Ignoring silent protest, demand : Indifferent to 16 years of fast
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 29 2016 -
Obvious that the Government of India is not ready to listen to silent protest.
Something which was amply testified with the indifference shown to the nearly 16 years old fast of Irom Chanu Sharmila demanding that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be repealed.
The Government may justify with the continuation of the Act, which has been dubbed draconian by many, but the fact stands that it has not been able to stop armed movement or militancy in the North East region for decades.
On the other hand after the whole State of Manipur was brought under this infamous Army Act in 1980, the number of armed groups has only increased.
The intensity of the armed movement too increased thereby giving a lie to the stand of the Government that the Act is needed to confront the militants.
So while the 16 years fast of Sharmila did not move the Centre one bit, it did internationalise the said Act and drew international attention to the Act.
Not that the international attention has been able to move the Centre an inch but it surely did not throw the Government in a good light.
On the other hand it should be more than clear that the Government seems ready to move only when a hue and cry is raised.
Take the example of Thangjam Manorama who was picked up by Assam Rifles personnel on July 10, 2004 and her ravaged, bullet riddled body was discovered the next day.
It was over the ravaged and bullet riddled body of Manorama that a group of women marched up to Kangla, which then housed the 17th Bn Assam Rifles, and staged a nude protest, drawing attention from all over the world.
The days of street protest that followed ultimately made the then Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh to fly down to Manipur and address the media wherein he announced the constitution of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee to study the provisions of the said Act.
That the report of the Jeevan Reddy Committee has been kept in cold storage is there for all to see, but the Government did buckle under the days of protest and ultimately AFSPA was lifted from the Municipal areas of Imphal.
So while the 16 years fast of Sharmila did not move the Government one inch, the spontaneous protest from the people did make it lift the infamous Army Act from some parts of the State.
This should more than say that the Government, whether at Delhi or Imphal, is ready to act only when a hue and cry is raised and never when the protest is conducted peacefully.
This should say something profound about the mentality of the Government.
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