Rare blot on Biren’s record
Justice for Manipur journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem has finally come after five months. The Manipur High Court on Monday quashed the order detaining him under the National Security Act because the prosecution did not give Wangkhem the copies of the Facebook posts and CD containing videos in which he allegedly made offensive remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the BJP-RSS combine.
Wangkhem was held in November last year and was charged with sedition. But he was released on bail by a chief judicial magistrate, who observed that his social media posts were “mere expression of opinion against the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Manipur, which cannot be equated with an attack to invite people to violence against the Government of India or Manipur to topple it.” But the very next day, Wangkhem was detained under the NSA and was ordered to be jailed for a year.
The detention under the NSA clearly smacked of vindictiveness on the part of the Manipur government, particularly its CM. The magistrate’s order clearly mentioned that his arrest under Section 124A of the IPC (sedition) was illegal. But the police went on to detain him under the NSA. Despite appeals from media organisations and civil rights activists, Biren Singh refused to drop the charges against Wangkhem.
He even tried to launch a smear campaign, telling journalists that Wangkhem should not be taken seriously as he did not enjoy any support in the media fraternity. All this was a pity as the CM otherwise has a good reputation. There are visible changes in the state capital, Imphal.
Roads inside colonies had been neglected for decades but his government has concretised them. Insurgent violence is under control. He has even started a novel initiative, holding cabinet meetings in remote tribal areas to take the administration to the marginalised. This order will possibly change his view on Wangkhem.