Shillong,Jymmang 22: Many civil society organizations and NGOs, network of NGOs of indigenous people, religious institutions, and indigenous Women’s organizations working in Manipur for peace building and human rights since four decades to repeal Armed Forces Special Power.
Manipur was merged to India in 1949 with the instrument of controversial Merger Agreement. Indian parliament enacted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in 1958 on 22 May and imposed on all the regions of the North-East states of India to be ruled by the Indian Army under AFSPA. AFSPA is –according to Amnesty International (1997) – the undeclared emergency without reason for unlimited period of time.
Mr. Rebati on behalf of North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF) said that why do they provide this information, they believe that the military operations under AFSPA in Manipur and the North East of India in general correspond to grave and systematic human rights violations of the civilian population, infringements with the International Humanitarian Law, and even include aspects of ethnic cleansing.
Mr. Rebati on behalf of North East Dialogue Forum, present a number of facts also in their historic dimension which may allow understanding our position. The operation Blue Bird 1985, in Oinam village where 27 people were killed after being brutally tortured, 96 villagers including women and children, aged person were kept in the detention centre for 3 months.
Two women were forced to give birth in the open field in front of the soldier, the mothers were forced to work for the paramilitary Assam Rifles on the day of delivery, and hundreds of villagers were forced to labor for the Assam Rifles for months without payment.
The Indian Army never allowed entering the representatives of the civil administration to provide support to the victims and investigation of the case by police. Members of the Indian Army committed mass raped in the detention centre.
The operation in Patsoi village, On 26 of April, 1980, an operation was conducted at Patsoi located near Imphal town of Manipur. Several incidents of rape and maiming women were reported during the operation.
A pregnant woman was shot while she was hiding in her granary. Men and women were stripped naked; nearly 50 men were savagely beaten. 3 people including a woman were killed.
The operation Summer Storm 2009, Since April 10, 2009, a security operation called “Operation Summer Storm” at Loktak Lake was launched by the 57th Mountain Division to flash off militants from that area. Hundreds of people were displaced. Some of them were used as human shields by the security forces. It is reported that 12 persons were shot dead by them.
Further operations of that pattern, the operation Stinger 2005 at Loktak Area; Operation Somtal no.I in 2006 and Operation Somtal no. II in 2007 at Somtal area, Operation Sunny Vale 1993 ,Operation Tornado 2005 in Jiribam subdivision, Operation Dragnet (2006) at Parbung and Thanlon Division said Mr. Rebati on behalf of North East Dialogue Forum in the press statement issued today.
