Thangkhanlal Ngaihte
‘Anniversaries are’, the columnist Ian Jack wrote recently in The Guardian, ‘our way of drilling into history’s groundwater and sending it up to splash briefly on the surface of the present.’ He was talking in the context of two big ones happening this month: India’s 60th birth anniversary on August 15 and Lady Diana’s 10th death anniversary on August 31.
Personally, I care to observe very few anniversaries. India’s becoming 60 years old didn’t mean much to me. Most of the anniversaries I care about are in commemoration of sad events. One of them is coming this Monday.
On August 20 last year, my elder brother Thawngkhanlian died when a stray bullet fired by 3rd Rajputana Rifles hit him at EBC Church, Vengnuam, New Lamka. One year is now about to pass since that fateful day, but I still think of my brother everyday. On happy occasions, I wished he was here to share and experience the fun. On sad occasions, I longed for his reassuring presence and innocent humor to cheer me up.
But, yes, this is a personal issue. I do not intend to bore you my sob-story. But there is an aspect to it which holds significance for all of us.
If you jog your memory a little, you will recollect that Lamka was shut down for two days after the August 20, 2006 tragedy happened. Apart from one dead, there were five others injured. And it happened itself a Church compound. Two days after the incident, as part of the agreement reached between the Churachandpur District Students Union (CDSU) and the Manipur government, an inquiry commission was set up at the Magisterial level to probe the circumstances leading to the firing. The inquiry, to be conducted by the DC, Churachandpur, was to submit its report within a month of its institution.
One year is now about to pass, but the present Churachandpur Deputy Commissioner, Sumant Singh is yet to complete his Inquiry. I have been following the chain of events closely. He last summoned (‘requested’ may be a more appropriate word here) the 3rd Rajputana Rifles to give their testimony before the Inquiry on July 27. They did not turn up. According to the Voice of New Lamka, this was the fourth time the Army authorities failed to turn up for the hearing consecutively.
So, in the face of this willful non-cooperation and contempt by the 3rd Raj Rifles, how is the Inquiry to go on? It is obvious that most of us no longer care about it, but it stood out to me like a sore thumb. Last week, I had requested a journalist friend of mine to inquire about it and he told me that the DC is as frustrated as I am!! The DC, Sumant Singh had assured me, when I met him myself in January that he is going to expedite the process quickly and I have no doubt about his good intentions. But there is a question that needs to be asked, and honestly answered at the larger level.
What good is there to set up an Inquiry if it will not even have the power to force compliance on those concerned? Was it not an exercise doomed to failure from the start?
Everybody else did what they are meant to do. Eye-witnesses from Vengnuam locality, starting from the EBC Local Pastor downwards, answered the summons and regularly make appearance before the DC. Even the local newspapers have, unusually, gives us regular updates on the Inquiry, telling us when summons are made, and hearings postponed. It is ironic that those in uniform, supposedly bound to uphold the law, themselves showed disrespect to the Inquiry in so open a manner.
But this is nothing spectacular. Manipur is saddled with uncompleted inquiries by commissions of all types. It was Justice WA Shishak, then chairman of the Manipur Human Rights Commission, who presciently said in an interview to the North East Sun (April 30, 06) that inquiry commissions are set up by the government to cool down people’s anger. Looking at the number of officially-sanctioned inquiry commissions lying idle after the initial public outrage died down, it is difficult not to be cynical.
There is also nothing to be surprised about the military not responding to calls by inquiry commissions. This is more of a norm than an exception as far as the military is concerned. Remember the Manorama murder case? The judicial commission had, in that case, to actually issue arrest warrants against those personnel defying summons as the Assam Rifles desperately tried to shield its men from the law.
But, here today, I bear no ill will against anyone. Not on this solemn anniversary. May I just say that I and my family wished that all matters relating to my brother will come to their logical conclusion soon, because every time we saw his name in the papers, the groundwater of sadness stored in the recesses of our being splashed up to our faces, drowning us in tears of loss and emptiness.
Lastly, I know I am in good company because someone’s brothers and sisters got killed in our state everyday. To all those who, like me, lost their love ones to the mindless conflict in our beautiful state, I have one question. Does time really heal? I am asking, because I don’t think it does, at least not to me. What happens was–as time brought more and more tragedies and troubles, the old ones get somehow eclipsed by fresh wounds. But that doesn’t mean the wounds heal. They simply get deflected, temporarily. To me, anniversaries are occasions to release suppressed feelings and emotions and give expression to them. They are time to look back and take a deep breath. And to reflect on life–of us and them. But, will the tragic sadness of losing a loving brother or mom or dad, ever get compensated?
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