Manipur News

By Nilofer Rehman
26th June, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is observed globally. Torture is one of the worst crimes against humanity. The direct implications of torture are both physical as well as psychological. Of these two, the psychological effects are more difficult to cope with by the survivor of torture. The physical injuries can be healed, while the psychological effects take time to heal. The survivors may live their whole lives with the psychological and emotional effects; often the survivors succumb to these effects.

People who are subjected to torture suffer a severe form of trauma. We all use the word “trauma” in everyday language to mean a highly stressful event. Traumatic events refer to extremely stressful experienced events that can overwhelm a person’s ability to cope. Traumatic events are unique individual experiences of events or enduring conditions in which – the individuals ability to integrate emotional experience are overwhelmed or the individuals experience a threat to life, bodily integrity or sanity. The individual may be overwhelmed emotionally, of his or her normal mental functions and physically. Torture can be faced by males and females, all ages, all races, all classes, all sexual orientations, all religions and all nationalities.

Trauma is an event outside normal human experience. The trauma of torture generally leave us feeling powerless, helpless, paralyzed, intense fear or horror. It tends to be sudden and overwhelming, and potentially life threatening. Though there are different traumatic events one can experience, they show common elements, such as unexpected, the person was unprepared; and there was nothing the person could do to prevent it from happening (beyond physical control).

It is also an individual’s subjective experience that determines whether an event is or not traumatic. These is likely to be due to one or more of these factors – the severity of the events, the individual personal history, the larger meaning the event represents for this individual, skills to deal with the experience, values and belief held by the individual, the reaction and support from family members, friends and/or professionals. Most of us have had at least one traumatic experience in our lives – for example, death of a loved one, serious illness or breakdown of a primary relationship. At such times we may have been very upset, or frightened or sad. But usually the grief passes; the pain lessens over time and eventually become normalized. But sometimes people experience life threatening or life changing situations that are so distressful or cruel that the memory doesn’t fade, not even slightly. For some people the experience is so extreme that they find they can’t get over it to move on with life.

Trauma is different from stress. Stress disregulates our nervous system but for only a relative short period of time. Within a few days or weeks our nervous system calms down and we revert to a normal state of equilibrium. This return to normalcy is not the case when we are traumatized.

There are common effects or conditions that may occur after a traumatic experience. Sometimes these responses can be delayed, for months or even years after the event. The following are symptoms that may result from unresolved trauma – physical (eating disturbances, sleeping disturbances, sexual dysfunction, low energy, chronic, unexplained pain; emotional (depression, spontaneous crying, despair and hopelessness, anxiety, fearfulness, compulsive and obsessive behavior, feeling out of control, irritability, angry and resentment, emotional numbness, withdrawal from normal routines and relationships), cognitive or mental function (memory lapse especially about the trauma, difficulty in making a decision, decreased ability to concentrate, feeling distracted , attention-deficit hyper activities; re-experiencing the trauma (intensive thoughts, flash backs or nightmares, sudden flood of emotions or images related to the traumatic events); and emotional numbing and avoidance (a total blank, avoidance of situations that resemble the traumatic event, detachment, depression, guilty feeling, grief reactions, hyper-vigilance, jumpiness, an extreme sense of being “on guard”, insomnia, obsession with death).

There are also other possible emotional effects of trauma. Some of them are on common personal and behavioral character like substance abuse, compulsive behavior, uncontrollable reactive thoughts like rage, inability to make healthy lifestyle choices, dissociative symptoms like inability to love a dear one, feeling of ineffectiveness, shame, despair, hopelessness, feeling permanently damaged, or a loss of previously sustained beliefs. Trauma can even affect interpersonal relationships like inability to maintain close relationship or choose appropriate friends and mates, sexual problems, hostility, arguments in family members, employees or co-workers, or social withdrawal and feeling constantly threatened.

What one can do to help survivors immediately after a trauma?

One of the best ways to help a traumatized person is simply to listen compassionately and actively; and make the person aware that we are willing to listen. We must make the person believe or reassured that we are willing to help and there are realistic ways to make it okay, that s/he can survive. We should suggest practical assistance. We should not ask if we see that something needs doing, we should suggest that we will do it. This is much more effective than simply saying “If there is anything I can do….”. We shouldn’t criticize the person’s reaction, instead minimize the trauma and suggest it was fate of God’s doing, minimize the person’s feelings or say we know exactly how they feel. We should not interfere with actions the person has chosen to take, unless they are endangering themselves or others.

Recovering from a traumatic experience takes time. We must give ourself time to heal and mourn the losses we have experienced. We should not try to force the healing process. We must be patient with the pace of recovery. We have to prepare for difficult emotions. There are some strategies that can be used by the individual to heal from these worst condition. Some of the strategies are:
· Don’t isolate: – After following a trauma, we may want to withdraw from others. But isolation makes things worst. Connecting to others will help us heal, so we must make an effort to maintain our relationship and avoid spending to much time alone.
· Ask for support: – It’s important to talk about our feelings and ask for the help we need. We much try to take help from a trusted family members, friends and counselor.
· Establish a daily routine: – We must try to stick to a daily routine with regular time for waking, sleeping, eating, working and exercise. We must also try to schedule time for relaxing and social activities, too.
· Take care of our health: – It is important to note that a healthy body increases our ability to cope with stress. We have to get a plenty of rest and exercise regularly and eat a well-balanced diet. It is also important to avoid alcohol and drugs.

When to seek professional help for emotional and psychological trauma
Everyone heals at his or her own pace. But if months pass, and our symptoms are not letting up, we may need professional help.

It’s a good step to seek professional help if we are:
· Having trouble functioning at home or work
· Suffering from severe fear, anxiety, or depression
· Unable to form close, satisfying relationships
· Experiencing terrifying memories, nightmares or flashbacks.
· Avoiding more and more things that remind us of the trauma
· Emotionally numb and disconnected from others
· Using alcohol or drugs to feel better
In order to heal from the psychological and emotional effects of trauma, we must face and resolve the unbearable feeling and memories we have long avoided. Otherwise they will return again and again, unbidden and uncontrollable. Trauma treatment and healing involves:
· Processing trauma-related memories and feeling
· Discharging pent-up “fight –or- flight” energy
· Learning how to regulate strong emotions
· Building or rebuilding the ability to trust other people
Trauma counseling is also very much effective in handling emotional trauma. Some of the techniques used are Ventilation which includes play therapy, journal/letter writing, art therapy, story- telling, puppetry, dance therapy, etc. Cognitive restructuring like positive thinking, logical thinking, attribution of meaning, and handling grief and guilt can also be used in treating such types of clients.

Counsellors can also use behavioral technique like daily scheduling, anger management, building self esteem, positive self talk, problem solving, and thought management. Relaxation technique like meditation, deep breathing and imagery works Talk therapy is also one of the most important traditional therapy uses by the counsellor.

Supporting victims of torture or survivors of trauma means enabling the persons to come out and deal with the problems, sometimes with the help of trained professionals. Sometimes, it may be too difficult for a survivor to make the first step towards reaching out to others. In such cases, forming self-help therapy can be very helpful. Medical and other health professionals must be aware and alert to the client who has been tortured or traumatized, and obliged to develop the skills to attend the problems appropriately. An enabling policy and professional environment is necessary for this, and the government has a very important role to play.

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By: Basantakumar Wareppa, Human Rights Alert
Mr. Ban Kin-moon, UN Secretary General once says, “Torture is a crime under international law.  The prohibition of torture is absolute and unambiguous.  Torture cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever, whether during a state of war or in response to terrorism, political instability or any other public emergency”.

However, in Manipur, increasing number of custodial torture leading to death over the past months virtually a matter in interrogation as a systematic trend clearly justify torture as necessary pattern to tackle the law and order situation.

Despite of having India’s legal obligation to combat torture, there is continuing pattern of torture. These patterns are clearly in breach of universally accepted norms of human rights particularly International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as the right against torture is absolute and non-derogable. The United Nations Code of Conduct has bolstered this for Law Officials Enforcement.

Every possible effort to address the issue of torture has been made by the torture victims with full support from Human Rights groups appear to have no meaning yet. At present, India has no functional domestic legal framework to address the question of torture. Lacking of legal framework is not only the sole reason but also non-implementation and misinterpretation of the existing little mechanism is other major factors. Implementing agencies often make the victims wrongly interpret/believe the available legal mechanism and such has a serious implication to address this issue.

In one such example, mandatory video filming of the post-mortem procedure for custodial death/encounter killing is presumed to be sought permission from concerned executive magistrate as a require legal step. But as per National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) letter No. 66/SG/NHRC/93 to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories dated 14 December 1993 clearly directed the concerned District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police is to report every custodial death to the Secretary General of the Commission within 24 hours. In another letter to all Chief Ministers of States dated 10 August 1995 that the post-mortem examinations done in respect of the death in police custody and jails should be video-filmed and cassettes be sent to the Commission along with post-mortem report. The Commission has further stated that the process of video-filming will involve extra cost but human life is more valuable than the cost of video-filming which was also reaffirmed in a latter No. NHRC/ID/PM/96/57 dated 2
7 March 1997. The Commission has also cautioned that the failure to report promptly would give rise to presumption that there was an attempt to suppress the incident.

To address the issue of torture, firm stand and determination of the victim could only make little hope. One respected teacher who himself was a torture victim has proof such a little hope. Mr. Gopeshor Singh is a respected member of his community due to his profession as teacher. It may be noted that Mr. Gopeshor was arrested by a team of Indian Army from 57 Mountain Division on 1 September 2007 after issuing an arrest memo as per the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment dated 18 December 1996.

Mr. Gopeshor was handed over to Nambol Police Station after subjected to torture during his detention under military custody the next day. The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), New Delhi has brought the matter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with a subsequent complaint.

After three year of legal hurdle and systematic disturbance, Mr. Gopeshor received compensation of Rs. 25,000/- (Twenty five thousand only) following the specific recommendation by the NHRC vide letter number 24/14/4/07-08/UC dated 9 December 2010. In the recommendation to the Human Rights Cell of Additional Directorate General Discipline and Vigilance Adjutant General’s Branch, Head Quarter, Ministry of Defense (Army), DHQ, New Delhi to award a sum of Rs. 25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand only) for meeting the expenditure towards payment of compensation to Mr. Gopeshor.

In order to prevent such serious forms of violation of human rights and to make transparency and accountable, the authorities concerned is to follow legally establish procedure for the end of justice. Therefore, the recent bill on the Prevention of Torture which has been passed by the lower house of the Indian Parliament needs to incorporate the essence and spirit of the international human rights standards particularly UN Convention against Torture which the Government of India has already signed.

Note: This article is written dedicating to those survivors of torture to mark the observance of UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, 2011.

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IMPHAL, June 23: The non teaching staffs of the Regional Institute of Medical Science, RIMS this morning locked the main gate of its administrative block to mark their protest against the failure of the RIMS authority to clear out the delay in payment of their monthly salaries from the month of May this year.

According to a source, the RIMS Non Teaching Staff Association had decided to lock down the OPD as well as the emergency wards alongwith the administrative block during an emergency meeting which was held yesterday.

According to the source, the agitating staffs had been patiently waiting after the director RIMS had given his commitment on May 13, stating that their salary will be provided to them before June 20.

However, with the failure of the authority to met with the assurance, the association has resorted to take up the agitation against the authority and has further warned to intensify the agitation, in case the authority failed to act on the assutrance provided by the director and provide them their delayed salaries at the earliest.

Meanwhile, a team of Lamphel police on getting official information over the locking of the RIMS administration block arrived inside the campus around 9.30 am and broke the lock put up at the main gate of the RIMS administrative blocks and restored the normal workings of the said block under additional security provision from the state police department today.

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IMPHAL, June 23: The state government has notified the list of candidates found eligible for the interview as per recruitment rules for the post of Graduate teachers to be recruited under the Rastriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

The list of candidates found eligible for the posts and the marks obtained by them on the basis of academic performances are being uploaded at the website www.manipur.gov.in.

The government has notified recruitment for 536 posts of Graduate teachers under RMSA which include 201 posts of Arts, 134 posts of Science, 67 posts of Mathematics, 67 posts of English and 67 posts of language Graduate teachers.

The RMSA recieved 13378 applications forms out of which only 3059 candidates have been found eligible for the interview as per recruitment rules, said a government notification adding the interview will carry only five (5) marks weightage.

The government notification also said any candidate who wants to raise any claim or objection on the marks obtained should submit application in writing enclosing documentary proof of the claim on or before 5pm of June 30. All such application shall be addressed to the additional state project director, RMSA office, Babupara, Imphal.

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IMPHAL June 23: A 15 member representatives of various leading exporters’ firm of the country have arrived here, to participate in the 2nd Buyer – Seller meet cum exhibition, 2011 held at the conference hall of the Hotel Classic, today. 

Expressing contentment at the products displayed during the exhibition, the representatives, that include from Delhi, Kolkatta, Kerala, Varanasi were of the opinion that the products should be made on par with the international standards in terms of commercial viability such as pricing, market acceptability and production capability.

They suggested that the parameters of the traditional methods of the local artisans and its usages should be diversified in order to meet the taste of global consumers.

The representatives of the leading exporters’ firms hinted that creative diversification in the locally produced textile products is necessary.

M. Rajen, OSD, handloom, directorate of commerce and industries said that today’s meeting cum exhibition was held to form a platform for the local handloom weavers and local entrepreneurs to have the opportunity to directly interact with the exporters and to find a viable roadmap for global arena of the locally produced handloom products. He said that Manipur stands 4th position in the number of Handloom weaver and 3th position in Handloom usages and Yarn consumption in the all India ranking.

Today’s buyers–sellers meet cum exhibition was organized by the Manipur Apex Handloom Weavers and Handicraft artisan co-operative societies limited under the integrated handloom development scheme.

The function was sponsored by the development commissioner (Handloom) Ministry of Textiles, Government of India & Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Manipur.

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Manipur stands on a bed of dry tinder today, seemingly ready to break out into an inferno by even the tiniest spark. The hill-valley divide has never been so accentuated, ethnic exclusive politics have ensured the foundation of fraternal bondages between the different communities are shaken, ever expanding population against a stagnant job market has resulted in stiffening competition for them and in unhealthy manner where suspicion is continually bred between the reserved category of job seekers and those in the open category, each believing they have been being short-changed. While those in the reserved category are prone to believe they are being denied their fair share, those in the non-reserved category think they are being made to competed with their hands and legs tied. These perceptions have only resulted in furthering the divide between different communities. While the government remains overwhelmed and clueless as to how to tackle the problem, there are apparently sinister vested interests trying to take advantage of the bad situation and further their dark designs of fomenting ethnic mayhem in the state. The news item in a Nagaland daily in which a previously unheard of organisation called “Naga Crusaders” serving quit notice to Meiteis living in the hill districts is just the latest of these. There can possibly be no other motive behind this than to spark communal hatred and possibly violence. If this indeed was a statement of intent, nothing can be more puerile, considering there are not too many Meiteis living in the hills because of the land regulatory system which prohibits Meiteis and other non-tribals from settling in the hill districts. The opposite however is not true, and hill communities are free to settle in the valley, therefore there is a much greater cosmopolitan mix of population in the valley.

Although the development would have left a bad taste in the mouth, it is not surprising that nobody is taking the threat too seriously. In the past, even at the heights of hill-valley tension, no communal violence of a scale worth mention happened between the valley and hill communities. In fact, observers from outside the state were left confounded that no violence broke out between Nagas and Meiteis even in the aftermath of May 6 last year when two youth were killed at Mao gate protesting the Manipur government’s refusal to allow NSCN(IM) leader Th. Muivah, to enter the state. No communal violence resulted earlier in June 2001 either when there were wide scale street protests against the decision of the Government of India to declare the NSCN(IM) ceasefire “without territorial limits”. It may be recalled that in this protest, on June 18, when the crowd turned violent, 18 protestors lost their lives in firing by security men and several government infrastructures, including the Manipur State Assembly were burnt down. Yet, all fears of an outbreak of communal violence proved false alarm. The inner integrity of the Manipur society is something to be admired indeed.

Although the present threat is unlikely to have its ostensibly intended effect of inciting communal violence, what needs to be noted by everybody is, the continual friction between the different communities in the state is nothing to be proud of. If it is allowed to continue, this will not be the last time communal forces try to foment violence and hatred. This being the case, the people by and large must remain alert, and more importantly work towards a resolution to the tensions. But the current problem also brings to the fore the danger that sloppy vetting for unsubstantiated inflammatory messages by the media before allowing them to go into print, can cause. The editor of the Nagaland newspaper which published the news item has clarified it was an oversight that allowed such a message to find print. Other Naga civil society bodies too have declared that the group is unknown and at best mischief mongers. What the sorry episode has done however is leave a lesson for the media as well. It is imperative now for the media anywhere, but more pertinently in conflict torn states like Manipur where false and provocative news can have grave implication, to be extremely wary of information availed through email by little heard of organisations, especially if their contents are unsubstantiated and can prove inflammatory.

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