Manipur News

By B.G. Verghese
Republic Day was celebrated this year in the presence of the Thai Prime Minister who is young enough to make many of our vaunted “youth leaders” look old. There is a message here that must be noted. Timely words were otherwise spoken by the President in her broadcast to the nation. We must be cautious, she remarked, “that while shaking the tree to remove the bad fruit, we do not bring down the tree itself”. The reference was not merely to the somewhat anarchist tendencies unleashed by the Lok Pal matter but to a wider tendency impatiently to throw out the baby with the bathwater by adopting extreme positions on a  variety of reforms and current issues.

Negativism, to which many are addicted out of frustration, must not lead to rejection and violence that question or weaken the democratic edifice of the nation – a priceless asset. In a country of such vast diversity and varied levels and trajectories of development, extreme views should yield to the middle path of consensus, eschewing both status quoism and revolution.

In two more cases of cultural bigotry, a Pune university was forced to withdraw screening of an allegedly “separatist” Sanjay Kak film on Kashmir by ABVP rowdies while Shiv Sena goons vandalised the Times of India office in Mumbai for an innocuous report that a Sena politician might defect. The Jaipur LitFest, an otherwise great success, was marred by the Rushdie controversy. Conservative elements were once again allowed to swamp liberal opinion. The Satanic verses have long been banned in India but not the person of its author. Nobody stopped his going to Jaipur but tensions had built up and official advice to the LitFest organisers of a possible attempt on his life by hired hit-men caused him not merely to call off the visit but also to abandon the idea of speaking via a video-link from London.

The Central and Rajasthan governments were gratuitously blamed not only for “failing” to guarantee Rushdie protection but for floating a canard to scare him away while wooing Muslim votes in the ensuing state elections. This seems a kneejerk reaction. Had the authorities kept quiet and something untoward had happened, none would have spared the Government for knowingly allowing disaster to strike even after an albeit vague intelligence warning. When the Government did pass on the information, leaving the choice entirely to Rushdie and the organisers, the same critics now blame it for “censorship” and exploiting vote-bank politics. This is heads I win, tails you lose, and not for the first time. Too many people want to have their cake and eat it.

To scorn the pursuit of “high growth” and yet want the government to enlarge and enhance subsidies, to demand employment but retard investment, to seek better governance but prevent reform, to shed tears for displacement because of development but yet ignore the far larger displacement caused annually by distress migration for lack of development created jobs, are all symptomatic of distorted priorities and confused minds. Similarly, while applauding China, Singapore and others for accomplishing things that we would wish to emulate, we shy away from the pragmatic decision-making that these achievements entail.  . Those who criticise UPA-II for standing still, paralysed by scams, should also count the number of reforms blocked by paralysing Parliament over the past 18 months, largely on grounds of partisan politics without much thought for the national interest.

This attitude of “non-cooperation” must change in 2012. Coalition politics has played out in all the wrong ways. There is blackmail on one side and failure to consult one’s partners, let alone the Opposition, meaningfully and in time on the other. There is too much of talking at one another rather than with one another. And there is little doubt that the Government has been adrift. Hopefully, all sides realise the high cost of a wasted year. None has gained. The nation has suffered.

Unfortunately, the current five-state polls that have commenced have gone the old way. Too many criminals have been given tickets and many parties are almost at a state of war with the Election Commission which has, as before, sought to plug new loopholes and maintain a level playing field for all. Nevertheless, the degree of brazen defiance of basic norms is worrying. The return of assets filed by several candidates shows extraordinary growth since their last statement of wealth was filed. Many contestants have no PAN card and have never paid income tax. All this once again underlines the urgency and salience of electoral reforms.

The resounding defeat India has suffered at the hands of Australia in the four-Test series just concluded in Adelaide also carries a message. Indian cricket has moved away from the game to minting money, politics, strange alliances and individual glory. For the past year, Tendulkar’s century has loomed larger than an Indian victory. Fatigue and injuries tell their own story of “market” pressures to play without resting, reduce cricket to a milch cow for organisers to get richer and strut around with false pride. The media has played a notable role in massaging egos and joining others in hyping gamesmanship more than the game.   

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has once again come down on the Gujarat Government for its dilatory and obfuscating tactics with regard to post-2002 fake encounters. The monitoring committee under a retired Supreme Court justice, M.B. Shah, appointed in April 2011, has been given authorised to select investigators, from outside the state if necessary, in order to expedite matters, and to report back to the Court in three months.  The net is closing in on Narendra Modi and one can discern growing nervousness, dressed in bravado, on the part of Modi apologists in the Gujarat government, BJP and VHP. Justice Nanavati still plods his weary way to a conclusion on what is by now a highly flawed commission that pretended to offer certain final conclusions in its preliminary report a year or two ago, even as the truth is still unfolding.

Finally, on the other side of the border, it is worrying to note that yet another coup was plotted by elements in the Bangladesh army against Sheikh Hasina, though it was averted. Her “crime”: being allegedly pro-Indian. It was a nice gesture on her part to visit Agartala to thank the people of Tripura for hosting so many traumatised refugees in 1971.

It is now for India to act swiftly and more boldly to fulfil its part of the Indo-Bangladesh agreement on completing the land boundary agreement and ensuing better border management, trade facilitation and water cooperation among other things. Bangladesh is delicately poised and both countries need to act to support and build a relationship of harmony and cooperation that is in their mutual interest.

In Pakistan,  the jury is still out, but the civil government has thus far stood up to the military and must be applauded and diplomatically supported in upholding a still tenuous parliamentary democracy. 
www.bgverghese .com

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/dont-bring-down-the-tree/

By Anil Bhat
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s first ever visit to, Tripura, her nation’s neighbouring Indian state sharing an 856-km border, on 11-12 January 2012, which she referred to as a pilgrimage, marked a high point in the extended celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Bangladesh’s Liberation war. She was invited by Tripura Central University for being conferred with the degree of Doctor of Literature, by for her “great contribution to the protection of multicultural democracy and peace”.

Ms Wajed, accompanied by her sister, Sheikh Rehana and an over 100-strong delegation including including External Affairs Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, some more ministers, businessmen and intellectuals, they were received at Agartala Airport by Minister of Human Resources and Development Kapil Sibal and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

“As we touched down at Agartala airport last evening, a flush of emotions overwhelmed me as I recalled the tremendous sacrifices during our glorious struggle for independence,” said Ms Wajed, in a voice choked with emotion, after receiving the degree of from Vice President of India Hamid Ansari at Agartala on 12 January 2012. Fondly recalling the help Tripura had extended during 1971 Liberation War spearheaded by her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she further said, switching to Bengali, “I express my deep gratitude to the people of Tripura who gave us food, shelter and clothing and care when the people of our country were subject of inhuman and barbaric torture in the hands of Pakistani Army and migrated to this land…I was further amazed when I came to know that before this university was set up, this place was a training camp of the Bangladesh liberation soldiers”.

Earlier, addressing the India-Bangladesh Business Meet jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI), Ms Hasina appealed to the business community of India’s Northeast to cash in on the investment friendly atmosphere in her country. Her announcement of a major path-breaking step of Bangladesh government deciding to offer access to Chittagong and Mongla sea ports for better business ties with Indian businessmen and that use of Ashuganj port is just a step away, was very well-received.

Noting that the there is a huge potential of Indian investment in Bangladesh in IT, power and healthcare, Ms. Hasina said, “Political will is there to carry forward the bilateral ties and the business community of both sides must strive to catch the opportunities”. Laying emphasis on solving all pending bilateral issues including water sharing through discussion, the Bangladesh Prime Minister said, “India being a big country must come forward with an open heart to solve all the outstanding bilateral issues. We do expect India to show more sensibility in resolving all pending issues”.

The third India-Pakistan war during December 1971 was historically significant as it liberated erstwhile Bengali East Pakistan from decades of oppression by the ruling military government of West Pakistan culminating in horrific genocide by Pakistan army and created the new nation, Bangladesh. On 25 March 1971, the liberation war was launched by the Mukti Bahini, as Pakistani soldiers aided by local collaborators, had reportedly killed an estimated 3 million people, raped 200,000 women and forced millions of people to flee to India.

Eventually, when Pakistan sparked off the war on December 3, 1971, it took only 13 days for India Army to encircle East Pakistan. On December 16, 1971, Pakistan’s eastern army commander signed the instrument of surrender at Dhaka, as 93,000 Pakistan armed forces personnel surrendered to Indian Army all over what got declared as the newly born nation of Bangladesh.

The year 2011 was marked by extended celebrations in Bangladesh, for one of which it invited 17 Indian veterans of that war, in December 2011. Simultaneously Headquaters, Eastern Command, Kolkata hosted three serving Bangladesh Army officers, 22 Mukti Joddhas (Mukti Bahini veterans) and Indian armed forces veterans, including. Bangladesh Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Shaukat Ali, former Eastern Command chief of staff Lt. Gen. (retd.) J.F.R. Jacob, former Indian Army chief and Member of Parliament, Gen. (retd.) Shankar Roychowdhury.

16 December, instituted as Vijay Divas after the 1999 Kargil war, was observed in New Delhi by the Defence Minister and the three Services Chiefs laying wreaths at Amar Jawan Jyoti under the arch of India Gate. Whereas India Gate is a memorial made by the British to honour the memory of Indian Army soldiers killed in World War I, in Kolkata, Dhaka and many other military stations in India and Bangladesh, Vijay Divas was celebrated befittingly at larger scales, with tributes paid at many other memorials. Maj Gen Ian Cardozo, VrC, who headed the Indian war veterans delegation to Bangladesh, speaking to this writer said: “ We visited two National War Memorials and we were told that there were many more in the districts where major battles were fought. This is in stark contrast to our own country where we are yet to have a National War memorial for soldiers who died in all the wars that we have fought since Independence. They also have a War Museum which we visited which has well documented accounts of the war of liberation but mostly of their own Mukti Bahini.”

In this war Maj Gen Cardozo, 4/5 Gorkha Rifles, who got his leg blown up in a minefield, amputated it himself with a khukhri since there was no medical aid available. The visit is best described by him and Col SS Chowdhry, SM, who also interacted with this writer.

Col Chowdhry: “The 6 days trip was exhilarating, nostalgic… with very warm hospitality and touching gratitude. The President, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister, State Minister, Ministry of Liberation War and the three Services Chiefs took turns to host the delegtion. Plenty of visits to various battle locations, meeting old Mukti Bahini Joddhas and many delightful cultural programs made the six days seem too short. Over all, it was a great once in a lifetime experience”.

Maj Gen Cardozo further elaborated: “The Government of Bangladesh and its armed forces went out of their way to treat us as their honoured guests…they have a lot of love and regard for the Indian Government and its people….Mrs. Indira Gandhi is held in great respect and reverence for her courage and the manner she led India during those troubled times and the way she came to the rescue of a beleaguered neighbor….I was asked to address various gatherings and I said that forty years ago India and the people of what is now Bangladesh and their fearless Mukti Bahini shared a common destiny- for them to free their beloved country from the stranglehold of West Pakistan and of India to help a friend achieve that aim. I recalled that many sacrifices were made by Indian soldiers and Mukti Bahini and it was on the altar of these sacrifices that freedom was won in a brief war of thirteen days-just as well-before the US or China could interfere and before the UN could enforce a ceasefire….Great battles were fought by the
Indian soldiers and the Mukti Bahini shoulder to shoulder and by the Indian Navy and Air Force. The Mukti Bahini were a great force as was evident by the damage done at Chittagong and Khulna ports by Indian Naval commandoes and the Mukti Bahini frogmen….Wherever we went we were told by strangers that without India’s help the liberation would never have happened so quickly and the sacrifice by the Indian armed forces was greatly appreciated…..We attended a reception hosted by the President of Bangladesh and this was an occasion where the Prime Minister was able to personally thank us for all that we did so many years ago”.

The ceremonies at Kolkata included solemn tributes at Vijay Smarak to those martyred in the war, an all-faith prayer meeting was organised at the venue while two helicopters showered rose petals on the martyr’s column and the release of ‘Race to Dhaka ’, a pictorial book depicting the 1971 Bangladesh liberation. “Our defeat in the Chinese war had downed the morale not only of the forces but also of the whole country. But this victory enabled India to stand firmly and confidently on her feet. Since then we are totally confident,” said Gen Roychowdhury. Mr. Shaukat Ali praised India for its efforts and said his country will always remain grateful for the gesture. “India stood beside us for humanity. We shall always remember this gesture… I would give 100 percent credit to India for the liberation of Bangladesh. We gained Independence but India fought for it. Can this contribution be belittled’” said Ali. “We are grateful to India since 1971 and we will continue to be so. The Indian army stood beside us and together we marched to victory and independence,” said Ashrafdaula, a Mukti Joddha who lost one of his legs in the war. A five day cultural fest held at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission at Kolkata saw renowned cultural artistes from both sides of the border regaling audiences. Apart from the classic Bengali folk music to rock music, the guests also savoured delicious Bangladeshi cuisine. “Podda Illish”, the famous Hilsa fish from the Padma River has always been acclaimed as far tastier than its Hoogly counterpart.

GOC-in-C Eastern Command Lt Gen Bikram Singh conveyed to this writer that the interaction between the Indian and Bangladeshi veterans and serving officers covering tactical details about this war was indeed professionally beneficial.

In May 2011, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA, New Delhi) and Bangladesh Heritage Foundation (Dhaka) held a three day dialogue in Tripura which holds special significance with reference to the events of December 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War. As is well known, the first Bangladesh government in exile was formed in Agartala, apart from the first Bangladesh Radio office being set up there.The Bangladeshi delegation expressed their gratitude about the sacrifice that India and Indian soldiers made to ensure independence of Bangladesh and also reminisced the importance of Tripura in that historic event. The delegation visited the Bharat-Bangladesh Maitree Udyan park, Chottakhola, Belonia, a border town 130 kms from Agartala and one of the base camps of the Mukti Bahini, from where they launched the war against Pakistani troops in Noakhali, Feni and parts of Comilla districts. A museum showcasing the arms and ammunitions used in the war, photographs, literature and newspapers from that period has been planned.

With all that Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government has done to renew and revive old ties severely damaged by the pro-Pakistan Bangladesh Nationalist Party during its tenure, particularly against terrorism, New Delhi must maintain the momentum of cooperation in all fields for mutual benefit, especially Bangladesh and India’s North Eastern region.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/extended-celebrations-of-bangladesh-liberation-war/

By Bobo Khuraijam
Mother is ashamed in front of her friends. Ashamed of the long hair her son has nurtured. She wishes her son not to come out of the room whenever her friends pay a visit. Her concern looks more pronounce just the day before the arrival of the full moon, which would shine above the bamboo groove on the eastern periphery of the eenkhol. Her friends would gather for the Purnima Marup without fail. An adult son with a long hair, – what a mess in the family. Is something seriously wrong with her son? Long hair means a sign of decisive waywardness; a son who is unabashed of going beyond the norms of short hair, which looks unkempt, both in appearance and upbringing. If her son steps out of the room her friends would certainly notice him. Questions and counter questions would bombard mother with little mercy. Mother is alarmed weather she could escape from the barrage or become a victim in her own courtyard, all because of her son’s long hair. In the initial days her explanation was that the son was engaged in a role of a film. The role requires a character with long hair. It has been strictly advised by the director not to cut the hair until the shooting gets done. Come what may – blockade or general strike. Hmm… the explanation sounds saleable.  “What about the moustache and the goatee grown sparsely above the fair and lovely skin”? Even a dozy observant would asked. That is an imperative question which is never easy to escape. Well, that too, part of the character. Many a full moon have come and gone. Mother has become uncomfortable to stick to the same explanation over a long period of time; perhaps, too long, with the hair and time.

SCKEPTICALLY: There are also possibilities of the son to be a member of the UFO. That is when the son is happy riding a bicycle, with the hair tied unruffled at the occiput. A missing black uniform regrettably prevented that stamp too. Yet, the appearance still summons speculation of whether the son has puritanical position on religion. When did hair and moustache become religious motif? We don’t know. Sardarji brethren do have a unique pattern of religious ‘appearance’, which is unparalleled. But as far as we know, the valley dwellers do not have sam and koi regulation like them in a very strict sense. One can be a believer of the pre Vaisnavite faith with or without it. The son wearing all white entering a sankirtan maandop, with the emblematic chandon on the nose to offer a bhakti has a beauty in itself. Of course with the long hair and koi, the palla would not miss a snooping glance while prostrating. Does the son look like an UFO Vaisnavite to him? Please ask them.

SOCIAL DEBT: With the current season crowded with marriage and nahut- nareng, the son is also honored to be invited by friends to such ceremonies. Friends who cannot meet often get an opportunity to mingle around. Some friends would comment that the son’s hair and koi looks perfect on him. Even much better than any other look. They would suggest him not to cut it anymore. Some friends would conjure up watts of surprise that they failed to recognize him. What a way the son has changed. Two other friends, who are considered as champion of all sensibilities (they remained unchallenged till date) shared their piece of priceless gyan to the son. Without sounding diplomatic or overtly wise, though they are, they declared that the son should cut his hair. They professed that the son should consider their resolution keeping into consideration of the family members. Some friends also shared their intellectual skepticism with the son. They would inquire whether their friend has taken any vow within the rubric of a personal nirvana. Or is it a creative representation of an idea demanding an academic investigation. Is it a de-constructionist idea of a hair stylization? The elder members of the family who hosted the ceremony also shared their pangs of identity conflict. They did not recognize the son who used to frequent their residence since the college and school days. They said they would fail to greet him if they happen to meet on the road.

NOT IN THE END: Number of long hair is a minority in the town. More so with moustache and goatee included, complimented by a Humber cycle. The minority is not endangered in any way; they share a healthy camaraderie with their peer group. Those who are not known to each other, by name or anything, they would exchange a fleeting look. Greeting with unsaid words: hello, comrade! And for those who are familiar with each other, they would share hairy wisdom. The kind of shampoo they use, which are the best conditioning available, kinds of hairband which are sympathetic to the hair. Is dandruff a problem? How to cope with the hair fall? Female folks would envy their wisdom. Where have all the poets and lyricist gone who used to portray the beauty of long hair with exuberance? Why are they silent? We long to hear from you.

FOOTNOTE: the dream of a shopping mall over an old school, RDS, has been put to a halt by an order. Leipung Ningthou reminds, “bhaap ki dolaan toina saganu, lairik ningthina tammu”.

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/a-sons-hairy-tale/

By Chitra Ahanthem
Having stayed off from doing the routine news reporting for IFP earlier, the run up to the recently concluded Assembly Elections brought in a situation: yours truly needed to be in the news loop. IFP also needed sub edit support as winter ailments had kept away some of the desk people. The news collation combined with the sub editing at office left some very fascinating insights and experiences. Before we come to the IFP beat, there is one more media related anecdote to be shared here. Going along with a CNN-IBN team doing a half hour docu-news program on the Manipur elections, I happened to step into the office of a certain political party whose President was interviewed for the program. And because I was the ‘local’ face, I got endless calls asking when that Party President’s interview would air. Not that I knew when the program would air. But try telling that to the over enthusiastic person at the end of the line! As it turned out, only a 10-15 second byte of the honorable President was used and his visual was shown only once. His media contact called me and complained why such a long interview was taken and only 15 seconds of his Party President’s sound byte was used at the end of it. All explanations of the final program being decided by the CNN-IBN team and not puny me did not wash. The media contact for the political party actually turned around and said to me: “your byte was more longer and you spoke twice.” That sounded like it was my fault!

Some highlights of the mad moments are really worth sharing: with daily reports of bombs and IEDs being planted here, there and everywhere, it was practical for me to have a template to fill in every day. All I would do before I left for home would be to sit down with the crime beat journalist and have him list out a) bombs found in (where, when and at whose residence/locality) b) IEDs found in (where, when and at whose residence/locality) and c) hand grenades found in (where, when and at whose residence/locality). My template was designed in the exact manner and all I had to fill in were the names of the persons and places. Morbid? Insensitive? It saved me time though. In any case, how different can one write about bombs being found in an almost routine manner every day?

One must make a note for the kind of weird bit of ‘news’ that came in. Someone from another newspaper called to ask us at IFP whether we had heard an ISTV news that some 200 crore rupees had been seized from the CM. We went into a tail-spin trying to verify the news and probably ended up adding on to the wild goose chase. After things sobered down, it turned out that a national news channel had done a story about the assets and income declaration of sitting MLAs contesting the elections while questioning the small amount declared by the CM. So the confirmed news wasn’t much news in the end! The other bit of news that cracked us all at the desk was an incident of a bomb blast that left two poor dogs killed.

On the reporting beat, there isn’t much fun in press meets and press conferences. The media is supposed to sit through patiently and hear all allegations and at the end of the session be bombarded with requests for “more space” and “can you make this the lead news?” They make you feel so damn uncomfortable acting as if their lives depended on how much space their news would appear the next day and in which part of the page! I also have issues with how ISTV cameras always pan on journalists at press conferences. Normally news channels don’t take camera shots of the journalists but take visuals of the people speaking at the press meets. I don’t think for one second that journalists need to be in the picture at all or that they are more important than the reason for which the press conferences are being held, no matter how mundane or boring it turns out to be. But ISTV seems to have some sort of fixation for the local journalists at press conferences.

There is another complexity that a journalist or reporter faces in his/her social interactions. I have faced many instances where I am not in my “reporting” mind frame while speaking to government officials or employees who happen to be either friends or acquaintances. Simple questions of asking over issues of being dissatisfied with their work or even a query on what they are up to in terms of their work are almost met with suspicious answers. Most often, they clam up and one ends up trying to explain that you are NOT digging for a story. Isn’t it normal to ask about any one else in their social circles how work is going for them?

End-point:
And then there’s this other story. When election took place on January 28, we went scurrying all over the place following what was happening around us. The day ended for me at the RIMS morgue where the bodies of the election polling personnel at the Tampi polling and firing incident were being brought in. A rookie photographer called me with great concern and asked me: “should I take a bath since I have entered the morgue?” The question left me stumped at first but later I realized where his concern came from. As a society where a lot of things are considered taboo and “impure”, his concern was genuine. But, how could I decide what he should do once he got home? So I did the best thing under the circumstances and told him that I don’t think twice of being around dead bodies. But the ultimate twist to election- day was IFP could not hit the news-stands the next day: the generator had given up on us! All efforts up in smoke!

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/chasing-news-and-everything-in-between/

By Meenakshi Ganguli
Manipuris stood in line to vote for a new state government. As with voters elsewhere, during the campaign they were promised jobs, development and new infrastructure. The one promise on which successive governments have failed to deliver, however, is one of bringing justice to the people of the state.

Manipur has remained under the stranglehold of abusive armed groups and inept politicians. In each election, the armed groups – and there are many, with a range of political demands, though they are mostly extortion gangs – have called for a boycott of the polls. Those who participate, candidates and voters alike, risk violent attacks.

Things are so bad that earlier this month, all newspapers in Manipur published a blank editorial, in response to threats from armed groups that insist that the newspapers publish their statements. Newspapers face a double whammy: some militants have also demanded that they not publish statements of rival groups.

In the hope that an elected government will finally do its job, that of providing security and upholding fundamental rights, Manipuris have ignored the threats and turned out to vote. Yet, the government has failed to ensure even the most basic rights of life and liberty. Armed groups aside, Manipuris remain at risk of arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings by the government`s own security forces.

The state government and local administration have also failed to address grievances that feed public discontent and support for militant groups. All of these problems are made worse, though, by Manipur`s climate of impunity. The Central government, while claiming to be committed to protecting human rights, has largely ignored serious violations by its security forces, at best attributing abuses to a few “bad apples”. But even in cases involving “bad apples”, the government rarely investigates, let alone prosecutes those responsible. Manipuris want impunity to end. Not only has it shattered any existing faith in the justice system, many feel it has emboldened the security forces to commit further abuses. Impunity, fostered both by a lack of political will and by laws shielding the abusers, has led to an atmosphere in which security forces are effectively above the law.

The lack of accountability has become deeply rooted because of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the 1958 emergency law under which the armed forces are deployed in internal conflicts and enjoy broad powers to arrest, search and shoot to kill. The law is widely despised among the population because it provides soldiers who commit atrocities effective immunity from prosecution.

When the Central government isn`t ignoring Manipur, it tries to sweep Manipur`s problems under the carpet. In December, the police in Delhi went so far as to refuse permission for a solidarity protest to support a decade-long hunger fast by Irom Sharmila, who has demanded the repeal of the AFSPA ever since soldiers gunned down 10 civilians in Manipur on November 2, 2000. She is nasally force-fed in judicial custody.

The AFSPA has led to abuses and serious hardships in other parts of the country. In Jammu and Kashmir, the repeal of the law has become a crucial election issue. Chief minister Omar Abdullah has spoken out against it.

But in Manipur, where the law has been in force much longer, political leaders have found neither voice nor wisdom. Irom Sharmila may have become known for her courage and her peaceful endeavour in India and beyond, but in Manipur`s capital, Imphal, the government has ignored her appeal. Instead, Manipuris remain hostage to an Army that claims it cannot operate without the powers and immunity provided by the AFSPA.

Hardly anyone in Manipur disputes that armed groups pose a serious security risk. Last year, two militant groups successfully imposed a three-month economic blockade on the surface supply of goods, crippling the economy and pushing prices out of control. Manipuris want law enforcement, but without human rights abuses or a blank cheque for the security services. The Army`s several decades of deployment in Manipur have not only resulted in widespread abuses but polarised the situation. The Army is damaging its reputation in India and abroad by insisting on protecting perpetrators of human rights abuses.

In 2004, following widespread anger over the custodial killing of a suspect, Manorama Devi, by the Assam Rifles, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Imphal with a promise to review the AFSPA. The review committee – and several other experts since then – recommended repeal of the law. The Army opposes repeal. Now halfway through his second term, Dr Singh has been unable to prevail over his divided Cabinet to deliver on the promise. Manipur erupts into national news only when the rage brings Manipuris out onto the streets. The Central government takes notice when the Assembly building is burnt down, elderly women strip and invite the Army to rape them as they have raped others, prices become ridiculously high due to weeks of blockade or when mothers and schoolchildren engage in weeks of demonstrations. It should not take such drama for the government to wake up to the problems in this corner of the Northeast.

(Courtesy:Asian Age. The writer is the South Asia director at Human Rights Watch)

Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2012/02/manipur-its-search-for-elusive-justice/