Act on Manorama Probe Report: HC to Manipur

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap


As the debate over the ‘draconian’ Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 continues, the Gauhati High Court has asked the Manipur government to act on an inquiry report on the alleged rape and killing of Manorama Devi.

Manorama, a militant, was allegedly raped and killed by Assam Rifles personnel in July 2004. The killing had triggered large-scale protests in Manipur.

The protests reached a peak when a group of elderly women stripped outside Kangla Fort, then headquarters of Assam Rifles in the trouble-torn state.

The judgment, passed by Justices Amitava Roy and B D Agarwal last Tuesday, said the state government did have the competence to institute a Commission of Inquiry into such acts committed by security forces even if they enjoyed protection and immunity under the Armed Forces Act.

The 17 Assam Rifles had challenged the Manipur government’s authority to appoint a probe panel under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, against security forces enjoying immunity under the Armed Forces Act.

The judgment came after family members of Manorama filed three writ appeals, requesting that the state government be directed to open and act upon the probe report. A single-judge bench of the Gauhati High Court had on June 22, 2005 said the state government did not have administrative control over armed forces entitled to protection, among others, under Section 6 of the Act.

But Justices Roy and Agarwal said that the deployment of Assam Rifles in Manipur did not spell excision of the civil power of the state government.

“As a corollary, the state government not only retained its dominion and authority to attend to the immediate demands of public order emerging within its territorial limits, but was essentially obliged to respond thereto under the scheme of Constitutional governance,” Justice Roy and Justice Agarwal said.

According to the Assam Rifles, Manorama Devi was a long-serving member of the outlawed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and a dreaded terrorist engaged to eliminate high-profile targets and inflict large casualties.

Manorama Devi was picked up by Assam Rifles personnel from her house at Bamon Kampu Mayai Leikei village in Imphal East district around midnight of July 11, 2004. Her bullet-ridden body was found at Laipharok Maring village hours later.

Assam Students Damage 45 Vehicles, Injure 15

Guwahati, Sep 7 : At least 45 vehicles were damaged and 15 people were injured by protesting college students in Assam's Kamrup district on Monday, police sources said.

According to reports, a group of agitated college student blocked the National Highway-37 at Kukurmara area in the district, demanding regular bus service by stopping the vehicles and pelting stones.

''At least 45 vehicles were damaged and 15 people including 3 drivers were injured,'' a police official said.

The injured people were rushed to nearest hospital.

The situation was brought under control by the intervention of senior police officials and district administration officials, who assured the angry students to ensure steps for regular passenger bus service in Kukurmara area.

MHA Mulls Direct Funding to 3 Mizoram Autonomous District Councils

Aizawl, Sep 6 : Three autonomous district councils in Mizoram may soon receive funds directly from the Centre without routing through the state government account as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has been mulling the proposal, official sources said here today.

The Mara, Lai and Chakma autonomous district councils have been demanding direct Central funding for decades but could not succeed as all the political parties except the ruling Congress party opposed the demand.

The officials said that the MHA had recently sent a letter to the state chief secretary Van Hela Pachuau to comment on the proposal for direct funding.

A meeting of the leaders of the three autonomous district councils held at south Mizoram's Lawngtlai town on Friday last lauded the proposal of the MHA and also decided to meet President Pratibha Patil during her visit to Aizawl on September 23 and 24 and proposed to submit a memorandum demanding a separate Rajya Sabha member for the three autonomous district councils.

Villagers Turn Violent as Children are Lured to Rebel Camps

By Iboyaima Laithangbam

Child soldiers in the ranks of PREPAK line for a photo shoot

Imphal, Sep 6 : In yet another instance of recruiting child soldiers to the proscribed underground organizations in Manipur, the irate villagers of Awang Khunnou in Imphal West torched the house of a boy who had lured away two children for taking to the camp of the rebels. Police have arrested some persons and investigation is going on.

Yumnam Joykumar, the Director General of Police, says that due to the reprehensible crimes some armed persons are committing in the name of armed revolution, no boy or girl volunteers to join the outfits. As a result, some outfits are resorting to recruiting child soldiers through paid agents.

Reports said that a 10-year-old boy, K. Roshan, had lured away his cousin, K. Sunilkumar, 13, and a relative, K. Jupiter, 13, to play football in the village ground. Roshan's aunt persuaded Sunil Kumar and Jupiter to accompany her, promising mobile handsets and computer games. Roshan was left behind.

The two boys later told journalists that they were taken to Imphal in an autorickshaw from where they were taken by some other youths in a car, to an underground camp where there were lots of armed rebels. They were told that they would be shot dead if they try to escape. They slept in the camp that night. During this period the woman, who had lured away the boys, when contacted by the parents over the phone, had vaguely assured that the boys would return home.

The following day, the rebels held a meeting among themselves. They asked the two boys to buy some snacks and sent them out with Rs. 200. On the way, they came across a bus in which they boarded towards Imphal. They reached home in an autorickshaw.

The villagers held a meeting to chalk out a plan on how to deal with the issue. Police rushed there and took the boys into custody for investigation.

The public meeting decided to torch the house of Roshan. However, as the fire-fighters rushed there in time, the house was saved from total destruction.

Recruiting child soldiers is a thriving business, as the agents are handsomely paid.

Time of The Essence For Naga Peace

By JB Lama

Into his second term in office, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is bent on finding a solution to the lingering Naga problem.

One might recall how, during Singh’s earlier tenure, the NSCN(IM) leadership had, in July 2004, told its cadres to be ready to leave their designated camps because it had refused to renew the ceasefire accord in protest against the UPA’s clause in its Common Minimum Programme ~ that boundaries of Northeast states would not be changed ~ that implied a rejection of the outfit’s demand for one administrative unit for Nagas. The UPA was then forced to drop the clause.

The Prime Minister started in earnest by inviting NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah to discuss the latter’s 30-point charter of demands submitted earlier that included sovereignty and a “Greater Nagaland”. In February this year Muivah met the Prime Minister and Union home minister P Chidambaram and later held talks with the Centre’s new interlocutor, RS Pandey, breaking a year’s silence.

The Centre submitted a comprehensive 29-point counter-proposal and both sides struck positive attitudes. Since then, talks have been held in fits and starts and whether there will be any breakthrough is anybody’s guess.

Some public utterances by Central leaders have been anything but conciliatory. At his first meeting with Muivah, Pandey reportedly told him there was little possibility of New Delhi ever agreeing to the “sovereignty” demand. Union home secretary GK Pillai has also made it known that “the territorial integrity of Manipur will not be disturbed under any circumstances”.

On 19 August 2010, Chidambaram told Parliament there was no question of  altering Manipur’s integrity and cited the pluralistic nature of Indian states. The Manipur-based United Naga Council, which enjoys NSCN(M) support, promptly asserted that Nagas in Manipur would decide their own future and Chidambaram had no say in this matter. Muivah, on his part, is not known to have reacted to this so far.

But last year when Chidambaram told the NSCN(IM) to present its proposals within the Constitution, that outfit described it as a total betrayal of the Nagas.

It recalled the commitments made by BJP Prime Minister AB Vajpayee, who took cognizance of the Nagas’ unique history and said this had to be taken into account while tackling the Indo-Naga political conflict.

The NSCN(IM) said Chidambaram’s utterances only reflected his immaturity and lack of understanding of the situation. What will follow is fairly obvious, with the outfit not ever likely to mellow.

This sticky point continues to be the drive behind the NSCN(IM)’s insistence on the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas. The Manipur government’s determination to not allow Muivah to visit his Somdal birthplace in Ukhrul district last May leaves no one in doubt that Manipuri's will never agree to losing any territory.

And last month when suspected NSCN(IM) cadres based in Arunachal Pradesh torched some huts in Assam’s Sivasagar district, the All Assam Students’ Union displayed exemplary unity with the state authorities to contain such mischief. This apart, a pro-talks Ulfa leader even offered the services of his cadres to fight the “border marauders”.

It is becoming increasingly clear that unless there is a serious quest for a compromise or face-saving formula, the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the 13-year-old Naga peace process is unlikely to dissipate. And the more time wasted, the more intractable the problem is likely to be.

Assam Tourism Introduce Luxury River Cruise

To focus on aggressive marketing and infrastructure development

By Dheera Majumder

Assam Tourism has entered into an arrangement with Faridabad based-Far Horizon Tours to operate a luxury river cruise vessel, M.V. Mahabaahu on River Brahmaputra by early 2011 under the PPP model.

The river cruise will be targeted to high-end segment and will be operated on a revenue sharing basis between Assam Tourism and the private player. The river cruise is being developed with an investment of Rs 15 crore of which Rs four crore is funded by Assam Tourism and the rest by Far Horizon Tours.

Speaking about the development, Monalisa Goswami, Director Tourism, Government of Assam stated, “We have had river cruises operating on the Brahmaputra River. However, the new cruise will significantly add value as it will help elevate the standards of River Cruise Tourism in the region. It will also be the first offering for the luxury segment. We expect it to be the most luxurious river cruise in Asia as we plan to cash in on the experience of Far Horizon Tours who have operated river cruises at the backwaters of Kerala.”

The river cruise will have 29 cabins, spa and four decks. The river cruise experience will be offered at rates of USD 300-450. The state tourism department is also receiving queries for development of floatels in the Brahmaputra River. The river cruise is expected to operate from September till May with an itinerary for six nights from Guwahati till Dibrugarh. It will visit destinations like river bank temples of Tezpur, National Parks like Kaziranga & Orang, river island of Majuli with 22 Hindu monasteries, temples at Sibsagar and tea plantations.

Assam’s prime source markets domestically remain West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra and internationally are Nepal, Bhutan, Germany, UK and Japan. In 2009-10, the state received 38, 95,525 domestic tourist arrivals and 14,699 international tourist arrivals. From the domestic market, the state has seen a growth in Leave Travel Concession (LTC) tourists.

The state tourism department now plans to revamp its image with aggressive marketing promotions in the form of road shows in Gujarat and Maharashtra and highlighting the destination’s adventure, heritage, wildlife, cultural and Eco tourism products. It plans to conduct familiarization trips for the travel trade and the media as well. It is currently in the process of releasing its television commercial and has updated its tourism brochures for B2C marketing from the state’s current tourism budget of Rs 45 crore, about 30 per cent is dedicated to marketing and promotions.

The central and state government have also provided incentives for the growth of tourism related infrastructure in the state. “The central government declared to provide a 30 per cent capital investment cost for hotel development of two-star and above category. The state government has also reduced Luxury Tax and VAT to trigger inflow of tourists into the state. Besides this, it will also provide subsidies on power and construction of tourism related infrastructure,’ informed Himangshu Sekhar Das, Principal Secretary- Finance and Tourism Departments, Government of Assam.

With an aim to give a facelift to the state controlled Prashanti Lodges, Assam Tourism is leasing out its properties on a revenue sharing model to private sector entrepreneurs. It has also tied-up with Don Bosco Institute to develop soft skills and inform about basic hygiene and tourist safety to tourism stakeholders including taxi drivers, restaurateurs, tour guides and tour operators of the state.

The state government is also in the process of coming up with a legislation for new development in the forest areas of the state. The legislation will define the number of rooms that can be developed in the forest areas, their proximity to wildlife sanctuaries and will lay guidelines on their operations. It is expected to be enforced by December 2010.

A Modest Proposal on AFSPA

By Siddharth Varadarajan

Change the blanket ban on trials without official sanction to one where the government has the power to bar prosecution in individual cases provided it satisfies the courts that its reasons for doing so are valid.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has come in for widespread criticism in Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and other parts of the northeast because of the human rights abuses that have come to be associated with its operation. So strong is the sentiment against AFSPA in Kashmir that in recent months Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have all spoken of the need to re-examine the law. The Army, on the other hand, says this is unnecessary.

The Army Chief, General V.K. Singh, has gone so far as to say that the demand for the dilution of AFSPA is being made for “narrow political gains.” On his part, Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, has compared the Act to scripture. “I would like to say that the provisions of AFSPA are very pious to me and I think to the entire Indian Army. We have religious books, there are certain guidelines which are given there, but all the members of the religion do not follow it, they break it also … does it imply that you remove the religious book …?”

 Manipur Students of various organisations hold placards during a protest demonstration, demanding withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from northeast and Kashmir, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on August 21, 2010. File Photo: S. Subramanium

On paper, AFSPA is a deceptively simple law. First passed in 1958, it comes into play when the government declares a particular part of the northeast (or Jammu and Kashmir under a parallel 1990 law) a “disturbed area.” Within that area, an officer of the armed forces has the power to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any person who is acting in contravention of any law or order for the time being in force in the disturbed area prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons or the carrying of weapons or of things capable of being used as weapons or of fire-arms, ammunition or explosive substances.”

Even though activists have made this the focus of their criticism, giving soldiers the “right to kill” is not, in my opinion, AFSPA's principal flaw. After all, if a ‘law and order' situation has arisen which compels the government to deploy the Army, soldiers have to be allowed to use deadly force. Even a private citizen has the right to kill someone in self-defence, though the final word on the legality of her or his action belongs to the courts. Similarly, a civilised society expects that the use of deadly force by the Army must at all times be lawful, necessary and proportionate. Here, the Act suffers from two infirmities: the requirement of prior sanction for prosecution contained in Section 6 often comes in the way when questions arise about the lawfulness of particular actions. Second, AFSPA does not distinguish between a peaceful gathering of five or more persons (even if held in contravention of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code) and a violent mob. Firing upon the latter may sometimes be justified by necessity; shooting into a peaceful assembly would surely fail any test of reasonableness.

Leaving this issue aside, however, it is important to recognise that AFSPA does not give an officer the unqualified right to fire upon and cause the death of any person in a Disturbed Area. At a minimum, that person should have been carrying weapons or explosives. The shooting of an unarmed individual, and the killing of a person in custody, are not acts that are permissible under AFSPA. Force is allowed in order to arrest a suspect but the fact that the Act authorises the use of “necessary” rather than “deadly” force in such a circumstance means the tests of necessity and proportionality must be met.

Over the years that AFSPA has been in operation, the Army has opened fire countless times and killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Whenever those killed have been armed insurgents or terrorists, there has been little or no public clamour against the Act. It is only when the armed forces violate the provisions of the law and indulge in the unlawful killing of persons — especially unarmed civilians — that voices get raised against AFSPA. The protests in Manipur in 2004 reached a crescendo because of the death in custody of Th. Manorama and scores of others like her. In Kashmir, sentiments against the Armed Forces Act got inflamed because of fake encounter incidents like Pathribal and Macchhil.

If today people are questioning General Jaswal's “religious book,” it is not so much because of its provisions as because of the failure of its custodians to act when the law is flouted. The Lord's Word threatens sinners with fire and brimstone, eternal damnation or the endless cycle of births and deaths. But AFSPA holds out no such horrors for the soldiers who violate its provisions. Section 6 says “no prosecution … shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.” This requirement confers de facto impunity on all transgressors. Thus the CBI may have indicted army officers for the murder of innocent civilians at Pathribal in 2000 but their trial cannot take place because the Central government refuses to give sanction. What is worse, the Minister concerned does not even have to give any reasons.

The ostensible logic behind this Section, a variant of which can be found in Section 197 of the CrPC and in many Indian laws, is to protect public servants from frivolous or vexatious law suits. But though it has not ruled on the ambit of AFSPA's Section 6, the Supreme Court has often declared that the object of Section 197-type protection is not to set an official above the common law. “If he commits an offence not connected with his official duty he has no privilege.”

In the Pathribal case, the CBI took the view that abducting and killing unarmed civilians in cold blood could not be considered part of “official duty.” Not only did the MoD reject this logic, it moved the Supreme Court for quashing of the case on the ground that it has not granted sanction to prosecute. At no time has it been asked to furnish reasons for denying sanction.

A government which has faith in the actions of its officers and the robustness of its judicial system ought never to shy away from allowing the courts to step in when doubts arise. And yet, in case after case, legal proceedings get stymied by the denial of official sanction.

In a democracy, this requirement of previous sanction should have no place. But given the balance of political and institutional forces in India today, it is utopian to believe it can simply be done away with. What I am proposing, therefore, is a modest remedy. Let us not tamper with the government's ability to protect officers from criminal proceedings. But instead of the default setting being ‘no prosecution without official sanction,' let the blocking of a prosecution require official action.

Section 6 could thus be amended to read: “No prosecution … shall be instituted against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act where the Central government provides reasons in writing and the competent court upholds the legal validity of these reasons.”

Such a provision would prevent good officers from being prosecuted for killings which result from acts of good faith while allowing the bad apples to be prosecuted for their crimes. The government would still have the right to intervene on behalf of a soldier who has committed an illegal act. But this would require a Minister to take personal responsibility for a decision that would, after all, be tantamount to denying justice to the victim's family. In the Pathribal case, for example, Defence Minister A.K. Antony would be compelled to inform the trial court of his reasons for opposing the prosecution of soldiers indicted by the CBI for murder. And the court would get to rule on whether Mr. Antony's reasons were valid or not.

There is no reason why this inversion of the “previous sanction” provision cannot be replicated across the board in all Indian laws to cover situations where human rights abuses are alleged. Such a provision would not disturb the basic provisions of AFSPA. But it would bring that “religious book” in closer conformity with an even holier tome, the Constitution of India.

Meghalaya Plans Rehab of Child Miners

By E.M. Jose

Children work at coal mines in Jaintia Hills.

Shillong, Sep 6 : The Meghalaya government is working on a rehabilitation package to help the children working under hazardous situations in the coal mines of Jaintia Hills, following a direction from the National Human Rights Commission.

The state commissioner and secretary of mining and geology, Arindam Som, today said following the commission’s direction on August 13, a high-level meeting will be held next week to be convened by chief secretary W.M.S. Pariat to discuss the modalities to rehabilitate the children who work in the mines.

The commission has given three months’ time to the state government to find out ways and means to rehabilitate the children.

“We have to co-ordinate with the departments of education, police, social welfare and the district administration to find a viable package for the children,” Som said.

According to reports, coal mining in Meghalaya popularly known as “rat hole mining” has changed the ecology and landscape of the hill state, besides affecting the health of the migrant children and their parents working in the mines.

Some experts, who studied the coal mining activities in the state, have coined “rat hole mining” as the miners adopt unscientific methods.

Since the coal layers or seams are thin ranging from 6 inches to 3 feet, the miners either use hands or traditional tools to extract coal.

A minimum of 25metres is dug to extract coal. The labou-rers, including children, have to walk down through wooden steps to remove coal. If the fuel is exhausted in a pit, they look for coal in other areas.

Children, mostly from Nepal and Bangladesh, are working in these Jaintia Hills mines with their parents.

The Jaintia Hills district administration conducted a survey in 20 villages in July this year and found that there are 222 children working in the coal mines.

While 153 were local residents, the remaining were from Assam, Bihar, Nepal and Bangladesh.

According to the district administration, the survey was carried out after a Shillong-based NGO had brought out that 70,000 children work in the coal mines.

Sources in the district administration said the population of Jaintia Hills is just over 2 lakh and it is impossible for 70,000 children to work in the coal mines.

“Our priority will be to rehabilitate these 222 children,” an official with the state social welfare department said.

Other than Lad Sutnga, Bapung, Lad Rymbai and Khliehriat areas in Jaintia Hills, rat hole mining is also carried out at Nangalbibra in South Garo Hills and Shallang, Langrin and Borsora in West Khasi Hills.

The local indigenous population engages in traditional method of mining according to their land tenure system where the ownership of the mines is with the people and not with the government.

Because of this, the Union government named the mines here as local cottage mines or small-scale coal mines, which operate beyond the purview of Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act.

The government has framed a draft mining policy to check the present system of unscientific coal mining. According to the policy, there are a series of measures initiated by the government for scientific mining.

The draft mining policy points out that there is an urgent need to see that the environment is protected while initiating various mining activities.