The killing of 14 persons in Nagaland’s Mon district has once again reignited the 40-year-old demand to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The sweeping public ire against the Act and the human rights abuses allegedly committed by the security forces under its guise is back in focus. However, the call for scrapping of the law has more to it than meets the eye and has to be weighed against the backdrop of not just the Mon incident but much more.
From the recent developments, especially with a number of districts in Nagaland declaring a “complete non-cooperation” with the armed forces, the heat is certainly on New Delhi to assuage the anger of the people which otherwise has the potential of blowing up into a crisis. The center of focus right now is on immediate action against those responsible for the Mon incident, and also revoking AFSPA.
But what is also true is that while a vast majority of the population favours repealing of the Act, there are many who want the armed forces to remain.
Life has moved on for many people, and unlike the 1990s and the turn of the millennium when protests against AFSPA and also the armed forces was at its highest pitch in Manipur and other northeastern states, there has been a drop in militancy-related violence with the ceasefire and suspension of operations with a number of key insurgent groups.
People in different villages across Manipur and Nagaland are not only “fed up” with violence but have been making efforts to engage with the army. A few examples from a recent visit to Manipur definitely lends credence to a growing understanding between villagers and the armed forces. One such example is the overwhelming response from locals of Sheken and Behiang following the killings of Col Viplav Tripathi, the Commanding Officer of 46 Assam Rifles, his family and other soldiers. Residents of nearby villages including the elderly placed white clothes and flowers over the slain bodies of the Assam Rifles officer and others and carried them and the injured to the vehicles and the helicopters for a “tearful send off.”
The sentiments of the people are best summed up by the Behiang village chief, Moi. She says, “We called meetings of over seven border villages and promised that we shall not allow anything like this again. These people come to such remote places leaving their families and the comfort of their homes. For whom if not for our security?”
Between December 3 and 4, around the time the unfortunate incident had unfolded in Nagaland’s Mon district, there was a unique display of emotions at Parbung in the Pherzawl district of Manipur. According to the local media, over 1,700 people, including student leaders, NGOs and women association leaders gathered in front of 36 Assam Rifles camp at Parbung village and strongly protested against shifting of the Assam Rifles post from the village. The paramilitary force is in the process of vacating the base.
Reports have it that village elders from neighbouring Taithul and Lungthulien villages also joined in and braving chilly winter night. “Some women cried bitterly requesting the AR to stay back,” the reports added.
On December 4, a local twitter user who goes by the name @mizozeitgeist tweeted saying, “School students of #Parbung in #Pherzawl dist #Manipur begging the 36 Assam Rifles not to leave them “PLEASE STAY” “DON’T LEAVE US” as news of their withdrawal from Parbung reach them. It may be recalled that valley-based militants UNLF&KCP in 2006 gangraped at least 26 tribal.”
The Twitterati was full of messages urging Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to look at videos emanating out of Parbung calling for their help in stalling the exit of the Assam Riles.
The outpouring of emotions and support for the Assam Rifles is an outcome of a bonhomie which had grown between the inhabitants of Parbung and the Assam Rifles since 2006. On January 20, 2006 Assam Rifles officer, Lt Col. Rajeev Bakshi laid down his life while liberating the Parbung village and the villagers from the UNLF militants and since then in respect of his contribution and those of other Assam Rifles personnel and their families for the village and its people a commemorative football match, the Lt Col. Bakshi Memorial Football Tournament, is organised every year in Parbung.
In contrast, however, the scenes at Mon is one of “non-cooperation with armed forces,” which is likely to be in force till the demands – an investigation into the killings and punishment of the guilty — are met. There’s also a ban on recruitment rally of the Assam Rifles and land owners have been asked to immediately denounce all land agreements with armed forces in Mon district.
According to M Chemyuh Konyak, executive secretary of the Konyak Baptist Church Association, the current situation is not about the liking or not liking the army. He is of the opinion that “It’s simply about justice that people want. The church leader acknowledges the need for army for the security of the country, but the action of the army at Mon’s Tiru village “defies all logic,” especially there is a framework agreement and ceasefire where all political groups, rebels, undergrounds are working hard to be on one table. “In this situation, AFSPA is not needed.”
A local elder says, “The AFSPA needs to go, but then we must also not be blinded by our emotions only. We have to also be in touch with ground reality, be it the problems associated with AFSPA, the continuing extortion by militants, the underdevelopment.”
This may make it all the more relevant for looking back at the Jeevan Reddy commission report, which bats for the repeal of the Act but also unequivocally speaks of not losing sight of “the overwhelming desire of an overwhelming majority of the region that the Army should remain.”
The author is a senior independent journalist and also a researcher on human rights, security and peace studies. He is presently based in Guwahati. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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