Women's bodies as terrain of war: Experiences from Manipur
- Part 1 -

ZK Pahru Pou *

There is no doubt that the military environment is inherently masculine and misogynist. The masculine cults that permeate military establishments are intrinsically anti-female and therefore create a hostile environment for women. Starting from one's own home, men use women's bodies to control each other.

When patriarchal state uses sexual violence as a weapon of war, it became a dreadful place for women to live in. In conflict-ridden Manipur, women's bodies become the terrain that wars are fought on. There is unabated violation of women's rights in Manipur as armed forces (both state and non-state armed actors) operate above the law.

Extra-judicial killings or arbitrary executions are often portrayed as "encounters" where the state covered the misdeed of its security forces by saying that they had fired and killed people in self-defence against members of armed groups. But the public vividly described them as "fake encounters" where most of the victims murdered by security forces were innocent civilians. Encounters, counter-encounters and counter insurgency operations had adversely affected the lives of the common people especially women. Many women were raped, tortured and many young wives were widowed.

When a woman's right is violated by state armed forces, they get impunity under the protection of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). When a woman is sexually harassed by member(s) of insurgent groups, the state or the civil society organisation cannot bring them to justice. The brunt of brute armed forces (state and non-state armed groups) has devastating effect on the local populace especially women.

In Manipur, staged extrajudicial executions are most of the time reported to the public as encounter's death by security forces and state government. Therefore, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in Supreme Court against extra judicial executions in Manipur. Accordingly in January 2013, the Supreme Court appointed a three-member commission headed by Santosh Hedge, a retired Supreme Court Judge, to investigate into 1,528 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings committed in the state of Manipur between 1978 and 2010.

The Justice Hegde Commission took up six cases of 'encounter' deaths for investigation and submitted its findings to the court in April 2013. The Commission found that all seven deaths in the six cases it investigated were extrajudicial executions and also said that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act- (popularly known by its abbreviated form –AFSPA) was widely abused by security forces in Manipur.

The commission said that AFSPA had become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high-handedness. It condemned the Act as 'a mockery of the law' and that security forces have been 'transgressing the legal bounds for their counter-insurgency operations in the state of Manipur.'

The government of India, as expected, defends the murder by security forces as part of discharging its duties to save the country. On 3 December, Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi, who represents the government, told the Supreme Court that "the army is only discharging its sovereign function of defending the country from external aggression and terrorist attacks; it cannot be blamed if some people are killed. The killings are part of the sovereign function discharged by the Union of India through the army."

According to Malem Ningthouja, an activist from Manipur, 'AFSPA is an effective tool that enables the armed forces to torture and kill people with impunity.' Taking due advantage of impunity under AFSPA, the security forces are raping women, torturing, and murdering civilians in total violation of human rights. The justification of killings by state government as a sovereign act discharged by security forces in the name of 'national interest' and 'national security' has led to further militarisation in the region.

A deeply entrenched culture of impunity for security forces under AFSPA has led to total breakdown of civil law and administration. This inhuman law which is enforced only in Northeast and Kashmir has alienated people of the regions from mainland India.

So often, it was the insurgencies in Northeast India that are blamed for forcing the Indian state to militarise and impose AFSPA in the region. But the fact is that it is the imposition of AFSPA that compelled civilians to take up arms. When AFSPA was imposed in the early 1980s, there were only two active insurgent groups operating in Manipur.

Today, after 30 years of its imposition, the provocative act of security forces has given birth to nearly 50 insurgent groups in the state. AFSPA gives sweeping powers to the army such as arrest and search without warrants, fire upon and use lethal force if they felt the need and no prosecution is possible against army personnel who have taken action under this act, unless sanctioned by the central government.

The impunity given to the army implies that women in these areas are being denied of any legal redress that might have been available to them under the Indian legal system. Hence, women are the most affected group by militaristic patriarchal chauvinistic society.

For no reason of their own, under militarisation, women experience the cruellest form of oppressions such as rape, sexual molestation, beatings, murder, widowhood, forced prostitution, etc. Some of the glaring incidents of how women were subjected to various forms of oppressions under militarisation are discussed below:

1. Operation Bluebird, 1987: This incident took place at Oinam Hill Village, a medium size Poumai Naga village that falls under Senapati district in Manipur. It is 40 km away from Senapati district headquarters and roughly 80 from Kohima Nagaland. On the fateful day of 9th July 1987, suspected armed cadres belonging to a Naga insurgent group attacked the outpost of Assam Rifles camp in the village in broad daylight.

Nine soldiers were killed. Following this incident, the Indian security forces launched one of the biggest operations since 1950s in Naga areas. The counter-insurgency operation was accompanied by rape, murder, arson, vandalisation of public and private properties, illegal detention, etc. The whole villagers of Oinam were detained in the open ground for many days.

Three women were alleged raped and five women were alleged sexually molested by the Indian Army. Two mothers gave birth in the open ground in full view of Jawans where the villagers were detained. The Indian security forces denied the Naga culture of giving the best treatment to the infants and the lactating mothers during the time of conflict and misfortunes by keeping them for weeks under the unhygienic perilous exposure to wet grounds, heavy rain and scorching sun in the concentration camps.

Individuals especially women who are subjected to torture and who are forced to witness the torture of their family members had developed serious mental health problems even long after the incident is over. The intent of sexual violence was not only to terrorise and traumatise the people under assault — they are often accused of harbouring militants — but also sending out a message of retribution to the indigenous people's resistance movement.

To be continued ...