• Sir-I write this letter not because I am against any community or organization, but to express my utter disgust and anguish against the activists of the Lotha Students Union that enforced a 12 hour Bandh on 23rd August 2005 at Chukitong Town under Wokha District.
Here, I pen down the whole ordeal, we were subjected to along with 15-20 other fellow travelers who were stopped at Chukitong Town by the Bandh enforcers. Let the public judge for it-self.
On that fateful day (23rd Aug. 05), fully aware that a Dawn to Dusk bandh was being called by the LSU, I had to take that inevitable trip from Zunheboto via Wokha enroute to Tseminyu as I had to accompany my friend whose beloved mother had passed away that very morning at Tseminyu.
Our repeated pleas to the Bandh enforcers at Chukitong to let us proceed on humanitarian ground to enable us to reach home before the funeral of our mother proved futile.
Bandh or no Bandh, this was an emergency and as we were not passing through any foreign land, hoping that our Lotha brothers would understand the gravity of the situation we were in, we had started off.
But alas! to our utter disbelief and astonishment, we were not allowed to see our dearest Mom for the last time before her burial (one can imagine the mental agony of my friend).
I am not against the demands of the LSU or for that matter any other organization democratically trying to convey a message. But be it any organization or union on earth, however genuine one’s demand might be, I feel all are humane in nature and one’s desires and needs must not be brought about at another one’s expense.
Death is the ultimate in human life and when it occurs to an individual, every possible step and help is rendered to the next of kin of the deceased by any sensible human. But all our faith and hope on a sensible organization like the LSU were shattered.
By not allowing us to attend our mother’s funeral (which is going to haunt us for the rest of our lives), if it has helped the LSU in their demand, I will be most happy. But if it is not, God forbid! Let none of the LSU members ever come across the most gruesome mental ordeal we were subjected to.
And adding salt to injury, after the expiry of the Bandh duration (6.00 pm), instead of letting us go, the student activists refused to hand over our seized vehicle keys unless we pay a fine of Rs.500/-(Rupees Five Hundred) only each. Was there some intention to make money too during the Bandh? If not, they could have placed a sign Board at the Lotha territory reading- “LSU Bandh – Trespassers will be fined Rs.500/- each”. Travellers would have stopped then and there.
Stopping travellers for the entire stretch of the Bandh period and then later imposing a fine does not hold logic to me.
In conclusion, I appeal to all fellow brethrens to sit back and think for a moment whether some sense of humanity and sanity prevails in our society.
I do not blame every organization enforcing bandhs. But I also don’t know how many such cases go unreported. “Let humanity prevail over everything else in our society”. LIVE AND LET LIVE.
A. Rengma
Zunheboto Town
