July 21, 2015 – Page 3

Professor Gangmumei pitches for 10 percent NEC fund allocation through non-governmental sector

IMPHAL, July 21: Efforts will be put to make the North Eastern Council allot atleast 10 percent of its total fund through the non-governmental sector in the North Eastern States,

IMPHAL, July 21: Efforts will be put to make the North Eastern Council allot atleast 10 percent of its total fund through the non-governmental sector in the North Eastern States, said newly appointed member of the council Professor Gangmumei Kamei today.

He was speaking at a simple reception ceremony on his appointment as a member of the NEC organised by the BJP Manipur Pradesh at the party office today.

He elaborated the NEC funds are sanctioned through the State governments and as such the Opposition parties have no say during fund utilisation.

He said as a member of the council, he will also help the recently elected BJP ADC members in developing their areas as the NEC is more focus on developing the hill areas of the region.

He said the NEC was established in 1972 and during the first 20 years of its inception it was working smoothly.

However in the last 10 years, its image has been badly declined, he added.

He said the total budget of the NEC is for development of the region and as such utilised on the eight States.

He continued, Assam and Mizoram receive maximum funding, but unfortunately Manipur receives only 3 percent of fund from the NEC.

He also said that he will be meeting DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra and pressed for allotment of atleast 10 percent of the total fund through non-governmental sector.

Meanwhile, BJP Manipur Pradesh president Th Chaoba said that the appointment of Prof Gangmumei Kamei as a member of the NEC shows that the party wants to develop the State.

He said Prof Gangmumei Kamei has also been appointed as a member of a18-member committee of the Indian Council for Historical Research.

Rongmei Phuam, AMN and Manipur Muslim Welfare Organisation demonstrate full support to ILPS movement

IMPHAL, July 21: Showing support to the present movement for implementation of the Inner Line Permit System in the State, the Rongmei Phuam, Assam, Manipur Nagaland, Grace Colony Women Meira

IMPHAL, July 21: Showing support to the present movement for implementation of the Inner Line Permit System in the State, the Rongmei Phuam, Assam, Manipur Nagaland, Grace Colony Women Meira Paibi, G Youth Club and the Tarung Auto Drivers`™ Association jointly staged a sit-in protest and later took out a rally in Tarung areas today.

Speaking to the media persons Panti Gonmei, President Rongmei Lu Phuam AMN said that all the 17 different communities residing in Tarung areas fully support the demand for Inner Line Permit System in the State and will continue to do so until the popular demand of the public is met with.

She further said that the State government should protect the interest of the people of Manipur by implementing the Inner Line Permit in the State.

Meanwhile, during the sit in protest and the rally, the protestors held placards and shouted slogans demanding implementation of the ILPS or a similar legislation at the earliest and to punish the police personnel involved in the death of Sapam Robinhood.

The protestors later formed a human chain.

Meanwhile, the Manipur Muslim Welfare Organisation (MMWO) also staged a sit-in protest and later formed a human chain demanding ILPS in the State at Hatta near Public Hospital.

Speaking to media persons, P Abdullah, president MMWO said that it is the sole responsibility of the government to protect the people of the State.

Highlighting that the government is also responsible for all the turmoil in the State, he said the government would have never allowed such hardships to fall on its people if it was concerned at all about the people.

He further demanded the government to find a mechanism to meet the demands of the people.

He also said MMWO will also continue to support the demand till it is fulfilled.

Voice seeking punishment for personnel involved in Robinhood`s death grows louder

THOUBAL, July 21: Students of Somerendro Sana Royal Higher Secondary School, Thoubal Kshetri Leikai came out to the street and formed a human chain demanding punishment of the police personnel

THOUBAL, July 21: Students of Somerendro Sana Royal Higher Secondary School, Thoubal Kshetri Leikai came out to the street and formed a human chain demanding punishment of the police personnel involved in the death of class XI student Sapam Robinhood and implementation of the Inner Line Permit System in the State.

The students shouted slogans stating that they will support the present movement until the demands are met.

Women vendors of Thoubal Ningombam Luxmi Bazar also suspended their daily economic activity for the day and staged sit in protest today.

Meanwhile, residents of Kairembikhok also took out a meira rally in their locality last night demanding punishment of the police personnel involved in the death of Robinhood on July 8 and implementation of the Inner Line Permit System or a similar legislation in the State.

The rally organised by the Kairembikhok Nupi Samaj, started from the Kairembikhok Awang Leikai meirashang around 8:30pm and after passing through the surrounding areas of Salungpham and Wangbal stopped at the Kairembikhok Lamkhai waiting shed.

After the rally, the protestors resorted to sloganeering demanding punishment of the police personnel involved in the death of the student and implementation of the ILPS in the State.

According to a woman protestor participating in the demonstration, the rally was organised showing support to the ongoing movement under the JCILPS.

She said they will support the demanding until it is met.

Eight units of the meira paibis of Toubul, Bishnupur district had also joined hands with local youth clubs and staged a sit in protest and meira rally yesterday demanding punishment of the police personnel involved in the death of Robinhood and demanding the ILPS in the State, informed a statement of the TYDA, Toubul secretary E Premjit Singh.

JCILPS cautions another uprising if govt fails to meet deadline

IMPHAL, July 21: Contending that the government has not taken up any substantial step so far to enact a new bill despite the passing of six days of the 15-day

IMPHAL, July 21: Contending that the government has not taken up any substantial step so far to enact a new bill despite the passing of six days of the 15-day deadline set, the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) has cautioned that another uprising may occur if a new bill acceptable to the people is not passed by the government within the deadline.

In a statement, the committee reiterated that there has been no formal invitation from the side of the government to hold discussion on the enactment of a new bill.

There has to be proper time and place for holding a meeting between the government and public to end the impasse over the enactment of a new bill otherwise it will not draw the desired results, it said.

Asking the concerned law department and legal experts to enact a fresh bill acceptable to the people within the set deadline and let the government pass it the Assembly, the statement made it clear that the proposed bill should be solely based on the protection of the indigenous people.

It appealed to the people to continue with different forms of democratic agitation till a new bill acceptable to the people is passed by the government.

KSO condoles ZORO president`s demise

IMPHAL, July 21: The Kuki Students Organisation-General Headquarters has expressed heartfelt condolences over the sudden demise of Raphael Thangmawia, president of ZORO on July 20 at Geneva. A statement of

IMPHAL, July 21: The Kuki Students Organisation-General Headquarters has expressed heartfelt condolences over the sudden demise of Raphael Thangmawia, president of ZORO on July 20 at Geneva.

A statement of the organisation said the Chin-Kuki-Mizo people are bereft of a great leader on his death, and it will be hard for the people to find a person who can fill the shoe of a leader of his stature.

The great leader is the epitome of Chin-Kuki-Mizo people re-unification and its movement for a place in the comity of nations, it said.

`His lifetime`™s work for the emancipation of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo ethnic group as a nation has inspired us, and instills the feeling of self-determination and freedom in our minds,` it said.

`His dedication and self-sacrifice in the service of his people remains etched in the mind of every person who has ever got the opportunity to know him.`

It further said that the Kuki Students Organisation expresses deep sympathy to the bereaved family, and prays they may find solace and consolation in the knowledge that their family has given us a great leader who will never be forgotten.

Our Correspondent adds from Lamka: The Zomi Re-Unification Organisation (ZRO) has issued a condolence message through its information director on the demise of R Thangmawia in Geneva on July 20.

It said `the ZRO is deeply saddened at the sudden demise of R Thangmoi in Geneva on July 20.`

R Thangmawia is the current president of the Zo Re-Unification organisation ZORO and currently based at Aizawl Mizoram, it said.

The statement also said he was known for his unstinted zeal for reuniting the Zomis and is therefore, no doubt, a household name for the entire Zomi community.

The ZoRO and Zomi`™s have lost a great and true leader, it said.

`The ZRO once again reiterated the entire zomi to follow in the foot-steps of R.Thangmawia and the ZRO pray that his departed soul may rest in peace.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/07/kso-condoles-zoro-presidents-demise/

CM launches mobile application for security of NE citizens

IMPHAL, July 21: Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh today launched Citizen Security Management System mobile application for citizens of northeast states and online registration of food business operators during a

Speaking on the occasion, Ibobi said that the mobile application called as the Northeastern State Citizen Security Management System Software was recommended by Bezbaruah Committee which was set up in February 2014 after the death of Nido Tania, a 19 year old student from Arunachal Pradesh, who died in Delhi on January 29, 2014.

The CM explained that the mobile application will be available for free download for people of Manipur in and outside the State. The application provides for various interactive features for the police to stay connected with the citizens such as News feed and Polls.

Using the mobile application, a citizen can now post complaints along with photos and videos directly to the police. The citizen interacts with the police online via the mobile application itself. A tracking feature has also been provided in the application where the citizen can trigger an alert to track his location to his near and dear along with the police, he elaborated.

As per the recommendations of the Bezbaruah Committee the State has also engaged an Advocates panel for providing legal aid to the victims of racial discrimination against the people of Manipur in Delhi. The same information has also been provided in the Mobile application. Emergency helpline numbers are also integrated in the Mobile application, he added.

Stating that Government of Manipur is committed to the issues faced by people of the State living at various cities outside the State, Ibobi said that this new mobile application is one of the many initiatives through which the State Government seeks to handle these issues.

As per the Food safety Regulations, all food business operators have to register with the Food Safety Commissioners of the State, he said, informing that online registration software for food business operators was developed by National Centre for Smart Governance.

The launching ceremony was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam; Minister of Health & FW/GAD/CADA Phunzanthang Tonsing; Chief Secretary PC Lawnkunga; DGP Sahid Ahmed; Principal Secretary (Health) Dr Suresh Babu and high officials of Police and Health Department.

Hunter believed to be dead returns home

LAMKA, July 21: In what will be marked as a red letter day in the household of Mr and Mrs Daniel of Pherzwal Village in Thanlon sub-division, their second son

LAMKA, July 21: In what will be marked as a red letter day in the household of Mr and Mrs Daniel of Pherzwal Village in Thanlon sub-division, their second son who had been long declared dead and his last rites performed after he failed to return home from a hunting trip on June 29, suddenly turned up at their home.

25 year old Roouthingsei had gone out on June 29 on a hunting trip and failed to return home. The next day, his worried father looked for him but couldn`™t find him.

The father informed the villagers and a massive manhunt was launched in the areas of Pherzawl, Bukpi, Loibual, Damdai, Tinsung and other areas.

The hunt continued for seven days but Roouthingsei remained traceless.

Since Roouthingsei could not be found, the family took him to be dead and conducted his funeral at Pherzawl Village as per the customary law.

But as fate would have it, on July 17, a hunter from Tinsung Village found him in a very weak state inside a jungle.

Family members said that the hunter found him in such a state that he was unable to even stand up, but at the same time he was conscious. He was also found holding his hunting gun.

The hunter finding it hard to carry Routhingsei back on his own had called his friends and other villagers to assist him.

Routhingsei was taken to the Churachandpur District Hospital during the midnight of July 18. He is still getting treatment at the hospital.

Family members also said that Routhingsei had survived the whole time by eating raw bamboo shoots growing in the area.

Speaking to this IFP correspondent, Routhingsei`™s elder brother Lalhmingthang said Routhingsei was once bitten by a snake in 2003 and ever since then he has been having occasional seizures and it was one such seizure that had weakened him and loss consciousness.

It now seems when he woke up, he was too weak to move himself and had to stay there in wait for help to arrive, the relieved brother said.

He continued eating only the raw bamboo shoots had injured his intestines but he is recuperating and on his way to recovery, the brother continued.

Meanwhile, wife of the Thanlon MLA Mrs Vungzagin and the MDC Lalmangpui had visited him at the hospital.

The family has also received help from several other individuals.

Lalhmingthang also thanked the villagers of the area, Village Authorities, MDC, MLA and others who have helped in their family`™s time of misfortune.

Doctors said Routhingsei seems to be regaining health, and they conducting proper investigations at the moment.

He said surviving on only the raw bamboo shoots had taken its toll and hopefully he will get better with time.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/07/hunter-believed-to-be-dead-returns-home/

Another Wall of Injustice

By Jiten Yumnam In January this year, the Thoubal River was impeded by the Mapithel Dam. In the pipeline since the 1980s, the commissioning of the dam meant that the

By Jiten Yumnam

In January this year, the Thoubal River was impeded by the Mapithel Dam. In the pipeline since the 1980s, the commissioning of the dam meant that the backwater reservoir slowly began to rise, fill and spread, even though resettlement had not been completed. It was a despicable act by the Manipur government to forcefully commission the Thoubal Multipurpose Project. By June, due to the rains in the northeastern Indian state, the dam reservoir began to rise rapidly and submerged an extensive area of Chadong village, where many project-affected people reside. The reservoir began to submerge their agricultural land, grazing grounds and forest.

protest_against_inundation_in_june_15_at_chadong_village

Villagers protest after commissioning of the Mapithel Dam earlier this year Photo : Jiten Yumnam

As I write this, homes are being inundated by the rising waters. Villagers are compelled to rely on bamboo rafts to cross the river, given that the only bridge that connects Chadong with other villages along the Mapithel Valley has already been submerged. Most say they can not swim; turbulent waters in high winds pose a constant risk. The villagers are in deep despair as they watch their ancestral lands vanish. But right now they are most worried for their immediate livelihood as their cultivable land is lost to the rising water.

The Thoubal Multipurpose Project is intended to generate 7.5 MW of hydroelectricity and supply 10 million gallons of water each day to the state capital, Imphal. But the filling of the reservoir without addressing the concerns of affected communities – in the absence of holistic impact assessment of the dam – amounts to no less than harassment and is illegal. The Tangkhul Naga and Kuki people will lose their subsistence agricultural land and forests, their source of survival.

The blocking of the river has already led to the drying up of the Thoubal River in the immediate downstream stretch of the dam. The villagers in downstream villages, belonging to the Meiteitribe, are worried of extreme water shortages. The villagers can no longer fish and collect sand and stones brought down by the Thoubal River, which is an economic mainstay in addition to agriculture. Collection of firewood and seasonal food sources from nearby hills is getting disturbed as forest areas are being destroyed, also partly due to militarization in the region. The Mapithel Dam site is located in a highly seismic area, and villagers are concerned about a potential dam break.

Villagers are compelled to rely on bamboo rafts to cross the river after the Mapithel Dam inundated the only bridge in the area Photo : Jiten Yumnam

The ongoing filling of the Mapithel Dam reservoir is accompanied with full-scale deployment of security forces of the government of India while subduing all affected peoples’ call and resistance against the blocking of the Thoubal River. Villagers strongly opposed the forceful filling up of the dam reservoir as a clear example of undemocratic and anti-indigenous peoples development. This has created political disenchantment and a fear psychosis among the affected villagers.

The ongoing effort to finalize Mapithel Dam construction is moving ahead, despite the fact that the National Green Tribunal is still considering the violation of forest rights under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. In clear procedural violations, the Ministry of Environment and Forest, government of India accorded final forest clearance for Mapithel Dam only on December 31, 2013, more than 30 years after the project was approved in 1980, and that too without conducting any site visit to the affected area.

The rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) is being carried out in a piecemeal and divisive manner and has already caused much controversy and human rights violations, resulting in confusion and division among affected communities. Due to the failure of the agreement on R&R, the government of Manipur constituted an Expert Review Committee in January 2008. However, the government withdrew from the process after seven rounds of talks, the last held in February 2011. The government of Manipur forcefully began verification at Lamlai Khunou and Chadong Village in October 2012, despite community objections. The verification is a direct violation of the stay order of the Gauhati High Court on April 25, 2012.

Agricultural land partially submerged in Chadong village by Mapithel Dam Photo : Jiten Yumnam

The construction of Mapithel Dam is still fraught with the absence of a detailed impact assessment on communities with their rightful participation, especially regarding the impact on forest land and other livelihood sources. The plight of the affected communities remains uncertain as project authorities continue to fill the dam reservoir with military presence on their land, suppressing their democratic rights. Mapithel Dam is yet another clear symbol of development injustice.

The filling of the reservoir should be stopped until rehabilitation has been satisfactorily completed while free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous people is taken on board. The militarization of the region, in the name of battling insurgents, too should be halted immediately. Lastly, all forms of involuntary displacement in violation of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights, 2007 and the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams, 2000 should be put to a stop. Now.

Jitin Yumnam is Secretary, Centre for Research and Advocacy (Manipur), and can be contacted at: jitnyumnam@yahoo.co.in
Source : http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/328-20

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/07/another-wall-of-injustice/

Where do we go from ILP?

By Praem Hidam Now that a young student has been murdered and there is an acute sense of grief and resentment among the protesters. While this brutality on the part

By Praem Hidam

Now that a young student has been murdered and there is an acute sense of grief and resentment among the protesters. While this brutality on the part of the government’s response has only stiffened its callousness and regulations, the protestors are simply roiling. In this conjuncture, the only way to become vocal and audible enough is to use a language of rioting, though it is not what we always intend to do. In it we find a flow of messages and the government knows what we do. This precisely has remained to be the only way of communicating with this government. We believe that not everything in the world especially things like the one we are handling cannot always be subsumed to operate under the law and institutions. The point is, our upsurge is democratic and we are democratic by any count.

To begin with, let us first agree to this fact that we cannot afford to lose the speed and mobility of what has happened in the last few weeks. But this may not mislead us to losing sight of where we are heading to with the same speed and mobility, at this rate. Any agitation including this one if it is to grow in a direction that can truly offer promises for a better scheme of things, cannot miss but to engage with the contradictions of its strengths. How we choose to engage with our own contradictions is prefigurative in the sense that it will shape the future course of the movement and its wider outcomes. That will come slowly but surely will it come.

This short discussion is about these concerns.

What we need to do, and which is what we are trying to do here, is rather to try and give some insights in order for us to be able to carry out a vision and make sure that the popular mandate that we have on this issue can do wonders in an entirely different political conjecture which is far removed from the institutional working of electoral democracy.

It is true that we see some ideals in the scheme of things that may happen in post ILP scenario. And here are a couple of questions that we need to address if we believe in the ideals of this current agitation. How are we going to make sure that the present agitation is transformed into a ceaseless prodding for a more progressive society; into a movement that is connected as a part of wider currents of other political movements? Have we ever thought of this? Or shall we expand our objectives as we have grown into this stage of movement that truly has become one of the most popular upsurges in the recent years?

As we know, and this is true especially in the case of Manipur, that different conjectures of politics have often mounted up simultaneously that even as we are trying to keep pace with rapid turns of events we have already missed steps and very often fall back on common sense which often are uncritical, over generalized and blinded. Keeping in view the sequences of all the happenings of this agitation, we may however say this with commitment that the only strategy, perhaps the most important of all is to mobilize on common sense.

A cautious and critical relationship with common sense will enable us to see some contents of popular sensibilities which are more positive and politically reliable, that have traces of better vision of change and resistance. We also believe that these contents will be a big help to re-strengthen the organizational crafts when it comes to transforming this demand into a wider and lasting movement, connecting it to other movements of our times.

In order for it to be more meaningful we can rebuild this agitation on the spontaneous philosophy of the ordinary people, on the battlefield that is street and other places like this. The question is not of entirely relying on the leadership and the organizations leading this agitation but of renovating and making critical an already existing activity, of helping the people’s consciousness to perfection. We do not intend to see a movement that is merely popular which may happen to be a tilted, singular, and majoritarian expression; but a movement that is truly founded on the common wisdom that could withstand elitist and anti- democratic stances. We also intend to see a movement with a broad coalition consisting of communities and groups. Many of the misgivings about this agitation can be avoided if the leadership has the patience to listen attentively to the people’s common sense, across communities and try to develop strategies towards greater coherence. To move along as a movement we need to hone a collective agency and this could possibly be achieved if we can identify what contents of popular sensibilities are potential of undermining and of being critical of the regressive intensities and tendencies, the contradictory wisdoms and common senses.

Having said this, we are now proceeding to an aspect of this agitation which is particularly crucial to the circulation of the demands that goes far and wide. It is true that we demand with a desire to envisage a future, and in fact we do hope so, where we are secure and live on our own terms. This penchant for being ourselves along with the vision that seeks to protect it and the self that is being projected are not however given. They all are constituted within specific historical configuration that is nothing but our own doings, lives and experiences. The demand for ILP is no exception and it is in this sense a product of our times.

Deriving from our encounters with debris and the propellants, we might also consider that our agitation is not going to be a question of law alone. In actual fact, it will never be one. There is one aspect of this issue and it relates to a war like situation where two economies are in conflict. One works with its power to distribute, divide and occupy while the other operates with intensities of anger, disaffection, fear and retaliation. The former advances with Capital (usually money, goods and networks) the latter being about one that is left unused, untapped and replaced usually resist the other economy in the form of what is going on today, riots. Since war and economies figure as essential tropes in the overall picture, the current agitation can even grow much further into becoming a movement for just distribution of opportunities and free and equal chance to capabilities and aspirations. These are even at this moment what our demands are for. This war is thus not only about outsiders or insiders. Its potential power lies in its ability to raise the basic questions that have got on our nerves for quite a long time. From ILP we can further move against all kinds of exploitation, for a society where the common have a good part in the running of their affairs, including what they do to earn and live. If we want to go deeper and come up with alternative modes of life and governance which can be comparatively much better than the one we are living with, what else can it be other than this form of upsurge?

The outside will be transformed into a symbolic form and it can be anything, be it institutions, agencies, the bourgeois political order, or the system of power or something else. Anything or anybody that coerces us, disables us to become and prevents us from desiring to be what we are and what we can do constitutes the symbolic form in the figure of the outsider. Either inside or outside, with outsiders or insiders all that remains for us is to move and grow, to question and critique as a movement and perennially in motion.

If it is what we can do and we are so potential in our ability to grow, why are then we so obsessed with a law which was used by the colonial authorities to rule us, to exploit our resources in secret, by not allowing others to know what was actually going on behind the veil of inner line which was nothing but keeping us inside, forcing us to be covered not to see what was being done on us, on our land? Very simple. Being behind the line is a serious business and wanting to cross it is even more so!

(Dr Praem Hidam holds a Phd from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He lives in Delhi and can be contacte at praemhidam@gmail.com)

The article was originally published in The Sangai Express on 21 July 2015.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/07/where-do-we-go-from-ilp/

“Grid in NE revitalised after attack on army convoy” – fullstory – Press Trust of India

“Grid in NE revitalised after attack on army convoy” – fullstory
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) The intelligence grid in the Northeastern region has been “revitalised” in wake of the deadly attack on an army convoy in Manipur in June that killed 18 soldiers, the government said today. Noting that the Indo-Myanmar border is …

and more »

"Grid in NE revitalised after attack on army convoy" – fullstory
Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) The intelligence grid in the Northeastern region has been "revitalised" in wake of the deadly attack on an army convoy in Manipur in June that killed 18 soldiers, the government said today. Noting that the Indo-Myanmar border is …

and more »

ASIA: Mob justice – a symptom of degenerating rule of law

By Javeria Younes 20 July 2015 The mob justice meted out to 13-year-old Samiul Alam Rajon, who was beaten to death in Bangladesh by an angry mob resolute on teaching

Furniture lying in the courtyard of W.Manglemjao of Khurai Thongam Leikai after an enraged mob ransacked his house on charges of molesting a student. Photo: KO archive

By Javeria Younes

20 July 2015

The mob justice meted out to 13-year-old Samiul Alam Rajon, who was beaten to death in Bangladesh by an angry mob resolute on teaching the youngster a lesson for stealing a bicycle, is a classic case of mob madness witnessed on our streets every day. Throughout Asia, deteriorating rule of law and ineffective criminal justice systems are resulting in people losing trust and resorting to mob justice.

Mob justice is often defined as the verdict of the crowd by subverting legal procedures and institutions in a situation of great injustice and mass suffering. The right to mete out punishment belongs to the state, but not so in societies where weak courts and poor law enforcement are combined with institutionalized injustice. The failure of judicial systems to deliver has aggravated the general frustrations of societies, resulting in feelings that grievances can only be adequately addressed by people taking the law into their own hands. Where cities are ever smarting under violence and where the grip of the law is loose, it is not unusual for citizens to act as police and judge. Protesters turn into vigilante mobs with ready justifications for committing acts of murder.

Increase in mob justice is directly proportionate to the backlog of cases in the courts. The mobs in Pakistan in particular, take the shape of mad vigilantism in blasphemy cases. Many crimes have been committed by charged up mobs that are often incited by local religious leaders to perform their religious duty and kill any person accused of blasphemy. People are desperate for justice and unable to access it, and so resort to taking the law into their own hands. Frustration with the criminal justice system, lack of police visibility and lack of trust between police and particular communities are some of the main drivers behind incidents of mob justice.

Such justice cannot be ethically condoned or tolerated in modern, liberal, democratic societies, but is overlooked by governments and the judiciary in our part of the world. The culprits, if apprehended, are acquitted by the court for lack of evidence, as their direct involvement is questionable due to the number of people involved. In the August 2010 case involving the lynching of two teenage brothers from Sialkot, Pakistan, for instance, the judge sentenced seven men to death while five co-accused were acquitted for insufficient evidence. Similarly, in the famous Best Bakery case during the 2002 Gujarat riots, where a Muslim family of 14 was burnt to death by an angry mob chanting communal slogans in Hanuman Tekri, Vadodara, all of the 21 accused were acquitted on 27 June 2003 by the additional session’s judge. On 9 July 2012, the Bombay High Court upheld the life sentences of four accused, while it acquitted five for lack of evidence.

Mob justice is not just a sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob. It is the direct result of the persistent inability of our legal systems to conclusively resolve so many criminal cases. Increasing cases of mob justice are being reported from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, where people take matters into their own hands.

In July 2011 for example, six alleged robbers in the Noakhali area, southern Bangladesh, were beaten to death by a mob after the gang they were part of shot a villager dead. The video of the public lynching of Samiul Rajon in Bangladesh went viral, wherein the men are shown laughing and taunting the 13-year-old as they hit him repeatedly with a metal rod, while he begs them to stop and asks for a glass of water. Likewise, in southern Assam’s Karimganj District, India, a mob judged that a man was guilty of raping a girl and punished him by cutting off his penis. Another rapist was dragged from his prison cell and hanged to death by the mob. On 5 March 2015, the charged mob broken open the gate of the supposedly high security Dimapur Central Jail in Karimganj and dragged out the accused Syed Farid Khan onto the streets, where he was tortured and later hanged in the presence of jail security that stood as a silent spectator to the horror.

Petty theft is one of the main triggers for lynching in Indonesia. According to data from the National Violence Monitoring System, 20 percent of victims that were killed, badly hurt, or permanently crippled are victims of mob justice. In 2014, there were nearly 4,300 incidences of mob justice causing three hundred deaths. Similar trends can be observed in Sri Lanka, where a Buddhist mob was incited by monks after the alleged assault of another monk by Muslim youths in the town of Aluthgama, killing three people in Muslim areas. In Pakistan, a Christian couple was burnt alive by an angry mob alleging blasphemy.

Societal intolerance and growing despair of the lengthy and ineffective legal process has caused people to take revenge on petty criminals, while corrupt leaders, being influential and wealthy, enjoy complete protection of the system that perpetuates judicial incompetence. In these cases, a mob’s mentality is not so far different from extremist groups such as ISIS, which forcibly impose their version of moral and religious ethics, killing those who disagree.

The governments of South and Southeast Asia must invest in strengthening judicial and police institutions; establishing the rule of law has to be given priority over everything else. The legitimacy of any government depends on the rule of law, which requires establishing policing and judicial institutions that are effective, fair and transparent. Educating the public about how courts work and the principle that people are innocent until proven guilty, and visible policing, are some of the things to begin with.

In seeking justice, society must temper vengeance with reform. A mob is the method by which good citizens turn over law and governance to the criminal or irresponsible classes. Checks and balances are needed to prevent governments from either devolving into autocratic tyranny or autocratic mob mentality. Petty crimes should be dealt with at the magisterial level to lessen the burden of the lower judiciary; petty criminals should be reformed by community service and not by serving jail time, as this will only add unnecessary burden on the judicial system and the national exchequer. The state must proactively take urgent steps to restore people’s faith in the system before it is too late and geopolitical stability is threatened by a charged mob ready to bring down the government, resulting in anarchy and chaos.

Javeria Younes is a lawyer and social activist working for an egalitarian society, free from torture, and can be reached at: javeria.younes@ahrc.asia, and javeria.younus@live.com.

Source : AHRC/CORE

Attack on Army Convoy in Manipur – Business Standard

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Deccan Chronicle

Attack on Army Convoy in Manipur
Business Standard
An Army vehicle convoy was ambushed by well-armed terrorists in general area Parlon in Chandel District / Manipur on 4th June 2015. The incident resulted in 18 fatal and 15 non-fatal Army casualties. Two terrorists were killed in retaliatory fire and …
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Forecast for Monsoon 2015 in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura – Skymet Weather

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Skymet Weather

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Skymet Weather
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