Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Human Rights Violation by militants in Manipur




There are thousands to raise voice against human rights violation by state force. On other side there are hundreds and thousands of victims in Manipur whose human rights have been seriously violated by non-state entity-militants. How many are there to raise voice for those victims? No one, I guess!
I am born and brought up in Manipur in a village which was ruled by a militant group for many years, till the leader of the militant was killed by his fellow militant in the paddy field of the village where he used killed many. It is a story some fifteen years back. I was childhood when he was the ruler of the village. During his time it was not uncommon to see dead body lying in paddy field seeing which we ran back screaming.  Everyone in the village lived a life of fear and insecurity throughout till his death. Everyone’s believed was that there is no one who can protect from militants. During the time houses made with thatched roof was common not because they don't have money to make with tin but because everyone had the fear that if they demand for ransom seeing tin roof house considering to be rich. Many had to hide their wealth practically. Very few had motorbikes the time.  Everyone has the fear that anytime they can come and pick from any house and they hardly used to return. My family also had a motorbike that time. We also had the same fear.  My family used to hide our bike in the lonely house of my old aunty, sister of my father who was quite old. This is not case of my family but a representative of what was not only in the village but across the state. In case the bike does not return and if the owner wants to contact them he will be called to their (militant) camp. Many people who went to take their bike from militant never returned back home or returned hardly with bike but with some gun shot.
Being a child I had the feeling that there was no government in the state who can tackle these issues. There was no one who can overcome or rule over them.  It was the time state was in weakest condition. No employee had the belief that they will get their salary every month. Salaries were used to dispense after multiple months. People were in misery from two side- first, everyone had financial issues no matter family has government employee or not and second, the insecurity of fear of who could the next target of militants. Manipur’s market economy is formed by circulation starts from government salary, so when there is salary delay whole market faces the problem. Salary delayed by two to three months for all employees is not uncommon in Manipur. Everyone becomes poor in this situation. Just imagine what could be the situation for those employees whose salary is delayed by six months.
Manipur is surrounded and protected by mountains and hills. This rough and dense vegetation is the safety heaven for militants.  My school was on a top of a small hill, and it is in the hilly region of the state. It is more than 40 km away from my home towards south which is almost near to Myanmar border. This is the region which was completely ruled by militants. All along the road they had strong presence openly hanging beautiful guns on their shoulders. Every beginning of the month is commonly the time for salary. They used to loot buses in those days. Friends of the locality, where my school locates, used to speak of having relations with militants to show their might. Our school had to follow their ruling many a times even though it was the central school in which militants rulings are hardly followed. It is not a new discovery that in the campus every teacher has to pay some percentage of their salary to militants in the form of tax, which they called it so. This is also not the case of my school, but across Manipur ranging from small employee to high level government officials. The situation this form of taxing has become much better as the salaries through bank account introduced lately. The presence of militants in the region of my school was drastically reduced only after there was a military operation in Sagik Tampak, a region border to Myanmar. It is an easy transit for militant between Myanmar and Manipur. Similar operations in many parts of Manipur by Indian military have made to reduce the militant count drastically and their local bases in the state.
Demand Letter is one of the most common phrases associate with militants that each and every citizen of all age familiar with. If any of the militant group finds a family or person who looks to be rich they send letter for extortion for an amount which is really difficult.
This Demand Letter is not for few sections of rich people but for all categories of people. Demand Letters are written in beautiful language which sounds acceptable, in the form of donation or help for the existence of the militant group. For failure of the negotiation for ransom or extortion amount the victim have to close the business or face some gun-shots, or dead or disappearance, which militants term this act as warakpa in Manipur, meaning punishment. They do not spare even small to big shops in the city. There is no one to challenge on the point of gun. This is one of the main reasons why Manipur do not have big business or industry. They will demand ransom from government infrastructure contractors kidnapping relevant peoples. The work closes down or continues but directly affect quality of the infrastructure and we blame government. Many infrastructure projects are just rejected or dump down because of these reasons. Government has also nothing to do on the point of gun.  This was not the case of few but was something rampant across the state. There was 10s and 100s of reported and unreported killing and disappearance of innocent peoples just on the ground of failure of negotiation of ransom.
The militants became so powerful that they started direct interference in the government processes. In the name of corrupt process of teachers’ selection by government, one militant group directly interfered ceasing all the process and they started sorting out which candidate was appointed transparently and which were not. It does not mean they did good job, they also did the same corrupt job and many innocent employees lost their jobs. This is not the only, but they extensively give their verdict on many schools and colleges and even government departs in different ways and contexts, and all have to follow it because everyone fear of bullet. This was the most ideal example of dead of Manipur Government.
Militants’ ruling on society in connection with students unions have directly affected the normal life of every section of the society ranging from individual to institutions. When I was Delhi University I came to know that every student union is backed by political parties, whereas in Manipur every student union is backed by their respective militant group as I have experienced this while I was in Dhanamanjuri College of Arts, Imphal. Student bodies backed by militant groups impose strike and bands for many days and even months. This directly affects the education in the state seriously. Any school or college hardly can complete their academic syllabus in time and students coup up with tuitions. This directly and seriously affect the income of marginal earners specially the women street vendors and economy and functionaries of the state as whole. Unfortunately there has never been any such government who can overcome such disturbances till today.    
Militancy was emerged not because of existence of army and AFSPA, and violation of human rights in Manipur but it was evolved from the society within. Leave aside the merging of Manipur with India Union to be the reason for militants raise. Insurgency became a serious common disease fifteen to twenty years back. People use to take help militants to take revenge or to make something done on gun point even for pity matter. Even for small matters like an issue of girlfriend, youths had the intention to join militant group and take revenge. Militants were the handiest tool for politicians during election, just like goons are used by local politicians in other part of India. It may not be wrong to say that all big politicians had relations with militants either for their protection from other militant group or to get their jobs done in gun point. In Manipur, each community have their militant groups. There is competition among communities, especially between majority and minority. Therefore, there is always a psych of communalism among militant groups, mainly between militants of majority community and minority community. This kind of tension was quite strong around twenty years ago, which is quickly fading now owing to losing public support. Taking life of innocent people is never a fresh news in the local newspapers followed by mass protest against the killings and public demand to government to find out the culprit militant. Such demand to government to find out accused militant is never a meaningful unless the accused is civilian.
When we return back home and if we meet security forces we feel safe, and unfortunately if we find militant on the way we feel we are going to happen something wrong, either they will snatch our belongings mainly money, bike or mobile. Manipur is the land where its native people live with fear and insecurity from its own people. The examples I mentioned above are no exhaustive but few. There are hundreds of literature on insecurity and turmoil created by militants in Manipur. I am not citing any of them, as I am talking being a citizen of Manipur. We all are victims of militants but we few, if not mass protest, cannot speak out against the acts of militants because they make attack us.
Now it is rested on you to answer who violates more of the human rights of common man in Manipur.
When you think for the few sections of people whose rights have been violated by security forces and if you don’t consider for the lakhs of people whose rights have violated and threatened by militants, by logic, you have some vested interest on militancy or some ideology.
The voice against human rights violation by security forces and consequently demand to repeal AFSPA is, by corollary, the voice for militants who violates the rights of lakhs of people in the state. I don’t mean AFSPA is the solution, but should find better that solve for the both sections of people.
I believe that cause for majority of people is more important than that of the cause of few peoples unless they are of independent issues that the solution of one does not affect the cause of the other.

The people of the state do not want security forces to be withdrawn, other than their stray unwanted actions. Rather, people of the state want, as does by me, my family, my villagers, my friends and everyone in the state, a complete elimination of militancy from the soil of Manipur, the land of jewels, to lead a life of peace, freedom and prosperity.