Politicians, men in uniform and law and disorder in Manipur

Hijam Santosh *

On 5th November, 2011 at All India Fast and Demonstration organised by SDRAG

Several people from all spheres have condemned AFSPA but to no avail and the reasons are because the persons at the helm of affairs stand to benefit. The involvement of an army officer in drug-trafficking by taking advantage of his official position and fortified by the powers sanctioned by AFSPA being the prime example since this Act provides immunity and a sense of impunity from the civil laws of the country. Anybody can bet that many others must have done the same thing before with so many VVIPS visiting Moreh for reasons which only they seem to know.

Any Act that empowers to kill its own people on mere suspicion is indication of India not yet fit to be a country besides being very corrupt. Such an Act as AFSPA should not be implemented even during full fledged war for killing on mere suspicion amounts to war crimes. Even the Nazis were not as ruthless as the Indian army under AFSPA. Adolf Hitler did not pass such Acts against his people ! He at least had the sincerity to inculcate his men to pick the right person after methodical clarifications. He was pompous of his people and his fervor was for the cause of his country. I am not supporting Hitler's line of thinking, in fact I consider him as the Satan re-incarnate.

What I just cannot digest is the harsh reality that AFSPA is imposed by the Government of India on its own citizens. What I am trying to drive home is that, this Act is against humanity and India should be ashamed of herself. The UN not taking up something concrete and making it known that an Act which will even put barbarians to shame has no place at a time when the world is talking about global peace is confusing.

India is now an independent country but the mentality of being ruled or rule still persists and it is a shame that nothing is going to change for the better. Corruption is rampant, scams and scandals hit the headlines of top newspapers of India more often than not, involvement of Army officers in corruption, pricing of Government jobs is an open secret, fake encounters, State sponsored communal riots and the flaws are so many that I am running out of data ! God help those people with the mentality of "MERI BHARAT MAHAAN".

However, the biggest problem India is facing today is lack of any political party with credibility. The BJP is no better if not worse and the third front is controlled by power famished politicians. Armed Forces Power Act 1958 is an Act where your wife, daughter or anybody can be raped or killed without assigning any reason by our great jawans who are to protect its citizens. To cite some examples, the Oinam incident, the rape and murder of Manorama, the killing of innocent victims near Malom and yes, the 'interrogation' of Ex-minister Ph Parijat by a Major of the Indian army clad in T-shirt and shorts.

The Justice Verma Committee has recommended that civil cases should be taken up against army officers if they commit sexual offences against women but the irony is that the GoI has turned a blind eye to the suggestion. The admission of a former Home Secretary that mainland India still has got to comprehend the North Eastern States is ample proof of India not willing to treat India as a whole. The Hindi speaking belt has always subdued the other parts of India but the South being equivalent and with a distinct history and emergence of great leaders like PV Narasimha Rao, Deve Gowda and Jayalalita has saved the south from being pointedly subdued.

The indiscriminate shooting at BT Road that resulted in the death of Rabina and Sanjit in 2009 is another example. That the place of the incident does not come under the ambit of AFSPA is another matter. The commandos of Manipur must be really outstanding shooters because there were no holes on the shirt worn by Sanji (According to media reports).

If they can shoot that well, they should be winning Olympic gold medals for the nation! However, pay-back time has begun with former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde with the Commission he headed indicting the security personnel in all the seven cases entrusted to it. Heads will roll, but the question is, will the sadistic licensed bandits learn their lessons. I doubt because most of the commandos are 'illiterate' and are willing to go to any extent to earn a name by instilling fear amongst the people. We can't put all the blame on them but their bosses are to be equally held responsible. As for the army I wish them all the best with their Chinese counter part in the disputed land case (though it seems to have been settled for the time being).

When we look into most of the crimes in Manipur, we notice that a uniformed personnel is involved in most cases. The kidnapping and murder of a manager who was taking a walk at Kangla, the raping of a woman with the help of a gun belonging to a sub-inspector and so many others, I can go on and on! However, the Home Department is at least under the control of a man who is humane because Mr Gaikhangam seems to mean business and is much more proficient than others before him though there are still a lot to be done.

He needs to control his very high-handed high ranking police officials with regal buildings, fancy cars, and tremendous amount of assets and also keep a tab on their source of income for we all know that even an inspector of police owns assets worth crores of rupees. Recent revelations has shown that many cases are left untouched and that you got to pay up if you want your things done which again is the upshot of having paid a hefty sum of money to get into the police force and to make up for the money spent to get into the police has resulted in yet another scam again involving police personnel in drug trafficking.

What I cannot comprehend is the way the case has been handled. When an army officer was caught for the same crime, everything was exposed and photographs were splashed on all the papers of Manipur and in some national papers but in this case the names were revealed later which demands a lot of explanation . What is going on ? The Opposition being toothless will get a reply they deserve (an answer with a yawn).

Many political parties have asked for the resignation of the Home Minister but it is something that is totally uncalled for. The present utter lack of discipline among police personnel is an outcome of many years of misuse of the police force by the political masters and irresponsible high-ranking police officials who completely failed to inculcate the duty of being a man in uniform. My humble suggestion is to give the present Home Minister sometime to rectify his department. Asking him to resign is not going to change the present facet of the Home Department and since he has pledged to clean up his department, I guess it's worth giving him a chance to bring the department to sanity.

I am just an ordinary man who is struggling hard to keep the kitchen fire burning and with two sons who are giving me a good reason to earn even more since they are good enough to be studying in a school which is one of the most sought after and where getting admission is through tough competition. It is a shame but the fact is that I keep reminding them that expecting a decent job from the State government is suicidal for the simple reason that I am not rich enough to bribe and buy those jobs for them.

Finally, I would like to state that whatever I have said is the outcome of frustration due to absolute anarchy in India in general and Manipur in particular and yes, I have never met nor do I know our present Home Minister under any circumstances. My humble apologies, if what I have said happens to be of poor taste to anyone, but the Government of Manipur at least owes the people an explanation for we have had enough of this gobbledygook.