North-East and the Act called AFSPA

The North-Eastern region of India comprises several ethnic groups with diverse socio-cultural settings. Since independence, the region is perpetually placed under military rule with the draconian law called Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 [as amended in 1972]. That the intervention by the armed forces is a long-standing and real fact is fairly well known. Today, the state is treating the region’s political struggle and social movements as anti-state, anti-national, disruptive and manifestations of terrorism.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 confers extraordinary power to the Indian Army and other security forces in the “disturbed areas†of the region. The Act gives no precise definition of a “disturbed area†. The declaration of any area as “disturbed†under Section 3 of the Act is the prerogative of the Governor of the State or the Central Government. The State Legislature has absolutely no jurisdiction in the matter [under the Act]. The Act empowers the Army to search, seize, arrest and even kill anyone suspected to be an insurgent in order to maintain “law and order†. No inquiry can be held against any action of the Army unless specifically sanctioned by the Central Government. The Act authorises even an ordinary soldier to “shoot to kill†, to enter and search, arrest without warrant any person on mere suspicion.

In any “military operational†situation, human rights are often violated in their search for an elusive enemy. Civilians are detained illegally and tortured. The nature of human rights violations in the region includes extra-judicial killings, rape, molestation and sexual harassment of women, torture, forced labour and desecration of churches. Many innocent people “just†vanish and suspected persons can be killed under the guise of “maintaining public order†. For instance, in the infamous Oinam incident [in Senapati district of Manipur in the mid-1980s] one Assam Rifles outpost was completely razed to the ground by the Naga insurgency; immediately the Assam Rifles launched a counter-operation popularly known as “Operation Bluebird†.

There are several cases related to Army atrocities and human rights abuse. Initially, the Centre used the weapon of the AFSP to counter the Naga political movement and armed struggle in the early 1950s. Under this Act, the Naga villagers suffered immense human rights violations and were forced to endure killings, rape, molestation, torture, village groupings, and concentration camps. One classic expression of excessive human rights violations came during “Operation Bluebird†. Many Naga girls were raped and sexually molested, men were killed and tortured. Also, there was large scale looting and burning of the harvest. The Assam Rifles, the infamous paramilitary force for its acts of atrocities committed on civilians during counter-insurgency operations, came out with a slogan “Friends of the Hills†. Further, it added to itself such tags as “Sathi Laga Force†[the “friendly force†in corrupted Assamese] and “Operation Good Samaritan†. These were done to heal the Nagas’ pains. In a few cases, the armed forces have taken action against their own security personnel. One young Lieutenant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a young woman, Miss Luingamla, in Ngaimu village, Ukhrul district of Manipur in 1986.

Not long ago the Imphal valley experienced protests against the high-handedness of the Indian armed forces who misused the AFSPA. Unprecedented protests broke out with the killing of one Kumari Manorama Devi, a woman in her early thirties, by the Assam Rifles; the Army claimed she was a member of the banned insurgency group, People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The public, particularly the Meitei community, insisted that Ms Manorama was innocent and a dozen women staged naked protest near the Kangla Fort [the Assam Rifles used the Fort as their base camp before it was handed over to the Manipur State under the presence of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh].

The Assam Rifles’ “Friends of the Hills†are uneasy in the North-Eastern region. The use of excessive force by the armed personnel in counter-insurgency operations has led to a substantial deterioration in the conditions of the common people. The public have come out on the streets, marched to the Army gate shouting slogans “Indian Army Go Back†, “Indian Army Rape Us†. [Take the case of Manipuri women protesting naked near the Assam Rifles camp.] The brutalised security personnel show little respect for democracy and civilian rule. However, the Army officials using national sentiments and patriotism protect the culprit-armed personnel and repeatedly deny the reports of violations as “baseless†and “exaggerated†.

For a long time, the Nagas challenged the Army atrocities. In the late 1970s, a group of Naga students from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, formed a Naga human rights organisation called the Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and condemned the Act. Since then, Nagas have continued to fight for justice and to protect the innocent people. The NPMHR challenged the AFSPA in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of India, in the case of NPMHR v/s Union of India, upheld the Act [on November 27, 1997]. It was very unfortunate, that it expressed satisfaction with the “10 Commandments†issued by the Army Chief for dealing with militants. Recently, a “Review Committee†was set up under the leadership of Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy. So far there has been no outcome or action taken on the Committee’s report.

The North-Eastern region is not a “bed of roses†. Civilians are often trapped in the firing ring of the Indian forces and insurgency. Today, no one wants to remember the situation of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s particularly in the Naga Hills and Mizo Hills. The ULFA’s peace talks have broken down and the Army is back to its business. The current Naga ceasefire and peace talks are becoming shaky though they still sustain… Indeed at the moment there is an elusive “conducive atmosphere†in the Naga Hills. However, such an interim arrangement of ceasefire cannot be relied upon until a permanent political understanding is reached.