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Front Page >> Features  > Story

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Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958
By M Dhaneshwar Singh
The most notorious phrase in Manipur today is the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958. The phrase is identified with terror, arrest, killing, rape and what not. Thanks to the abuse of the Act by law enforcing agencies. The Act has been dubbed as 'Draconian Law or 'Black Law' by many - the lawyers, intellectuals included. In the words of Ch Nodiachand Singh, president of Manipur Bar Association, the Act is comparable to the 'Tapta' of folk tales in creating terror among the people. Every child was afraid of 'Tapta' even though nobody knew who the 'Tapta' was. Many are not aware of the clauses of the act and the do's and don't's to be exercised by the security forces but the Act has created a fear psychosis among the general public.

The Act was introduced in the Hill Area of Manipur in the sixties to suppress the then 'Naga Hostiles'. In the late seventies and early eighties, the Act was extended to the whole of Manipur during the reign of Shaiza Ministry and RK Dorendra Govt. From then on each and every subsequent Govt allowed the continuance of this 'Draconian Act' until today. Not a single Chief Minister nor even a legislature gave a serious thought of reviewing the imposition of the Act. It is not important who imposed the draconi-an law to the State. What needs to be discussed is what prompted the then Govt to declare the whole of Manipur as a disturbed area so that the army was given a free hand (or licen-ce to kill) under AFSPA.

One may argue that the then 'Naga Hostiles' are responsible for imposition of AFSPA to the Hill areas of Manipur. In an exactly similar vein, the prevailing law and order situation should be responsible for bringing the Disturbed Areas Act/AFSPA in the valley. If you want to remove the Act from the State, you have to remove those conditions which are responsible for bringing the AFSPA to the State. In other words, you have to have complete normalcy in the State, no insurgency, no killing, no extortion, no interference in Govt sponsored development works etc. This is what the Govt (in particular the Central Govt) would like to say. But these are conditions too ideal to be fulfilled.

On the other hand, if you examine analytically, the insurgents have nothing to do with AFSPA, 1958, they are there with a well defined objective - the objective of 'Liberating Manipur' from the clutc-hes of 'Indian Colonial Rule'. They are always prepared to fight the Security Forces' and they will fight to the finish. We may assume that they will be there in the State whether there is AFSPA or not until a solution is found. Seeing this ground reality, people have been appealing to the parties concerned to come to the negotiating table so that peace can be restored in the State. There have been sporadic instances of Army's success against the insurgents and sometimes, the latter's successes agai-nst the security forces. But people have no reason to rejoice. They are always the losers.

Looking at the present agitation, there is no doubt that majority of the people of Manipur want the withdrawal of the AFSPA from the State. Every political party (both the Opposition and ruling) is against the Act. I don't understand why the Chief Minister is so reluctant to withdraw the Act. This is a rare occasion where people are so united. As we say 'the voice of the people is the voice of God', you have to listen to the voice of God.

The Chief Minister appears to be in a dilemma. Whereas he is ready (albeit reluctantly) to accede to the people's demand, he has the serious problem of convincing his political boss at the Centre. But I am afraid, he has to make a choice -- the wrath of the people of Manipur or the political actions of his Central leadership.

The Govt agencies and the security forces are adverse to the idea of withdrawal of AFSPA from the State. According to them, the present uproar is being instigated by underground elements; the people make a hue and cry when a hard core militant is killed by the security forces, while they keep mum when innocent civilians are killed by the militants. One army general was reported to have said that the army was there in Manipur braving adverse and hostile conditions to protect the people so that people can sleep in peace. In fact, they are our 'protectors’.

It is a fact that there have been many excesses committed by both sides - the army who are our 'protectors' and the insurgents who are our 'liberators'. People are always the sufferers. It is wrong to say that people do not agitate against the excesses committed by the militants. The agitations launched against the killing of Manojkumar Sethi of Paona Bazar and against the abduction and killing of our young girls Lung-nila Elizabeth are still fresh in our mind. People agitate more against the security forces because the 'liberators' are (in the words of the army) 'Unlawful and misguided youths' whereas the security forces are supposed to be lawful and well guided 'protector'.

As a peace loving citizen we may try to give reason why AFSPA should be withdrawn from the State. The following could some of the reasons.

i) AFSPA, 1958 fails to serve its intended purpose of curving insurgency, improving law and order. It creates more insurgent groups and it has become a liability instead of being an asset in dealing with law and order problem.

ii) The act does not have the human face. The Act being executed by the Security forces in the State appears to have no respect for human values.

iii) The Act has been in operation in the State for more than 25 years. In the long years of its operation it is creating more problems. While administering some medicine to a patient, if the condition of the patient deteriorates what you do, we have to stop the medicine immediately. 'AFSPA' is like a medicine having dangerous side effects - the side effects are there for us to see.

iv) The army feel that withdrawal of the Act will be in the interest of the insurgents. I have a different opinion. It should be in the interest of the army. The army under the act have created more enemies than friends. They fail to win the heart of the people. The act has turned more and more people anti-establishment.

v) Somebody opines that withdrawing the Act will lead to the sudden collapse of the administration. I pity such an assumption. If the administration cannot function without AFSPA, let there be no administration. We already have lots of problems with or without AFSPA. Everybody is taking the law in his/her own hand. Nobody (including the army) has trust in the law of the land. We have experienced the worst situation. It cannot be worsened more than this.

Having discussed all these aspect and having observed the present turmoil, I suggest the present Govt to immediately withdraw the Act. The Govt may suspect that the Centre may intervene and impose President's Rule. If the Govt is dismissed for withdrawing the Act, the CM and his colleagues may get some respect from the people. If the Govt is dismissed while remaining indecisive, how the people will react and what the fate of the Ministers will be, I cannot imagine.

People are slowly but gradually shying away from the so called 'Liberators' and 'Protesters'. People are losing faith in any organization - lawful or unlawful. This is an unhealthy trend. What about our political leader? As they climb very quickly their downfall will also be abrupt and unpleasant.

What next?

While attending the open debate in connection with AFSPA, 1958, at Manipur University, I had the rare opportunity of listening to MK Binodini Devi, a person I revered most. She asked the audience and the people of Manipur to ponder on 'what next'. If we are successful with our pre-sent agitation, what next and if we fail, what next. Withdrawal of AFSPA is not the solution nor its imposition. We have many things to do. We have miles to go. Let us ponder together on what next for achieving peace and harmony. We must be prepared for any eventuality. 

Courtesy: The Sangai Express

  

 

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