Litan stand off : The ugly stand off Drunken brawl to ethnic clash
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This is the third consecutive day that The Sangai Express is commenting on this for this is a case of a fisti-cuff (drunken brawl, if one goes by what some folks have had to say) morphing into an ethnic clash complete with all its associated ugliness. About 50 houses torched or damaged, internet suspended, Imphal-Ukhrul road blocked and curfew in place. In between and before the net ban was imposed, were the disturbing and extremely provocative video clips that did the round, making things all that worse. Situation came to such a pass that the apex organisation of the Tangkhul community, the Tangkhul Naga Long, felt constrained to impose a state of emergency in Ukhrul town, underlining how edgy the people had become. Even as Imphal and the rest of the world went to sleep on February 10, came calls from far away places such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore wanting to know the latest update on the situation and it was amid this that even reports were received of Ukhrul town not going to sleep on February 10 night, with the womenfolk with meiras in hand constrained to be on night vigil. This came about after talks started doing the round that some unidentified persons, suspected to be Kukis, were being sought to be brought to the district headquarters and this came with information of some womenfolk of Kamjong side confronting and stopping a truck used by the security personnel. Sums up the understanding of the line, ‘living on the edge’ and literally Ukhrul district is on the edge. Tough to say how long it would take to normalise the situation, but as things stand right now, the Imphal-Ukhrul road has been blocked by security personnel and no vehicles now ply on this route. Students who had come to Imphal to appear for one exam or the other are now left stranded at Imphal and certainly this cannot be a comfortable situation for anyone. And if some of the taxi drivers plying on the Imphal-Ukhrul route are to be believed, they are now constrained to take a different route which takes at least six hours to reach Ukhrul from Imphal, while the time taken on the Imphal-Ukhrul road is less than 3 hours. Other than this longer route, chopper service is another alternative but keep in mind that the copter service between Imphal and Ukhrul is only twice a week, that is on Monday and Saturday. Moreover the helicopter can take only ten passengers at a time and during the last check conducted by The Sangai Express at about 1 pm of February 11, it was found that already 90 passengers had registered for the flight on Saturday and the coming Monday. The list must have grown longer by now, even as this is being penned down.
This is where a call is necessary to draw the attention of the Transport Department, which is in charge of the helicopter service. The situation is extraordinary and it is at such time that the State Government must start seriously studying the possibility of increasing the frequency of the helicopter service on the Imphal-Ukhrul route. Moreover it should also not be forgotten that the helicopter service for the day can be suspended any time, if any of the VIP and VVIP decide to go by chopper to any place. This is a point that should be looked into for here is a case of an important route being blocked and it is only right to ensure that the air route is not disturbed in any way. Increase the frequency of the chopper service on the Imphal-Ukhrul route as a matter of dealing with an emergent situation and ensure that the air service is not disrupted. At the same time it is also important to ensure that the inquiries at the helicopter service counter at Imphal airport are promptly received and returned. Makes no sense when the phone number given as the contact number is not picked up at all. The Transport Department must look into this and pronto. And is digital payment at the helicopter allowed or is it a case of only cash payment ? The attention of the Transport Department should be on this too, though no answer is expected.
This is where a call is necessary to draw the attention of the Transport Department, which is in charge of the helicopter service. The situation is extraordinary and it is at such time that the State Government must start seriously studying the possibility of increasing the frequency of the helicopter service on the Imphal-Ukhrul route. Moreover it should also not be forgotten that the helicopter service for the day can be suspended any time, if any of the VIP and VVIP decide to go by chopper to any place. This is a point that should be looked into for here is a case of an important route being blocked and it is only right to ensure that the air route is not disturbed in any way. Increase the frequency of the chopper service on the Imphal-Ukhrul route as a matter of dealing with an emergent situation and ensure that the air service is not disrupted. At the same time it is also important to ensure that the inquiries at the helicopter service counter at Imphal airport are promptly received and returned. Makes no sense when the phone number given as the contact number is not picked up at all. The Transport Department must look into this and pronto. And is digital payment at the helicopter allowed or is it a case of only cash payment ? The attention of the Transport Department should be on this too, though no answer is expected.