Imphal, November 04 2009: CRY called for immediate action primarily from the State as well as civil society organisations to stop the violence due to insurgency and counter insurgency operations in Manipur in view of the negative impact on children.

Children are paying the price of the decades long violence in Manipur, either directly from bullets or indirectly by being pushed into poverty, illiteracy and malnourishment because of a combined failure of basic facilities such as schools and health centres, said a press release.

Commenting on the recent bullet injury of 16 years old Irengbam Itamba, who got caught in an Army-insurgent crossfire, CRY's director Dipankar Mazumdar said, "We can clearly see that children are becoming the most direct victims of violence in Manipur.

Because there are no schools, they are getting recruited as child soldiers and child labours, suffering lives of malnourishment and growing up without protection and education.

The State has the responsibility, along with the public, to stop it" .

CRY called for the National bodies such as National Commission for the protection of rights of children and the respective Ministries to step in, to resolve the situation while keeping children's needs at the top.

It added that the extra judicial powers vested to the Army needs to be thoroughly re-examined to ensure that children do not suffer from violence and trauma.

Effective implementation of Juvenile Justice System as per the provisions of Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act, 2000 and its amendments enacted in 2006, CRY added.

It demanded the State authorities to invest in public facilities, infrastructure and rights-related services such as primary healthcare, provision of Anti Retroviral Therarpy (ART) for children and schooling.

This approach needs to prioritised above the military approach to problem-solving in Manipur, it added.

CRY is working in three most violence affected districts of Chandel, Thoubal and Churachandpur in the State.