The law and order situation in the State has gone beyond redemption. And the truth is, much of the violence we are witnessing are also increasingly no longer about insurgency in the sense that the place once understood a political insurrection to be. They are becoming on the other hand about people who believe in plain mayhem and gore. Yesterday`™s blast at the crowded Khwairamband marketplace in Imphal is the third in recent times, and from the look of it, appears to be the handiwork of the same morbid minds. Like all pathologically ill minds, they seem completely incapable of remorse. Public opinions therefore make no difference to them and regardless of all the condemnations and protests at the last such crime, they seem determined to continue perpetrating their brand of mayhem. Three people were killed and dozens wounded this time, but it is a foregone conclusion, given the opportunity, these perpetrators will strike again. This is all the more reason for the security establishment to be more vigilant. Unfortunately and tragically, here too is another grave pathology at work. Despite being acutely aware this market had come under murderous attacks repeatedly, the gaping holes in the surveillance net, as well as the lethargy among those minding it, remain unplugged. It is becoming a matter of joke that the government claims there has been no security lapses every time these shocking bomb blasts happen.
Quite expectedly, the questions from concerned public zero in on what the government`™s vaunted CCTV coverage of sensitive Imphal locations. Considering these despicable IED attacks at crowded places have been happening regularly for the last many months, should not the government by now be having a satisfactory answer to this query. When the CCTV installation project was announced some years ago, the government claimed its crime fighting capability would soon make a quantum leap, and that this technology would ensure it is next to impossible for offences committed in the covered zones to slip the notice of the security establishment. Whatever happened to those tall promises is anybody`™s guess. The CCTVs have been installed at huge cost to the public exchequer, but according to reports, even this state-of-the-art technology has fallen victim to the infamous contract culture of the State, defined as an organised looting by a well established nexus of ministers, bureaucrats and contractors in which money meant for officially commissioned works are siphoned off illegally through a process of over-invoicing of sub-standard purchases and work executions. Now that the price of such alleged official thievery is beginning to be paid in public blood, the government must be made to issue a white paper on the CCTV installation project.
In the meantime, there can be no words strong enough to condemn yesterday`™s bomb blast. Three were killed and dozens injured, but making the crime even more personal for everyone is also the fact that the victims could have been any one of them. The targets, as in earlier IED attacks at market places, seem to be migrant labourers. This in itself is mindless and to no purpose, but bombing a marketplace is nothing less than absolute madness. Even as we condemn the act, our condolences go out to the next of kin of the deceased three. We also wish the injured speedy recovery. We are also of the opinion that since these repeated attacks are on account of a failure of the government, the government must foot all the medical bills of the injured, as well as pay suitable compensations for all those who lost their lives.
Leader Writer: Pradip Phanjoubam