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Front Page >> Editorials > Story

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Wake Up Call
No one would want to be in the shoes of senior IAS officer IS Laishram at the moment. Adding to the woes of his family members and the officer who is currently facing a people's trial put up by the KYKL, the Commissioner has had to face the ignominy of being suspended in absentia for violating the standing order of the Government not to entertain any contacts with underground outfits.

We are sure that IS Laishram also knew about the standing order of the State Government and he must have been aware of the likely action the Government may take up if he capitulated to the diktats of the KYKL but he has exactly done that and this brings us to some very uncomfortable questions.

On one hand we may interpret the officer's conduct as defying the standing order of the Government to save his own life while on the other hand we may interpret his action as having lost confidence in the very set up in which he worked and dare we add, thrived.

As announced by the KYKL through the State dailies, the officer concerned surrendered to the outfit on August 30 and this was after the outfit had issued the warning to the officer to surrender to them within September 10 on August 23. The dilemma that Mr. Laishram must have faced during the days before he surrendered to the KYKL can only be imagined and the fact that he violated the standing instructions of the Government and chose to surrender to the outlawed organisation raises a number of uncomfortable points.

The State Police Department has already gone on record and stated that though the officer was approached thrice to see if he needed any security cover there was no perceptible response from the senior officer. What does this say?

We will refrain from commenting whether the Government did the right thing in placing Mr. Laishram under suspension in absentia or not but one thing is clear, if a senior officer thinks it better to obey the diktats of an outlawed organisation rather than risk his life by sticking to the instruction of the Government, then the Government has some worrying to do and seriously at that.

The very act of Mr. Laishram is enough indication of the fear psychosis that has gripped the people of Manipur and maybe this instance will show that the Government needs much more to do than just issue standing directives to Government employees not to entertain any correspondence with underground organizations.

This particular incident should serve as the wake up call to the Government. On September 6 the trial of IS Laishram will end and in as much as we abhor corruption of any type particularly in the field of education, we would like to lay down that capital punishment may not be the ideal way to go about in dealing with the hydra headed monster of corruption.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)

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