Need for JAC and school to act reasonably: The dead tells no tale

Nothing is right and from a protest demanding that the CBI be roped in to probe the mysterious death of school girl N Babysana who was found hung to death on July 18 inside the dormitory of her hostel, the authorities of the said school has today questioned why the ‘JAC Against the Mysterious Death of Babysana’ has rechristened itself as the ‘JAC Against the Murder of Babysana.’ The poser raised by the school authorities is understandable for the CBI is yet to start the investigation and it would be premature and misleading to jump to the conclusion that it was a case of homicide. That the school is no longer keen on remaining mute to the case became clear when it staged a dharna along with some teachers and womenfolk demanding that the matter be taken to its logical conclusion. The Thangmeiband JAC is yet to respond to the statement issued by the school authorities a few days back, but it may not remain silent and this is what is worrying. No one would like to see the case getting out of hand and metamorphosing into a case of one between the school authorities and the JAC for such a stand off can never help the case go to its logical conclusion. The matter of greater import here is to understand that it would be wrong to see the uproar against the death of the young child as the machinations of the JAC alone, for that would amount to belittling the voice of protest. Remember this is one of the rare cases when a bandh called by a JAC received spontaneous response from the people and needed no words of caution against anyone violating the bandh call. Moreover it is a case involving the death of a young child which has stirred the conscience of the people. To say that the JAC is behind all this would be missing the woods for the trees.
Sixty days have already passed since the lifeless body of the young girl was discovered and there is nothing to suggest that any progress has been made. The two post mortem reports have not directly pointed to any foul play but this has not satisfied the JAC and the people and this can be seen from the series of protests that has followed. A sorry reflection of the reality that the people are not ready to take the words of the police easily and hereby hangs a tale, a sorry tale. As stated earlier in this column, the State Government will need to do more than just hand over the case to the CBI and exert the needed pressure to ensure that the Central agency actually gets down to the business of probing the case. So what is the status of the case, is the natural question that follows. It is also obvious that the school authority is ready to raise questions and while questioning the change of name of the JAC is on the right track, it would also do wise to acknowledge that the final word is yet to be said and it would not do anything good to rub the JAC the wrong way. It is a sensitive case and this is something which the school authority should not forget. Revisiting the scene and the happenings of July 18 morning should best be left to the investigating agency. This is where the responsibilities of the JAC and the school authorities lie. The dead tells no tale is a fact that should not be forgotten for Babysana will not come back to say how her life ended.