Earlier, corruption happend in the dark. Now people see it on the streets and they are hardly bothered. Read on to find out why it's important to take this trend seriously.
One should not get used to some things. For example, one should not get used to stealing fuel trucks and selling or buying stolen fuel.
What's happening in Manipur, especially Imphal, where the number of vehicles is higher, is that both the seller and the buyer have turned into petty thieves. If one looked around, one would see a funny situation unfolding -- petrol bunks are nailed shut but people with umbrellas squat on the roadside right in front of the bunks and sell fuel in bottles that look like cheap orange juice. Those who stop to buy it don't ever wonder at the absurdity of the sight. But who can blame them when even the minimum number of fuel-carrying trucks are not coming?
Say again? Well, there is enough fuel to make the entire vehicle-using population happy but not enough honest people to market it.
At first, it was the opposition against Th Muivah's failed entry into Manipur that occupied everybody. Then they got busy discussing ways to open the blocked highway. Now that their wish has been fulfilled, they have gone back to their default mode -- making quick bucks.
Let's face it. The price of fuel is still high not because the tanks have run dry but because some well-connected people have hidden the booty. How can anybody make a four-ton truck filled to the brim with flammable liquid disappear? This is a tough job to do, and any criminal worth his salt would tell you that he can't do the task single-handedly. That means to make more than 20 trucks 'disappear' would need a well-oiled system of organized thugs. You guess who could be the guards looking after this machinery, who the managers are, who the marketeers are and who the suppliers are. Even a kid won't believe you if you said the government doesn't know the location of the hole where stolen fuel is being pumped and stored.
Are we pointing fingers at the government? Yes, we are, and that's the only sensible direction where our fingers should be pointing at. It's a government that encourages people to steal things and sell for heavenly prices because the person sitting in the highest chair himself is not exactly a saint. You know who I am talking about.
Muivah may have failed in entering Manipur but his visit has certainly turned us into looting maniacs. Yes, there is shortage of fuel and food due to the long highway blockade, but the problem we face now is not the severe lack of resources but the severe lack of conscience. Just because conscience can't fill your stomach doesn't mean you don't need it.
Now it's common to see people suddenly approach you from nowhere and whisper in your ear, "You want petrol for Rs 70?" This is a habit that will stick for a long time even after the situation has returned to normal. Although some goods have arrived and people only need to make a beeline to proper stores to buy things, they won't because they have got used to dealing with short-cuts. I won't be surprised if people start operating ATMs in 'black' here.
So it's important not to get used to certain things, for example, living the life of a thief when you have a choice to live like a good person.
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