Ibobi must Prove

It is high time Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh proved that it is he who is ruling the State — and asserted his government’s authority thus — and not the many militias that have successfully run parallel administrations in the State all these years. The IED explosion in Imphal last Tuesday that left 17 people dead and several others injured in one of the worst terror attacks in recent times in the entire northeastern region, should jerk the Ibobi government and prompt it into introducing itself to the grim reality in Manipur, where militants are proving their might and the fact that they can strike at will even in the State capital. This, despite there being over 50,000 troops fighting militancy in the State that has a little over 23 lakh population and an area of 22,327 sq km, and when the security network includes a division of the army, a division of the Assam Rifles, CRPF, BSF and the State police. But whither security for the hoi polloi? Blame it on intelligence gathering and lack of coordination among the different security agencies, but then the State must prove it exists.source: sentinel assam