BY THE EDITOR
The Central Bureau of Investigation could not perhaps have been more prompt in arresting the alleged killers of two Meitei youths in Manipur, but in the ethnically-divided state, protest against the premiere investigating agency’s action was only to be expected. Tribal-inhabited district of Churachandpur witnessed a near-complete shutdown on Monday in response to a call for dawn-to-dusk bandh by several Kuki organisations against the arrests; the protesters are also demanding the release of a Churachandpur resident arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday. Coinciding with the dawn-to-dusk bandh call was one for an indefinite shutdown called by the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of recognised tribals of Manipur, on the same grounds. Yet another group, the Committee of Tribal Unity (COTU) imposed an emergency shutdown on National Highway 37 until those arrested are released. The COTU has also cited instances of killings and rapes perpetrated on tribals, but who are still at large and demanded that they be brought to book as well.
Tribal organisations may just have reason to be disillusioned with action being taken by law enforcing agencies to deliver justice to the aggrieved. It may be recalled that the first hint of the horrors Manipur was living through first came to light when a video, showing two tribal women being paraded naked and molested along the way – one of them was eventually allegedly even gang-raped – went viral; the sight was horrific enough for even the till-then – and thereafter, too – silent Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to express anger and pain just before entering Parliament to face a no-confidence motion over the Manipur issue. The perpetrators of that ghastly crime continue to be at large; it was one of the instances of non-action by law enforcing agencies that COTU has cited.
On their part, both CBI and NIA have vehemently negated suggestions of bias in their action saying that no partiality has been shown toward any community, religion or sect and that they have been guided by hard evidence. True, the state police did arrest five non-tribals for possession of weapons looted from the police armoury – there have been several such cases of loot – but the fact remains they were bailed out not before long; one of them though was arrested by the NIA for his involvement in terror activities. It is more than evident that the task before the investigating agencies is daunting, to say the least, given the charged environment and deep-seated distrust in the state. Ironically, agencies like CBI and NIA, or for that matter other central investigating and law enforcing agencies, though highly trained and capable of delivering the goods today also face the charge of working at the behest of the rulers, and are not as independent as they are ideally required or mandated to be. They must make that extra effort to dig out evidence strong enough to nail all culprits irrespective of their community, religion or sect affiliations; they must be able to show at the end of the day that they do walk the talk.