Imphal, September 20: Taking strong exception against the reported statement of the Chief of Army Staff, NC Vij, that Manorama was not raped before she was done to death, Chief Minister O Ibobi today questioned under what circumstances the Army chief made his comment.

"The Court of Inquiry instituted under the Army Act is underway and so is the Judicial Inquiry instituted by the State Government," said the Chief Minister while speaking at the 1st foundation day of the Editors' Forum at Hotel Imphal today and added that it is for the inquiry commissions to find out the facts.

Without mincing words, the Chief Minister said the statement of the Army Chief was "immature".

"What will the Army Chief say if the probe reveals that the woman was indeed raped," he countered and observed that the army authority should not open their mouths unnecessarily.

Sharing the sentiments of the people, the Chief Minister said that the present uproar against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has come because of the excesses of the security personnel and added that the custodial killing of Th Manorama was the proverbial last straw on the camel's back.

"The country has laws and justice is always delivered after due process of the law," said the Chief Minister and recalled how even the killers of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were punished after four years of trial.

The Chief Minister did not hesitate to admit that the people of the North East are dead against the continued imposition of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the region and recalled how the Chief Ministers of all the North Eastern States had shared the same sentiments during a recent meeting at Vigyan Bhawan at New Delhi.

However the circumstances and ground reality is such that lifting the Act entirely from the State is not possible, he reasoned and assured that once extortion stops, once the people can say without any fear that they can lead normal lives and once the highways are free from the taxes levied by different groups, then the Act will be lifted within seconds.

"No demands can be met 100 percent," said the Chief Minister and recalled how the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was lifted from the Imphal Municipal areas much against the directives of the Centre.

In as much as the people abhor the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, it is also equally important to question why this Act was imposed in the State in the first place, said the Chief Minister.

"As a democracy everyone can pursue their demands but that should be done within the ethos of democracy," said the Chief Minister and observed that boycotting classes and tearing text books have made a mockery of the movement against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

"No parents, no guardians and no students want their academic pursuit to be disrupted," said the Chief Minister.

On the current blockade imposed on the two National Highways by the Apunba Lup, the Chief Minister said that it would amount to cutting off the survival route of the people.

"Manipur is a landlocked State with no rail heads and no water ways and blocking the highways is nothing but cutting off the life line of the people" said the Chief Minister and appealed to the Apunba Lup to reconsider their stand.

The Chief Minister also appealed to the student bodies to call off their ban on Hindi text books and NCC units attached to the educational institutions.

Countering the charges that AFSPA is not imposed in States like Tamil Nadu where former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and Delhi where the Parliament was attacked by terrorists, the Chief Minister said that these are aberrations and happen "only once in a blue moon.

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