Time for the incompetents to hang up their boots
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Soraren Hanjaba
The tragic events at Tronglaobi of April 7, 2026, have once again exposed the hollow core of the security apparatus in Manipur. When the blood of innocent children is spilled in an area purportedly under heavy guard, the failure is not merely tactical; it is a profound moral and Consti- tutional collapse.
The primary question that must be answered is one of Area of Responsibility. In a State where every kilometer is segmented into jurisdictions—local police stations, Central paramilitary sectors, and buffer zones—how did assailants gain easy access to Tronglaobi ? The entry of armed individuals into a "heavily guarded" zone to carry out the cowardly murder of children is a damning indictment of our security intelligence.
If hundreds of "boots on the ground" cannot act as a deterrent or an interceptor, then the presence of those boots is a per- formance, not a protection.
The horror did not end with the initial killings. As is common in Manipur’s volatile landscape, grief quickly turned to a desperate, righteous anger. The resulting protests were met not with empathy or professional de-escalation, but with the barrels of guns. The subsequent loss of two more lives in CRPF firing highlights a catastrophic fai-lure in crowd control. This is not a new story for Manipur. We have seen this "Chain of Command" failure repeatedly showing a pattern of lethal incompetence.
There is a wearying pattern to how those in power respond. The script is predictable : those sitting in their "ivory towers" issue a standard condemnation, a curfew is imposed, and internet suspension is enacted to stifle the outcry. Within weeks, the stories are buried under a new layer of administrative silence, and the accountability for the "lapse" is never fixed.
The absence of leadership on the ground during the Tronglaobi protest was deafening. Had the Government responded appro- priately to pacify the grieving public, the further loss of life during the CRPF engagement could likely have been avoided.
Instead, the leadership chose the safety of the capital, leaving ground-level personnel to handle a high-emotion crisis with low- level training in de-escalation. Under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the State is duty-bound to protect the lives of its citizens. When security forces fail to prevent the killing of children and then turn their weapons on the grieving public, that Constitutional contract is shredded.
We must move beyond the "suspension-of-services" model of governance. We need a transparent inquiry that identifies which specific commander failed to secure the Tronglaobi perimeter and which officer authorized the use of lethal force against protesters.
To those in positions of power: Authority is not a privilege to be enjoyed in quiet times; it is a responsibility to be exercised in the face of tragedy. If you cannot ensure the safety of our children or manage the emotions of a grieving community without resorting to further bloodshed, then your competence is non-existent.
In the words of a frustrated and mourning public: *If you are not competent, hang up the boots! There is no room for "ivory tower" leadership when the ground is stained with the blood of the innocent.
The tragic events at Tronglaobi of April 7, 2026, have once again exposed the hollow core of the security apparatus in Manipur. When the blood of innocent children is spilled in an area purportedly under heavy guard, the failure is not merely tactical; it is a profound moral and Consti- tutional collapse.
The primary question that must be answered is one of Area of Responsibility. In a State where every kilometer is segmented into jurisdictions—local police stations, Central paramilitary sectors, and buffer zones—how did assailants gain easy access to Tronglaobi ? The entry of armed individuals into a "heavily guarded" zone to carry out the cowardly murder of children is a damning indictment of our security intelligence.
If hundreds of "boots on the ground" cannot act as a deterrent or an interceptor, then the presence of those boots is a per- formance, not a protection.
The horror did not end with the initial killings. As is common in Manipur’s volatile landscape, grief quickly turned to a desperate, righteous anger. The resulting protests were met not with empathy or professional de-escalation, but with the barrels of guns. The subsequent loss of two more lives in CRPF firing highlights a catastrophic fai-lure in crowd control. This is not a new story for Manipur. We have seen this "Chain of Command" failure repeatedly showing a pattern of lethal incompetence.
There is a wearying pattern to how those in power respond. The script is predictable : those sitting in their "ivory towers" issue a standard condemnation, a curfew is imposed, and internet suspension is enacted to stifle the outcry. Within weeks, the stories are buried under a new layer of administrative silence, and the accountability for the "lapse" is never fixed.
The absence of leadership on the ground during the Tronglaobi protest was deafening. Had the Government responded appro- priately to pacify the grieving public, the further loss of life during the CRPF engagement could likely have been avoided.
Instead, the leadership chose the safety of the capital, leaving ground-level personnel to handle a high-emotion crisis with low- level training in de-escalation. Under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, the State is duty-bound to protect the lives of its citizens. When security forces fail to prevent the killing of children and then turn their weapons on the grieving public, that Constitutional contract is shredded.
We must move beyond the "suspension-of-services" model of governance. We need a transparent inquiry that identifies which specific commander failed to secure the Tronglaobi perimeter and which officer authorized the use of lethal force against protesters.
To those in positions of power: Authority is not a privilege to be enjoyed in quiet times; it is a responsibility to be exercised in the face of tragedy. If you cannot ensure the safety of our children or manage the emotions of a grieving community without resorting to further bloodshed, then your competence is non-existent.
In the words of a frustrated and mourning public: *If you are not competent, hang up the boots! There is no room for "ivory tower" leadership when the ground is stained with the blood of the innocent.