RPF elaborates alleged racism of India-II
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 09 2019: If the SIT continues its investigation and DNA's of the around 10,000 victims of involuntary disappearances are compared with those bodies discovered in the secret graves, the real picture behind the involuntary disappearances can be established, RPF asserted.

It continued that it is the wives of those victims of involuntary disappearances who have been suffering extreme misery all these years without knowing whether their husbands are death and alive, and they have been nicknamed 'half widow' or 'half wife'.

The APDP brought out a report in July 2011 on the repression suffered by these half widows or half wives.

The report documented the extreme misery suffered by 1500 half widows or half wives.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, the Government of India which is devoted to the idea of Hindutva and does not respect equality among mankind, carried out air strike against suspected JeM camps inside Pakistan but Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was captured by Pakistan Army.

It was during this period that the Government of India shouted at the top of their voice that the captured Indian pilot should be treated well with due respect in accordance to the Geneva Convention 1949 and international humanitarian laws.

But the Government of India's demand proved to be rather surprising and shameful to the people of Manipur and WESEA for it only exposed India's double-standard, it continued.

In their efforts to consolidate the alien rule over Kashmir and WESEA, Indian military forces have killed thousands of people, thousands of women have been raped and a large of number have been forced to disappear involuntarily.

But the Government never talked about the Geneva Convention or international humanitarian laws with regard to the repressive measures unleashed by their military forces upon the people of WESEA and Kashmir all these years.

Asking as to why the Geneva Convention and other humanitarian laws are not respected in Manipur and WESEA where security forces have been indulging in rampant human rights violation over the years, the outfit asserted that Indian military personnel must be tried and punished for individual criminal responsibility under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention which is applied to both international and non-international armed conflicts.

Indian military forces must adhere to the Geneva Conventions Act 1960 while combating insurgency in WESEA and Manipur but there are innumerable instances of violating the same Act enacted by the Indian Parliament, it said.

Even though India has not yet ratified the Rome Statute, it cannot escape international scrutiny, it asserted.

Harassment of people from Manipur and WESEA at different parts of India on the ground of their racial difference is an open act of violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Again, the atrocities committed by Indian military forces under the cloak of AFSPA 1958 are clear instances of violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) etc, the outfit alleged.

Even though India has not yet ratified Convention Against Torture (CAT), there is a 'jus cogens' accepted by the international community which prohibits torturing and humiliation of people.

Just as Yugoslavian leader Slovodan Milosevic and his top military leaders were punished by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (1994), there is no guarantee that Indian civil and military leaders would not be punished one day, it said.

The Awa kingdom invaded and plundered Manipur several times with a motive to completely exterminate the people of Manipur.

At one point of time, there were only 2000 households and 10,000 people in Imphal Valley but the Awa soldiers could not accomplish their mission of wiping out Manipur.

As indicated by the land's history, India will never be able to wipe out the people of Manipur and their freedom, it asserted.

It will be impossible for India to suppress Manipur for long as the people of Manipur value freedom more than anything else, the outfit concluded.

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