful in the prevention of recurrence of such unfortunate and damaging incidents.

The author would like to leave it to the wisdom of our leaders of public opinion , scholars, experts, law-makers and administrators the responsibility of building a fairly democratic society in the state of Manipur. The present state government in Manipur enjoys a thumping majority and no one can be in its way to build a welfare society. What is important is the will of this government.

The RIMS-Gate, a scandal in an institute of medical studies, a rare one of its kind in the entire North East has now become a riddle. The malodorous news of RIMS-Gate has spread like wild-fire. The writer cannot but applause the hunt carried out through the intrigue which was maliciously kept under wraps.

Kudos to the Special Correspondent of the Statesman, a newspaper of enormous fame, who dared to reveal the episode under the caption "BEYON THE OATH", and Hueiyen Lanpao Daily, an esteemed local newspaper that dared to take a stand against the minatory defamation regarding a piece of interesting news-item that the newspaper had the courage to focus on that episode (BEYOND THE OATH), published by the Statesman of September 22, 2014.

The author, of course, understands that everything regarding the episode is yet to be proved beyond anybody's doubt. The write-up in the Statesman may now turn into a smashing Pandora's Box.

The amount of money involved in RIMS-Gate may be in terms of crores of rupees. Taking the cue from RIMS-gate, if further investigations are carried out at other smelly units run by different establishments in Manipur, the idea of political cleansing may take an energized shape.

Let us not take cleansing as an inigma and let us also not pollute social welfare schemes with dirts of political selfishness.