AFSPA: Killing with impunity

It was November 2, 2000, when a convoy carrying men from the Assam Rifles came under gun fire near Malom on the outskirts of Imphal, capital of Manipur. In retaliation, the troops shot at civilians at a nearby bus stop leaving 10 dead, including a 60-year-old woman and a boy who received the bravery award from former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. This was followed by a brutal combing operation.

But the gruesome killing of unarmed civilians shook the conscience of Manipur, protests erupted and the trouble-torn state was once again on the boil. The troopers who killed the civilians enjoyed immunity under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958, which was at that point of time imposed over the entire state of Manipur. Irom Sharmila Chanu then went on a hunger strike against the Malom massacre and sought removal of AFSPA. Her fast has now entered its 16th year and she is still under the confines of a special ward in an Imphal hospital, nose fed and under arrest.

On July 10, 2004, 32-year-old Thangjam Manorama was “raped and murdered”, by a group of Assam Rifles troopers at her Imphal residence. The Assam Rifles claimed that she was a member of the banned insurgent group, the People’s Liberation Army. On July 15, 2004, around 30 Manipuri women marched naked in Imphal with a banner that read: “Indian Army rape us”. On July 24, 2004, five young men tried to immolate themselves in front of the chief minister’s office. Though the Justice Upendra Singh Commission, which probed the incident, stated in its report that the Assam Rifles raped and murdered Manorama, justice has still not been delivered.

But Manipur’s story of extrajudicial killing and the use of AFSPA by security forces has been a rather long narrative and much beyond the spell of protests that the state has seen in the recent past. In the Northeast, there is a strong anti-AFSPA sentiment among the public for decades. In Manipur, the resistance against AFSPA has been tremendous and the latest order by the apex court has kindled hopes of a total repeal of the law.

“We are happy with this order. This is perhaps a good beginning. Even half a decade ago, almost everyone would have liked to remain in a denial mode on AFSPA. The human rights groups and the victims’ families had to suffer a lot to bring it to this level that now, across the country, people and those in power at least admit that there is a problem in the way AFSPA is being implemented. This judgment gives us hope for a future resolution,” said Babloo Loitongbam, a human rights activist.

The security establishment, however, has been arguing that it will be very difficult to operate in “disturbed areas” if AFSPA is diluted and that tougher laws are needed to contain terrorism. Over the past few years, there has been a steady decline in insurgency across the Northeast with several insurgent groups preferring to hold talks with the government. Last year, the Tripura government repealed AFSPA on its own. Even in Manipur, Imphal is not under AFSPA any longer. Thus, a far more conducive atmosphere prevails for a possible dialogue.

But there is a context to this change in situation at ground zero. The Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association, the petitioner in the current Supreme Court case, has claimed that there have been 1,528 fake encounters in Manipur. The number might be more since there are several cases where people have been missing for years. “What we have seen is that innocents have been killed for gallantry medals, sometimes the army informers would purposefully give false information about an innocent person with whom someone else might have a land feud and get him bumped off. Punishing the guilty in these cases of extrajudicial killings is the need of the hour,” Loitongbam added.

2013, a watershed year

The winds of change started to blow in 2013 when the apex court set up the Santosh Hegde Commission which probed six encounters and found that each case was fake. The army was not involved in all these cases, but in most cases, it was a paramilitary force–Assam Rifles–or the commandos of the Manipur Police. “I agree that there have been fake encounters in Manipur by the security forces and even the army. But it is not like in every case, the army was involved. The Assam Rifles and the state police commandos were an absolute menace. A few high and mighty are also involved. It is a dirty game and everyone has played part in it, including the militant outfits,” said a colonel who was posted in the Northeast for several years.

The security establishment feels that without AFSPA, not only will the rebel have a free run, but they will also be able to use civilians as a shield. “But the brutality of the army is not restricted to fake encounters only. It has affected the mind and heart of the people. We do not trust anyone with a gun, whether a militant or a security personnel. The government always speaks about compensation. The victims’ families want justice. It can come only by proper trial and then a total repeal of AFSPA,” said Sinam Ongbi Chandrajini, who lost two of her sons in the Malom massacre.

 “I had interviewed lot of militant cadres. One of the prime reasons for them to take up arms was that they faced a lot of harassment and cruelty at the hands of the security forces when they were normal citizens and had no links with insurgency. This brutal use of force left the security forces very unpopular here. It is not only the army but even the state police,” explained national award winning documentary filmmaker Bachaspatimayum Sanzu.

It was in 2009 that a New Delhi-based magazine did a story on how Manipur Police commandos carried out a fake encounter in broad daylight in the heart of Imphal. Just repealing AFSPA may not be enough in bringing a sense of peace to Manipur. The communities in the hills and the valley regions of the state are divided on several issues, be it the Naga peace accord or the imposition of Inner Line permit regime. The faultline of communal unrest will keep the state burning.