The Death Of Innocence

The outrageous kidnap and murder of an eight-year-old school girl, Lungnila Elizabeth, daughter of FrancisNgajokpa, Manipur's Minister for the General Administration Department (GAD) and Taxation, has exposed, amongother things, the extent of moral degradation Manipur has undergone in the past decade as a consequence of theinsurgency-related breakdown of law and order, and the degree to which these insurgencies have strayed fromtheir ideological and political projections. 

Kidnapping for ransom, especially of children, is the latest manifestation of this abject moraldegradation. A decade ago, nobody would have thought such a thing possible in the state, but not any more.Over the past two years alone, there have been a series of such abductions. Among the most prominent of these:

• On December 9, 2002, the youngest son of former Chief Minister Reishang Keishing was abducted by the KukiLiberation Army (KLA), which demanded a ransom of Rupees 1,100,000. He was released on December 11, 2002.
  
  
• Deputy Telecom District Manager, J. Lunkim was abducted on February 18, 2003, by the KLA and was released onFebruary 23 after a hefty ransom was paid to the outfit.
  
  
• On March 23, 2003, German non-governmental organisation (NGO) activist Wolfgang Heinrich was abducted by theKLA, which demanded a ransom of 10 million rupees. Wolfang was subsequently released on April 9, 2003.
  
  
• Manoj Sethi, a cloth merchant from Imphal city was abducted by the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) on April 29,2003, which demanded that Sethi clear up five years of 'tax' to the outfit. Sethi refused and was killed.
  
  
• The general manager of the Agricultural & Processed Food Export Development Authority (APFEDA), a Centralfunding agency under the Union Trade and Commerce Ministry, was abducted by the People's United LiberationFront (PULF) on April 26, 2003, on the Moreh road, but succeeded in escaping the outfit's clutches on May 5,2003.
  
  
• The General Manager of the Integrated Cooperative Development Programme (ICDP), Imphal West, T. Mani Singh,was abducted by the United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF) on October 20, 2003, and was released on October 29.

While no official confirmation is available, most releases of the kidnap victims occur after payment of thevery sizeable ransom demanded.

Most cases of abduction invite public protests by civil society organisations in the state. This time around,however, protests and agitations crossed all barriers, as common people not only hit the streets, demandingthe release of the girl, but also joined in search operations to locate her and her abductors. 

The dividing line between the Naga dominated Hills and the Meitei dominated Valley disappeared, withorganisations cutting across ethnic lines condemning the incident. It is ironical that the child was killed inspite of the show of unity and solidarity and even after the ransom amount of Rs One million was paid in twoinstalments (leads now suggest that at least one instalment of Rs. 500,000 was demanded and paid byunsuspecting parents after the child had been killed).

It would be a mistake to think of this incident as an aberration, despite its greater shock-value, since theculprits decided to abduct and kill an innocent child. The incident, on the contrary, is a reflection on thecontinuing culture of violence and intimidation that has engulfed Manipur. 

Howsoever heinous this latest crime may appear to be, it is no different from the crimes perpetrated by themultiplicity of extremist organisations in the state. Notwithstanding the symbolic criticisms of the incidentby some underground groups, the incident must be analysed against the backdrop of an ongoing carnage that doesnot distinguish between the child and the adult, between combatant and non-combatant, between innocence andculpability.

Figures from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs suggest that cases of abduction (mostly for ransom) have risenconsistently over the years. In year 2000, 32 cases of abduction were reported, going up to 35 in 2001 and to67 in 2002. Both the Valley and Hill based outfits have mastered the technique, not only to fill up theircoffers, but also to acquire the image of 'cleansers of the system'. Groups like the KYKL, in recent times,have been involved in a number of abductions in a purported bid to 'get rid of corruption', mostly in theeducation department.

The increased belligerence of the insurgent groups has been matched by a continuing decadence in the politicalculture in the state, with a resultant loss of legitimacy for the administration - a cycle that has ensured aperpetual descent into chaos. A recent incident dramatically reflects the lawlessness in the state and theabject surrender of administrators to the forces of terror. 

This year, on August 30, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and a serving commissioner in theDepartment of Education, I.S. Laishram gave himself up to the KYKL, after the outfit declared him an offenderfor having taken money from a college teacher. Laishram was 'tried' by the group for seven days and wasreleased on September 7 on the condition that he would take voluntary retirement. The state government by thenhad decided to suspend the person for not having obeyed to the official order and not to respond to thediktats of the insurgents.

The Elizabeth episode has also exposed the absolute sloth of the crime fighting departments of the government.There has been deplorable inefficiency in intelligence gathering and coordination between police departmentsand intelligence agencies. It is ironical that, as the search continued for the child, two of the top policeofficials in the state, one of whom is currently the acting police chief in the state, refused to talk to eachother. It is evident that such a situation blocked all paths of intelligence sharing, ensuring that the girlremained untraceable till her body was recovered in a small pond near a paddy field in an Imphaloutskirt. 

Vital leads like the telephone number from where the abductors made the ransom demand, which was recordedon a Call Identifying Device, were not acted upon. In fact, the search for the girl was suspended for a coupleof days after it began for fear of reprisals by the abductors. Serious questions have already been raised overthe intelligence apparatus as well as on the issue of poor coordination between different wings of the policeforce. Rivalry between the civil police, the Manipur Rifles and the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) units, fromthe Superintendent of Police (SP) and Commanding Officer (CO) level on and downwards, is an open secret in thestate.

For too long has violence been rationalised by political rhetoric, and this is now blowing up in the face ofManipuri society. As a determination to hunt down Elizabeth's killers gains momentum, there is an equal needto take a hard look at the processes of the legitimisation of violence. As long as the tolerance of politicalviolence remains, such incidents are bound to recur. Manipur must now be completely sanitized of the scourgeof violence.

Elizabeth's case has woken everybody up to the grim realities ahead. Never before have the differentcommunities been united, as they were in their outrage on this issue. Elizabeth is a Maram Naga, but that hasnot made a difference to non-Naga who joined the public protests against the crime. In Elizabeth's tragedy,ironically, a way emerges for Manipur's redemption. Beyond political rhetoric and sectarian slogans, basichumanity can still unite.

Pradip Phanjoubam is Editor, Imphal Free Press, Imphal. Bibhu Prasad Routray, is Acting Director,ICM Database & Documentation Centre, Guwahati. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of theSouth Asia Terrorism Portal