Lessons Never Learnt

On July 15, 2004, a dozen women stripped in protest in front of the Assam Rifles (AR) establishment in the heart ofImphal city, catalyzing escalating protests against the alleged custodial death of a 30-year old woman, whicheventually culminated in extreme violence. At least seven government offices have been set on fire by violentprotestors, till the filing of this report, as the state administration goes into a huddle to decide itsresponse. 

The series of incidents in Manipur since July 11 has reopened the larger debate on the role of thesecurity forces (SFs) in counter-insurgency operations and the existence of the 'special laws' that protectthem.

Thangjam Manorama, who the AR sources describe as a hardcore cadre of the People's Liberation Army (PLA),was arrested from her residence in Bamonkampu Mayai Leikai in the early hours of July 11, and an arrest memowas issued to this effect. A few hours later her dead body was recovered four kilometres away from herresidence, with, according to reports and versions put out by protestors, 'visible marks' of torture and 'rape'. 

The AR personnel termed the incident an encounter which, they claim, ensued as Manorama attempted to flee while leadingthe security forces to a PLA hideout. While facts are few in the current and heated debate, the incident hasfuelled tremendous dissent and a series of protests against the role and presence of the SFs in the State andthe continuance of Acts such as the Armed Forces (Assam & Manipur) Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958.

The AFSPA was promulgated in 1958 under extraordinary circumstances, to deal with the insurgency in the thenNaga Hills of Assam. The AFSPA was introduced in Manipur in 1980 and, over the years, has drawn tremendousopposition from various 'human rights' organisations in the state, who term it a 'horrendous' Act, whichprovides 'complete immunity' to SF personnel.

The Act does provide wide ranging power to "any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non commissionedofficer or any other person of equivalent rank in the armed forces" in a disturbed area to either openfire, arrest or conduct search operations "without warrant" for "maintenance of publicorder." 

Section 6 provides, further: "No prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall beinstituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect ofanything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act." 

Section 5 of theAct, however, does provide that: "Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be madeover to the officer-in-charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with areport of the circumstances occasioning the arrest", and there may be an apparently violation in theThangjam Manorama case.

Human rights organizations claim that the Manorma case was far from the exception, and one count puts thenumber of youth killed in Manipur in 'fake encounters' between February 26 and March 15 this year, at 13.Other incidents of alleged excesses since reported in the open source, include:

• April 3: three youths had to be hospitalised as AR personnel beat upseveral villagers of Keirak village under Kakching police station following a militant attack on their campthe previous day.
  
  
• April 5: a woman escaped with a minor bullet injury as CRPF personnelallegedly fired indiscriminately in the Old Market area in Churachandpur after a burst tyre was mistaken for amilitant bomb attack.
  
  
• April 28: a Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL)cadre Lukram Sunil, alias Ibomcha, of Oksu Mamang Leikai was 'arrested' from his home and his dead body wasrecovered the same day.
  
  
• May 4: AR personnel reportedly picked up Meghachandra alias Ramesh, aformer People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) cadre, from his residence in Leimapokpam Khunpham Makha Leikai in Bishnupur district, and his dead body wasrecovered in the evening.
  
  
• May 6: five villagers were hospitalised after they are said to have beenthrashed by AR personnel at Nongdam camp under Lamlai police station.
  
  
• May 11: a former PLA cadre Hanjabam Bobby Sharma was severely torturedafter being picked up from his residence at Khoyathong Pollem Leikai by AR personnel. He was later foundabandoned near the Kangla Moat in Imphal city.
  
  
• May 20: two youths went missing after being picked up from their residencesat Mayang Langjing under Lamsang police station in Imphal West district.
  
  
• May 25: Dead bodies of two youth were recovered after AR personnel pickedthem up from their homes at Kangpokpi area in Senapati district.
  
  
• May 31: a relative of Manipur food and civil supplies minister PheiroijamParijat Singh died in Army custody after being picked up by Army personnel from his residence at Nongada AwangLeikai in Imphal East district.
  
  
• June 9: Thokchom Doren was arrested by AR personnel from Lamjao and wasfound killed the next morning.

As protests on the Manorama issue mount, the state government has clamped a curfew in the affected areas, which include two adjacent districts of Bishnupur andThoubal, in addition to the districts of Imphal East and Imphal West. It has further constituted an inquiry toinvestigate the case. The AR has also instituted an inquiry and has taken the accused men off duty, pendingthe submission of the inquiry report within a 'short period.' Going by past records and the utility ofnumerous such 'inquiry commissions' whose reports seldom see the light of day, such steps have done little to containpublic ire.

The Army, however, holds that there is a "pattern to the protests", which peak whenever theapplication of the AFSPA comes up for periodic renewal (The AFSPA was renewed in Manipur on June 1, 2004).Authorities assert that the women who stripped in protest in front of the AR Complex were all from "onevillage" in an area "indoctrinated heavily" by the militants.

Insisting that discipline in theSFs is strong and that rogue elements are routinely punished, the Army has disclosed that, over the past 14years, 66 of its men have been punished in the Northeast after they were found guilty of excesses. Lt. Gen.J.R. Mukherjee, Chief of Staff, Eastern Command, on June 11, 2004, said that, "99 per cent of theallegations are exaggerations".

Even as the AR authorities in Imphal instituted an inquiry commission tolook into the Manorama killing, another statement from the Assam Rifles Headquarters in Shillong on July 17,'categorically' stated that "she was a hardcore PLA sergeant, an IED expert", and was killed"as she tried to flee on the pretext of responding to the call of nature."

The SFs are in a significant bind in Manipur. Counter-insurgency operations in Manipur appear to have littleimpact on levels of violence, though militancy has registered a sharp decline in other states of the region.Over a dozen militant outfits operate in the state, deriving sustenance not only from carefully maintainedarms supply routes, camps in Myanmar and Bangladesh and an enormous extortion regime, but also from apervasive intelligence network and, crucially, their capacity to evoke sympathy from a substantial segment ofthe general public. 

Security forces, on the other hand, remain an alien force, in spite of efforts toestablish themselves as the 'friends and guardians of the people'. Incidents like the Manorama case reinforcesuch alienation and have a force multiplying impact on the militancy. Six attacks on SF installations in thedistricts of Chandel, Churachandpur and Bishnupur have been executed by the militants since July 11, the dayManorama was killed.

According to information from Imphal, the Chief Minister is scheduled to meet Opposition leaders to discussthe possibilities of recommending the withdrawal of the AFPSA. The existence or otherwise of the Act, however,may have little impact on human rights practices and protection. 

Assam, for instance, also registers a numberof cases of custodial rape and torture even though the AFSPA is not in force in that state. In the murk ofendemic violence across the state, there is little hope of relief for the people who have come to live underthe constant shadow of guns - both those of the rebels and of the state.

Bibhu Prasad Routray is Acting Director, ICM Database & Documentation Centre, Guwahati. Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia Terrorism Portal