In fact the thought of the human race divested from human rights is unimaginable and given this fact it is not surprising to see that today, human rights has become a global movement and each country that professes itself as a democracy which respects the individuality of the human being is keen to project a clean image as far as its track record of respecting human rights is concerned. 

There can be no simple answer to what constitute human rights, but what cannot be denied is the fact that the very concept of human rights has something to do with letting the individual human being live with dignity. And when we talk about human rights we have to understand it vis-à-vis the State for it is very often the State and its agencies which violate human rights. 

All over the world, the States frame laws and Acts to keep the behavior of the individual under check and of course to rein in the erring members of society and while the laws of the land need to be respected and adhered to by each and every single individual it becomes disturbing when the very set of laws are violated by the keepers of the law to suit their ends. 

It is when such practices get institutionalized that cases of human rights violation begin to rear its ugly head. In conflict situation zones, Acts and laws that are formed to protect the rule of law are more often than not twisted beyond recognition by the very set of people who are there to enforce the laws.

It is in such a situation the people of Manipur have had to live for the past many decades and stories of mass massacres by some trigger happy security personnel not to speak of enforced disappearance have been staple diet all these years. Fake encounters have also become another contentious issue in this trouble torn land. 

We know Manipur is a land where militancy has flourished for the last many years and we also know that the security personnel have to work under trying times but this is precisely what they have been trained for and the taxing situation under which they have to work should not be offered as excuses for the excesses the men in uniform commit on the hapless citizens.

Not surprisingly there has been a spurt in the activities of the various human right groups based here and the photo exhibition organized by the Threatened Indigenous People's Society at GM Hall has succeeded in capturing the many faces of the blatant rights abuse the people of Manipur have had to suffer all these long, long years. 

While the pictures captured on camera may seem too gory to some, the exhibition has nevertheless succeeded in delivering a message, that is, the Manipuri people have had to live under the shadow of the guns, particularly from the security personnel, who are ironically deployed here to protect our lives and properties.

(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)