Crammed in van 15 kids collapse
Imphal, May 23: In what could be termed as corrobo-ration of serious concern fre- quently highlighted by the pa-rents regarding their young kids transported in an un-friendly manner by school van operators and other transpor-ters, no less than 15 students.....
Mute/deaf student shines bright
IMPHAL, May 23: Pukhram-bam Juliana Chanu, who is virtually mute and has very low hearing capacity outshone a large number of her peers when she scored the highest mark (88 out of 100) in Philosophy apart from securing letter marks in four subjects in the.....
Obscurity clouds HSE '13 results
IMPHAL, May 23: Results of the class XII exam conducted by the Council of Higher Se-condary Education Manipur (COHSEM) have confused many people even as some others have started questioning if there were certain lapses or follies in the result. As per .....
Cabinet okays
IMPHAL, May 23: The State Cabinet has today given its approval for the recognition of three tribal dialects. Government Spokesperson, M Okendro said the three tribal dialects recognised by the State Government are Poumai, Liangmai and Gangte. Beside.....
DTO issues 3057 licences in a day
IMPHAL, May 23: One former District Transport Officer (DTO) of Ukhrul issued 3057 driving licences in a single day and the revenue thus collected never reached the Government’s coffer. One G Athui, then Inspector (Mechanical) was given the charge of .....
Educational facilities in Saitu inaugurated
IMPHAL, May 23: Along with inaugurating an Eklavya model residential school at Gamnom Saparmeina, Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam today dedicated two hostel buildings for scheduled tribe boys and girls students at the same area. Eklavya model resident.....
Ukhrul ADC
IMPHAL, May 23: The Ukhrul Autonomous District Council (ADC) has resolved to remove LN Kashung, CEO of Ukhrul ADC from his post for alleged ‘misconduct’ and ‘unbecoming act of a Govt servant’ under Section 32 (2) of the Manipur (Hill Areas) ADC Ac.....
HIV girl secures four letter marks in HSE
IMPHAL, May 23: It is a big morale booster and a source of inspiration to all children living with HIV that a girl living with HIV and undergoing ART secured letter marks in four subjects in the Higher Secondary Examination 2013 conducted by the Council o.....
Director inspects Govt model schools
IMPHAL, May 23: An official team of Directorate of Education (S) led by its Director H Deleep today inspected Wangkhei High School, Keishamthong High School and Lamding High School in connection with the introduction of Mentoring System at a few selected .....
Unidentified man locks Nambol school
IMPHAL, May 23: The Development Protection United Voluntary Organisation has urged the concerned to make a clarification on locking of Nambol Leirel High School by a person who identified himself as an RPF activist yesterday. In a press conference held.....
VA urges authority
IMPHAL, May 23: The Samulamlan Village Authority has urged the authority concerned to complete the installation of Mobile BTS at Samulamlan within June this year. A statement issued by the chief/chairman of Samulamlan VA, K Paohminglen said the VA woul.....
TSA admitted in ATSUM
IMPHAL, May 23: Thadou Students Association-General Headquarters (TSA-GHQ) has formally become the unit of All Tribal Students Union, Manipur (ATSUM). Three of the TSA-GHQ 'officials' have also been inducted to the ATSUM fold today where an oath-takin.....
Kabow Leikai eviction Fasting prayer on May 26 followed by rally, meeting
IMPHAL, May 23: In the backdrop of the alleged forced eviction of Kabow Leikai, a fasting prayer would be organised on Sunday (May 26) in respective Church which would be followed by a peace rally and public meeting on May 27. This was decided during .....
BSF detects IED in Tbl
IMPHAL, May 23: Troops of 116th Bn BSF today detected an IED weighing around 10 Kgs at Wangjing Heituppokpi, Thoubal district. The bomb detected by BSF troops posted at Wangjing was retrieved by a bomb disposal squad of Manipur Police and they set of.....
PMS for SCs
IMPHAL, May 23: The 2nd phase lists of selected SC students of the State for the award of Post Matric Scholarship for the year 2012-13 were notified on the notice board of the Directorate of MOBC & SC located at Old Gauhati HC Complex and on the website w.....
Anniversary observed
IMPHAL, May 23: The Indian Dental Association (IDA), Manipur State Branch has celebrated the 24th anniversary function of the association on May 20 at Classic Hotel, Imphal. The programme was presided by Dr T Nabachandra Singh, president of the IDA (MS.....
Free diabetes camp
IMPHAL, May 23: A one-day diabetes free health camp was held today at Lecture Hall-2 of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences, Porompat. As chief guest of the event, North East Elderly Women chief editor RK Nayansana Devi noting that diabetes.....
Senapati prepares for Exchange programme
KANGGUI, May 22: Everything is set in order for the one day Cultural and Musical Exchange programme jointly organised by Senapati District Students Association and Kuki Students' Organization, Sadar Hills in association with Student Mobilization Initiati.....
JAC demands exemplary punishment against rapists
IMPHAL, May 23: JAC against the rape of a student of TG Hr Sec School on Oct 20, 2012 has urged the concerned authority to conduct the trial against the rapists fairly. A statement issued by the JAC today reminded that the number of crimes rises due to.....
Raphei Katamnao Long hails ADC
Ukhrul, May 23: The Northern Students’ Union (Raphei Katamnao Long), Ukhrul District has appreciated the ADC, Ukhrul for timely implementation of developmental projects in various departments particularly in the field of Education in the Northern area o.....
Manipur Masala
By : Sanatombi Angomcha
The salaried beggars of modern Manipur
When power is misused, chaos becomes the norm of a society. In our society, sad but true, power is misused in each and every sector. It is too obvious to come across many incidents that testify this bitter truth in Manipur. The oppressors enjoy oppressing the oppressed; and those who are luckily out of the league of the oppressed, enjoy the show as mute spectators.
For long we have stopped questioning ourselves, implying our society is getting defunct. Our logic has ceased to work. Isn’t it bitterer than power being misused?
Among the oppressing lots, those who are supposed to protect us from lawbreakers are the scariest ones. I am, of course, referring to the security personnel a.k.a as the ‘Salaried beggars of modern Manipur’, because many a time they are on the other side of the law. They have a job in hand, alright. But all they need is an excuse to beg money from civilians and they are shameless about it. Admit it.
It is quite ridiculous for the sake of earning a ‘side income’, they are ready to cross any limit. We feel pity for the beggars and urchins in metropolitan cities. I feel pity for these well-dressed, authorised personnel licensed to beg money on the street. All in all, I feel sorrier for these personnel who have to do so despite having a job in hand and earning a monthly income. Possibly there are reasons better known to them.
The jokes are on them. Annoyingly some would say, ‘Thabak changbada pijakhiba paisa hanjinaba tourini’. I am amused by this plain joke in which the ugly truth is always brushed under the carpet. I have also come across many funny incidents and cases of security personnel adding more glory to their democratic power.
In one of the incidents, one of my cousins was halted and checked, all for twenty rupees by a VDF cop, on the way to Wangkhei from Porompat. My cousin was guilty as charged when he was stopped for frisking at a traffic-less location because he had no helmet and so his punishment was to shell out 20 rupees.
When have the VDFs replaced the role of traffic policemen? It has been going around for sometime. I know not yet it is also a newly implemented rule to carry at least 20 rupees when you are driving around the shanty Imphal town. Otherwise, you could get a slap or an unasked threat from the commando or VDFs who loiter around the streets. Forget that traffic police exists. Mind you everything is possible in Manipur. All you need is to believe in the motto: Might is right.
If you have this false notion that they are supposed to maintain law and order in our society, feel sorry for yourself. The absurd reality is that they need to be educated about what exactly is law and order. They need to be officially tutored on what are the roles of security personnel in a society. They need to be acknowledged that ‘khonda waoba’, ‘mee usitaba’, ‘paisa neeba’ etc. are not a part of their duties; and their discipline needs not be compromised to call themselves cops.
I know they do not understand the meaning of discipline or politeness. They should at least try to spell it correctly if not follow it. I envy, however, two traits about them — their enduring capability and gutsy mannerism. They know that most of us hate and curse them; still they sure can tolerate to overcome our judgment about them and theirs about us. Quite courageous.
I don’t understand what the heck they consider themselves. Away from the familiar streets, stray dogs who loiter around the keithel do not even bark at the ema-eben but these trained, human-looking creatures can cross their limit, any time of the day.
I am also quite confused about their origin. I feel sorry especially for their families who have to share a kind of relationship with them. They are the licensed law offenders. They do no have any civic sense. They are supposed to protect us but on the contrary, their presence around our leikai or leirak khulak is synonymous with fear and anxiety.
Ladies and gentlemen, look forward to come across them anywhere in the valley. If there is a long queue at the ATM, they have every right to break the queue and offer themselves the privilege because they are the cops. People have to spend long hours in a queue for every commodity — from ATM to petrol pumps — but they don’t belong to the people and can have their own way. They can scare you and do and finish whatever they want.
Needless to say it will be hard to admit that these semi-educated men of law and order are serving the state. But it is unsurprising from the first day of their honourable career; because they would start with an offering of 10 to 20 lakh and more to their contacts. Bribe? No, it’s just returning a favour. The biggest lesson we can learn from them is to pay an amount and get ourselves what we want.
Much to our dismay, they have the license to bend the law and oppress the civilians, who are already bugged down by a fear psychosis that runs in the vein of every Manipuri. But as mentioned earlier, without money or contacts, we would find ourselves behind the bars. If we have a bit of them, well, life goes on.
All the crimes have a price in Manipur, just like there is a cost for every available job. Those arrested for Gooli or from a liquor vendor means 500 or 1,000 rupees, while for naharol case, it’s a bigger amount of some 50 thousand or more. Money talks. All said and done, I cannot understand why they have to act like moral police frisking at the vendors or leirak khulak, besides being a multitasking traffic controller. Is it the so called norm, ‘Sabina mama noknaba?’ Despite this, I know not how they can smell and endure their own craps.
Pity their lives. I extremely feel sorry for the many curses that people are used to swear on their name. Dear God, please grant them the wisdom and inner peace. They badly need them. Dear you, ‘Get well soon’. You have the key for the destiny of a group of people and your sickness is adding salt to the wounds. How true: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely!
Sonamani Haobam
It is a manifestation of Gvernment Failure at all fronts concerning the life of a common man...A common man has no choice but forced to pay as it is rational from his/her part lest the opportunity cost of not paying is higher...The Achillees' Heel is how to reduce this Opportunity Cost of not paying...In this game, there are two players-bribe takers and bribe givers, and both can be penalized under our existing Acts and Legislations...As suggested by Kaushik Basu, we can make bribe giving "legal" and bribe taking "illegal"....In such a scenario, a rational bribe taker will be forced to into a dilemma whether to accept bribe or not....Through this mechanism, we cannot totally remove bribery but it can reduce bribery to a great extent....Kaushik's idea was not considered by the Government machinery....Reasons?
Ashish
This is just the few examples that you have mentioned. They also ask for bribes and doesn't allows to unload goods from trucks if they aren't paid separately and most of them have fixed their monthly commission irresepective of goods unloaded.
All are Bad
We all are bad. . . The system of Democracy has ruined peoples mentality. . . No1 is fighting for peace, love n justice but all are shouting for money, power and fame. . . Wild animals are better than human beings.
