Remove grey areas, ignite the grey matter
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 12, 2015 -
'Read our stories from our bones' : Sit in protest in Keishampat Leirambi Community hall, Imphal on Jan 01 2015 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam
No doubt, the State Cabinet acted promptly and the Government wasted no time in choosing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a thorough investigation into the discovery of eight human skulls and a considerable number of human skeletal remains.
To many, the unexpected discovery sounded like a thunderbolt out of the blue. Now let us juxtapose the discovered human skulls with the reports of involuntary disappearances and of course the infamous Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
If one sees the discovered human skulls through the prism of AFSPA, one can definitely visualize a myriad implications and possibilities.
Some sections of the society including a few top honchos of the State Government have been conjecturing that the skulls might be of those dead people whose bodies were disposed off as unclaimed.
Their argument hinges on the fact that there was one mortuary of a district hospital at the area where the skulls and skeletal remains were discovered.
There are some points in this conjecture and this possibility cannot be ruled out completely.
But a larger section of civil society organisations and human right defenders have been rallying hard on the postulate that the skulls and skeletal remains might be of those people who have disappeared involuntarily after they were picked up by security forces.
Their whole arguments are encapsulated in the fact that Tombisana High School campus was once occupied by commandos and central paramilitary forces and it is located just a few hundred metres away from Kangla Fort which was also occupied by Assam Rifles for a protracted period apart from serving as a primary joint interrogation cell of the State Police and Assam Rifles.
Against the State Government’s decision to hand over the skull discovery case to CBI, many civil society organizations, particularly the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and UN (CSCHR), and the Families of Involuntarily Disappeared Association Manipur (FIDAM) have made it clear that they prefer institution of a special commission comprising of experts in the fields of medicine, law, forensic science and archeology.
The demand for the special commission in place of CBI puts a serious question on the credentials of the investigation agency.
The particular civil society organisations might have their own reasons for doubting the CBI but our concern is establishment of facts and at the end delivery of justice.
At the moment, what is wearing out people’s patience fast and thin is the allegation that the State Government is yet to inform the CBI or the Government of India about the Cabinet decision to rope in CBI to investigate into the startling discovery although it has been 10 days since the Cabinet adopted a resolution towards this end.
The matter is a very sensitive one. Just imagine all the anxious feelings which surely would have been tormenting the minds of families who have lost their near and dear ones in the form of involuntary disappearance.
The Government must not drag its feet in such sensitive issues.
Mind you, an open discussion programme held a couple of days back decided to launch mass agitation. So far, calm prevails and there is no turbulence.
But it can also prove to be the proverbial lull before the storm. The call of the hour is, remove all grey areas and ignite the grey matter.
The Government needs to give up its habit of moving only when cornered under immense pressure.
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