What is the Security Advisor doing ? Delhi should answer
|
Delhi and Imphal should be answerable. And when one says Delhi, it should be understood via the Security Advisor, who has been named the Chairperson of the Unified Command, the DGP, who was hand picked by the Centre and the Assam Rifles, particularly the units that come under the IGAR (East). That the ongoing conflict has affected everyone is known to all and given this reality it is not the act per se of setting ablaze the newsprint of The Sangai Express at Gamgiphai near Motbung on the Imphal-Dimapur National Highway, on August 7, 2024 that is perturbing but the total failure of the Government to ensure free flow of goods and people on the National Highway. It was sometime last year that Union Home Minister Amit Shah is understood to have conveyed to Chief Minister N Biren that he would take care of the hills while the valley should come under the watch of the Chief Minister. So what has Amit Shah got to say to this open loot and arson on the highway ? What were the security personnel tasked with the job of ensuring the safety of the highway doing when the truck was impounded, searched, the newsprint identified, the truck driver told to leave and later set on fire. News of the truck being impounded reached the office of The Sangai Express in the evening and when the office of the Public Relations Officer of the Assam Rifles at Mantripukhri was contacted, this newspaper was asked to instead get in touch with the IGAR (E) as the said area where the truck was impounded comes under the jurisdiction of the East. Just to give a better idea on the response of the Assam Rifles, here is a brief break up of the time when the office of the PRO of IGAR (S) was contacted. The Sangai Express rang up the PRO office at 5.43 pm and was told that the PRO would get back later as the official was out. The call came at 6.08 pm and at 6.09 pm. A good after more than 15 minutes and this newspaper was told to instead contact the office of the PRO of IGAR (E) as the area came under its jurisdiction. When a contact number was requested, during the very brief chat at 6.09 pm, the number was given only at 7.33 pm via Whatsapp and that too after a gentle reminder at 6.18 pm. A clear reflection of indifference and fortunate that the incident did not involve threat to human lives. This is what is unacceptable for if this is what can happen to a newspaper establishment, the fourth estate, one can imagine how things could have been if it had involved the ordinary citizens of the land.
Ironic it is but the truck hijack and the very act of setting on fire the newsprint came on the day that Chief Minister N Biren informed the Assembly that the total number of SoO cadres of the KNO and UPF is 2181, and the truck was hijacked by well armed persons who identified themselves as cadres of the KNF. How did a truck carrying bulky newsprint and other goods went past the security checkposts set up all over the place is a question which perhaps only the IGAR (E) can answer. Does setting up buffer zones mean only to stop people from venturing towards areas which are deemed unsafe for either community while turning a blind eye to whatever may happen beyond the lakshman rekha ? How are armed persons allowed to roam around so freely on the National Highway ? The security personnel, especially the Assam Rifles, have a lot to answer and the growing accusations that the AR troops are giving a free hand to armed Kuki militants is gaining substance. Additional sixty thousand troops rushed in is the figure that Manipur and the rest of the country have been made to believe but when these 60 thousand security personnel cannot even ensure free flow of traffic on the National Highway and that too over a stretch of just some kilometres, then something is seriously wrong. The powerful Union Home Minister Amit Shah needs to answer what has happened to the earlier instructions that he would look after the hills while the Chief Minister should contain the violence in the valley ? Or is it a case of the Security Advisor not keeping the Home Minister updated on the reality here ? Jiribam and the free hand given to gun toting elements on the National Highway are enough indications that there could be some elements who want the violence to prolong.
Ironic it is but the truck hijack and the very act of setting on fire the newsprint came on the day that Chief Minister N Biren informed the Assembly that the total number of SoO cadres of the KNO and UPF is 2181, and the truck was hijacked by well armed persons who identified themselves as cadres of the KNF. How did a truck carrying bulky newsprint and other goods went past the security checkposts set up all over the place is a question which perhaps only the IGAR (E) can answer. Does setting up buffer zones mean only to stop people from venturing towards areas which are deemed unsafe for either community while turning a blind eye to whatever may happen beyond the lakshman rekha ? How are armed persons allowed to roam around so freely on the National Highway ? The security personnel, especially the Assam Rifles, have a lot to answer and the growing accusations that the AR troops are giving a free hand to armed Kuki militants is gaining substance. Additional sixty thousand troops rushed in is the figure that Manipur and the rest of the country have been made to believe but when these 60 thousand security personnel cannot even ensure free flow of traffic on the National Highway and that too over a stretch of just some kilometres, then something is seriously wrong. The powerful Union Home Minister Amit Shah needs to answer what has happened to the earlier instructions that he would look after the hills while the Chief Minister should contain the violence in the valley ? Or is it a case of the Security Advisor not keeping the Home Minister updated on the reality here ? Jiribam and the free hand given to gun toting elements on the National Highway are enough indications that there could be some elements who want the violence to prolong.