When Supreme Court roars
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 08 2012 -
Like the 'glimmering light at the end of a dark tunnel', the campaign against prolonged imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 for over sixty years in Northeastern States and for almost two decades in Jammu & Kashmir in the name of fighting insurgency, appears to have finally caught the attention of the Nation that it deserves but has awaited for so long.
With the Supreme Court of India concurrently handling a couple of cases against prolonged imposition of AFSPA and the extra-judicial killings taking place in the hands of security personnel with immunity granted under the Military law denounced as 'draconian' by human rights defenders across the globe, even the mainstream media, which normally have the habit of looking the other way when it comes to the issues of Northeast region, have not been able to shut their eyes any longer.
When the apex court roared, 'How can a 12- year old be a terrorist? We expect National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to be more effective in dealing with such cases (extrajudicial killings)', the National media has been jolted from its slumber.
This indeed is a welcome sign, because for long enough, people in the Northeast region as well as Jammu & Kashmir have been raising their voice against deprivation of their fundamental rights to life, protection against arbitrary arrest and most importantly right to judicial remedies, which are being enjoyed by their compatriots in other parts of the State.
Even though the case hearings on the plea for removal of AFSPA and setting up of a special investigation team (SIT) to inquire into around 1500 extrajudicial killings perpetrated by security personnel with immunity guaranteed under the military law in Manipur has reached an interesting stage today, the anti-AFSPA campaigners need not relax but keep alive their tempo, if not stepped up.
Though the Supreme Court has underscored the need for proper investigation into various fake encounter killings in Manipur and suggested formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into at least some of the cases, the proposition of the apex court has been strongly opposed by NHRC and the Centre on the ground that it would not be possible for SIT to probe into such a large number of cases.
On other hand, 'justifying the protection given to the armed forces personnel posted on duty to enable them operate with requisite thrust and drive', the Centre has informed the apex court that amendments in the Act is on the card and the matter had already been placed before the Union Cabinet after an inter-Ministerial consultation procedure but the Cabinet Committee on Security has turned it down.
This only goes to show that the road ahead is still tricky, and it's no time jubilation. By the way, the contention of the Centre that common man is not generally affected by counter insurgency operations is ridiculous.
The truth is that it is always the common man who bore the brunt of misuse of AFSPA in the hands of armed forces, and that is the crux of the matter.
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