A State Of Failure : CORE revisits dismal human rights record in Manipur

23 March 2013

On the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the organisation in the service of the indigenous peoples of Manipur and the North East territories of India, the Centre for Organisation Research & Education expresses grave concerns with the state of democracy and human rights, its protection and promotion, in the small frontier province of Manipur. Over the past decade, a number of inter-linked and parallel undesirable trends have emerged in the state of democracy and human rights in Manipur. On the other hand, some progressive developments have also occurred, though such developments are small, and impacts on the ground yet to be assessed.

The return to independence in 1947, when the British left Manipur, endowed our people with the right to build a state of their own, a state directed toward the realisation of ends that are of their own choosing and not those of their neighbours or of colonial masters. This right was not long realized when Manipur merged with the neighbouring successor state of the Union of India in 1949. The relationship between the people and state of Manipur with the larger democracy was never a comfortable one. Emergency legislation empowering the military with terrific powers applicable to Manipur, then a Union Territory, was soon promulgated by Indian parliament in 1958. The long-standing military presence in Manipur, not just to protect India's new international borders but to police the local people in aid of civilian authority has led to a definite stunting of development of people-oriented and friendly governance. This trend has continued over the last five decades transforming the role of the state from one of trusteeship in loco parentis to one of a demagogic power with little accountability.

The prevailing law and order situation is a critical area of concern. The State has been rendered largely ineffective with a nominal police control over its territory. In short, government sincerely pursues the "no news is good news" approach, and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly because of the high crime rates, extreme high-level corruption, an extensive informal market including black market, impenetrable bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in domestic politics, and cultural situations in which traditional leaders wield more power than the state over a certain area but do not compete with the state.

The disempowering of the police force in Manipur is a grave matter. Independence of policing functions in accordance with internationally accepted principles and guidelines is under severe threat along with a serious confusion of roles among the various branches of the force. The malaise with the police in Manipur is multiple and has many dimensions.

The first formal police force in Manipur, the State Military Police (SMP) evolved into the Manipur Rifles, which is technically the authentic armed police force of the State. However, this force has not been given appropriate attention and its development or modernization has been neglected with incorrect focus in the development of irregular militarized units within the police known as "Commandos" and the India Reserve Battalion, an armed constabulary. The "Commandos" is a burgeoning unit armed with modern small arms weaponry. Both the "Commandos" and the IRB are implicated in many crimes including robbery, rape, kidnapping, torture, high-handed and illegal actions, fake encounters and so forth. The Village Defence Force (VDF) is another new poorly trained and supported armed police force within the police organisation with a blurred role that has nothing to do with 'village defence'. The VDF, which has been implicated in various criminal activities, is presently undertaking a strike and protesting its working conditions including salaries.

By far, one of the most ill-trained and ill-disciplined branches of the police in Manipur today is the Traffic Police. The Traffic Police has become a laughable force and usually referred to with derision because of its indifferent image and involvement in open petty bribery and extortion on the streets; it's competence is not attune with the changing demands of traffic in Imphal and other urban areas of Manipur, and suffers from this lopsided attention and confusion of roles in the police of Manipur. Manipur today has the highest number of vehicles plying on the roads without any registration number plates or inappropriately displayed number plates, while crimes involving all kinds of vehicles are on the rise.

The Supreme Court of India has presently examining a writ petition before it that list over 1500 alleged extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in Manipur; most of these killings amounting to culpable homicide involve the police. When the Manipur Cabinet took a decision in 2009 to post "Commandos" and IRB in the five hill districts of Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel, Churachandpur and Tamenglong of Manipur, there were wide public protests and strikes as the local people apprehend that their presence will lead to a breakdown of peace. This is a serious indictment of a police force of the State. There has been a serious degradation in the role and responsibilities of the police, and the escalation of the breakdown of law and order is mainly due to the skewed changes within the Manipur Police, without any vision or policy that reflects policing as it is understood worldwide.

Violence against women and children including those with different abilities has been increasingly reported but continues to be largely ignored by the state institutions. Despite the strengthening of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2000, and a State Plan of Action for Children developed with UNICEF support in 1995, the children in Manipur are not protected and trafficking of children into servitude and contemporary forms of slavery have escalated.

Torture and other forms of ill treatment or punishment by state agencies, particularly the police and central security forces stationed in Manipur continues to be an issue of distressing concern. Torture in places of detention is usually preceded by torture immediately upon apprehension. In the cases of fake encounters reported or alleged, many of the victims were severely tortured before they were summarily executed. Public abuse of individuals and groups by the police has become normalized. A polite and dutiful police officer is a rarest of rare wonder today in Manipur.

The rise of terrorism in Manipur is an alarming development. During the past decade, bomb blasts in public places have been increasing; and there are a growing number of fatalities and injuries involving civilians including women and children. In the "2008 Imphal bombings" at the gate of Ragailong in Imphal, at least 17 people were killed and more than 30 were injured on October 21, 2008. The recent blasts at Imphal College, Porompat, Minuthong, Sangakpham, Pangei and Palace Compound in Imphal, as well as the phenomenon of planting bombs and grenades in private homes have come to take a place among the common happenings and life in Manipur. The overall climate of physical security and safety in public places are threatened, and victims are regularly not supported or rehabilitated by the state.

While some development schemes and programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) are argued to have some success in generating employment and livelihood sources for families in rural areas, the overall failure of infrastructure programmes and schemes or inordinate delays in the completion of projects undertaken by the government of Manipur is another area of deep concern. On the other hand, schemes and projects are taken up which directly violate traditional and communal rights. Amendments of existing legislations like the Manipur Land Revenue & Land Reform Act, 1960 (MLR & LR Act, 1960) containing certain provisions such as extension of the Act to hill areas have invited people living in the hills of Manipur to react in anger and apprehension, while a legislation like the Loktak Lake (Protection) Act 2006 that ostensibly sought to protect an internationally important Ramsar Convention designated wetland in Manipur provides no guarantees and protection to the traditional livelihood and socio-economic security of the local fishing communities. A draconian legislation, the Act usurps sole rights to the Lake and bestows it upon a Loktak Development Authority controlled by politicians and bureaucrats, while its sweeping provisions also render entire traditional fisher communities 'occupier' without any rights.

The right to education should not be confused as a right to literacy. After the Supreme Court ruling that the right to education is a fundamental right, India also promulgated the Right to Education Act in 2010. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All Movement) is a programme by the Government of India aimed at the universalization of elementary education "in a time bound manner", as mandated by the 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free education to children aged 6–14 (estimated to be 205 million in number in 2001) a fundamental right. The scheme was also introduced in Manipur but soon got embroiled in all sorts of controversies, including allegations of mismanagement, irregular fund withdrawals, illegal appointments, below standard infrastructure construction and lack of proper monitoring as well as the activities of individuals defrauding and officials taking objectionable irrational actions in the scheme. The state of this flagship scheme of the state is such that it remains doubtful if its mission objectives will be achieved in the foreseeable future.

Many development projects such as the Loktak Multipurpose Hydroelectric and Lift Irrigation Project of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation of India (NHPC), the Thoubal Dam Multipurpose Project, and the Khuga Multipurpose Dam Project are beset with violations of the right to compensation, resettlement and rehabilitation, and corruption among the contractors and project authorities. The Joint Action Committee Khuga Dam claims that the dam which was constructed has become "a mine for amassing untold wealth by concerned ministers whereas on the other hand it has caused a wretched living, loss of landed property and affected the overall status of the public."

The proposed Tipaimukh Hydroelectric Project has become a major international controversy since it was first proposed at its present site in 1990. The high dam to be constructed in this project on the Barak River will adversely affect almost half of the geographical area of Manipur, and cause major irreversible disruptions in the traditional livelihood, economically useful lands and forests, culture, homesteads and villages and the food security of the Hmar and Zeliangrong indigenous tribes of Manipur. Likewise, the discovery of oil in Manipur and the commencing of oil exploration with a view to extraction with the entry of international and national oil companies and specialized contractors poses a new threat dimension to human rights and the prospects of peace in the future of Manipur. The infusion of oil financing money into the stunted economy of Manipur with its decades-old armed conflicts throws up a vision of nightmarish proportions of escalating conflicts and severe human rights violations as well as dramatic environmental damages.

On the other hand, the multi-crore 36 MW Heavy Fuel Power Project at Leimakhong is a glaring example of failed infrastructure investments in Manipur. Inaugurated in October 2005 by the then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the power plant near the army cantonment in Sadar Hills of Senapati district was set up at a cost of '125.38 crore, the plant is run with the help of a fuel called furnace oil. At the time of the commissioning of the project, furnace oil was only '8 per litre but the price of the fuel has gone up to '35.95 per litre, making it impossible for the government to operate the plant. Millions of rupees of public funds have been invested in an ill-conceived project, but no responsibility is fixed.

Militarization, militarism, militancy and development are closely inter-linked in Manipur. Large projects are associated with increased militarisation of project sites and locations with adverse impacts on the local indigenous communities and the environment. The coming of the railways to Manipur, even though envisaged by state agencies as the panacea for problems afflicting the people of Manipur, is in fact a gateway to more problems ranging from forced land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation, destruction of forests and irreplaceable agricultural lands, contamination of rivers, increased military and central armed police forces presence for 'security' reasons. There are also unconfirmed reports of gross human rights violations like abductions, kidnappings, missing peoples and others that seem to have relation to the railroad construction. Whatever the outcomes of present and future conflict resolution initiatives and peace talks, the military and burgeoning paramilitary will be present in Manipur for a long time to come.

The State, which has over 90 per cent of its annual revenue as grant from the central government, has been unable to meet its obligations to develop the infrastructure of the State. The right to development and the people's fundamental right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural goals, and manage and dispose of their own resources have been consistently violated by the state in Manipur. The government regularly manipulates the land records to suit private and individual purposes, thereby, violating the right to property and promoting discord and litigation in the communities. Almost all land records before 1960 are claimed to have been destroyed by fires and therefore untraceable, leaving great room for manipulations of the land records of literally thousands of families and individuals.

Contempt of the national human rights institutions by the government and failure to assure their independent and impartial functioning is an indicator of the way the state has treated human rights issues with disdain and its failure to uphold Constitutional obligations. The Manipur State Human Rights Commission remains padlocked for the past years and the government, despite its pre-occupation with tokenism and ceremony, has not made any serious attempt to revive this institution. The government of Manipur continues to drag its feet and present pretexts despite a Gauhati High Court order since 2011 to appoint members and re-activate the Commission.

The Manipur Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MCPCR) was set up on 2 November 2012 with seven members according to the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act of 2005, but the commission has yet to start functioning because it has no staff, secretary or necessary infrastructure and financial supports. According to the brief Manipur Gazette notification of 2 November 2012, the present commission is headed by a retired bureaucrat from the Social Welfare Department with little proven track record in child rights or human rights. Not surprisingly, the majority of the people of Manipur are still unaware of this commission or its role.

The Manipur State Information Commission (MSIC) established in accordance to the Right to Information Act of 2005, after its initial exemplary work, has now degenerated after the appointment of a retired bureaucrat at its head, who has been proven to be involved in corruption and irregular activity by the State Vigilance Commission of Manipur. The Gauhati High Court is presently examining a writ petition challenging the legality of appointment of the present State Information Commissioner. With the very foundations of the integrity institution of the State being questioned, the function of this important statutory body that protects the right to information and freedom of expression has been effectively muffled.

The Manipur State Commission for Women (MSCW) was constituted on 15 September 2006, as a statutory body at the state level, in pursuance of the Manipur State Commission for Women Act, 2006, to safeguard the interests of women. Its mandate is very wide covering almost all aspects of women's development according to the website of this commission. According to its own records the number of cases received during the year 2011 was 37, cases closed were 8 and pending cases were 29. There were no cases of rape, sexual harassment or abuse recorded in 2011. During 2010, the figures were 31, 26 and 5 respectively. For 2010, there is no available record in the public domain of a breakdown of categories. This is a depressing testimony of a statutory commission covering almost all aspects of women's development and interests that was established seven years ago in a State where crimes against women, such as rapes and other forms of sexual violence, ill treatment of women, kidnapping, domestic violence abound. Perhaps its only merit for survival is because it does so little.

On a positive note, the role and activities of human rights defenders and their organisations have increased, and responses to specific kinds of human rights violations such as violence against women, trafficking of children and torture have become established. Human rights organisations and their coalitions have sustained campaigns against torture and other civil rights violations, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958, trafficking of children, large dams and oil exploration, and involuntary displacement.

Many of Manipur's conflicts remain unresolved. To promote peaceful relations and strengthen democracy where the setting is conducive to tension and conflict, it is essential to provide the conditions that encourage all groups, and especially substantial minorities, to feel a shared interest in the society as a whole. They are most likely to do so when they feel that society acknowledge, respects and meets their needs and interests, including those linked to their identity.

When trying to prevent conflicts, the concern of government should be with the problem of the conditions that lead to them and the acceptance of being a part of the problem. The Manipur's government stand on this remains a classic case of denial. The conditions for conflicts, the underlying sources of tension, more often than not, deal with the disregard of the human rights of the many different collectivities and groups or communities, especially discrimination and fundamental rights and freedoms. A state of failure to respect the people's rights remains a reality in Manipur.