Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur
—For attention of the Imphal Bench of the Guwahati High Court—
Balijit Malik
I have been on a working cum recreational visit to Imphal and Wunghon village in Yaingangpokpi, Ukhrul since February 1st, 2010. The following observations-questions are presented here for the benefit and information of the High Court, civil-defence authorities and the general public :
1. Can, does, should theAFSPAover-ride laws such as the Atrocities and Abuse of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste Acts?
2. Does the AFSPA entitle the Armed Security Forces to pollute the environment and disturbingly violate the sensitive Ecology of Manipur?
3. Does, should the AFSPA require the security forces to be educated, oriented and sensitised regarding the religions, cultures and anthro-historical fabric of Manipur’s Scheduled and Non-Scheduled streams of society?
4. Is it legal and correct for armed police-paramilitary forces to be under Army command? Moreover, do such defence forces come under the ambit of, and report to the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Home Affairs? Is there not a little confusion here vis-a-vis control and command-civil and parliamentary privilege and authority?
5. In the eyes of the public, all forces, overt-convert-underground-overground attired in camouflage gear; add up to being MILITARY. This uniformed and uniformed presence of armed personnel creates a psychosis of fear and insecurity which goes against the very grain and purpose of the security forces to provide security in the first place.
6. Does the AFSPA condone the Armed Forces to violate the Motor Vehicle Act, and does the Unarmed Police Force have the power to check and prosecute such violations. Instead, how many such prosecutions have been effected to date?
In this context, it is there for all to see that many Armed Forces vehicles are either unnumbered or wrongly numbered. Moreover, they speed through villages at great speed, thus, endangering human and animal life for no rhyme or reason.
7. Does the AFSPA, (should it), require the forces to follow building regulations under the Cantonments Act of 1924 and regulations pertaining to Military Stations? Also, does the AFSPA, (can it), over-ride Land Laws pertaining to the 5th and 6th schedules of the Indian Constitution? It would be in order for the judicial authorities and public to know the number of Cantonments and Military Stations in Manipur that together constitute the infrastructure and paraphernalia for housing, training and operations.
8. Should the AFSPA permit the Forces, especially the officer-cadre, to indulge in a culture of waste-luxury-arrogance even vis-a-vis the men under its control? In this context members of the judiciary and select public representatives would do well to visit the Golf Club of the Assam Rifles located in Langdon Hills.
It is indeed shocking to see the jawans performing various menial tasks as the officers try to drive, swing, wedge amd put... many a divot to replace and repair... on 52 acres of free real-estates at a minimum cost of 15,000 liters of water per day! It is mildly ironical that the Assam Rifles golf course is part of a complex designated as a 220 acre Environment Park complete with a bitumen concrete helicopter landing pad that is home to daily landings. What is more, these mean machines of the Forces land in close proximity to the lodgings of officers’ families and those of lesser personnel down the line. What such decibelic music must do to the ear-drums and mental peace of forces families can be imagined without too much imaginations.
9. Manipur is supposed to be a State with Prohibition in place for industrially produced contract liquor. Does this prohibition apply to the Armed Forces, or is there a provision in AFSPA that exempts them from this particular law of the land?
According to Police Intelligence the single largest smuggler of contract liquor in Mizoram happens to be the civ.il-military forces—Assam Rifles? Is this also true of Manipur, or do other formations give them a run for their money?
10. Finally, I have it from reliable intelligence that in many parts of Manipur, businessmen and institutions come under brazen extortionate demands of money and, sundry services from armed men in fatigues and camouflage. And that too in full view of the security forces that are deployed like crawling ants all over the State.
Such a situation speaks for itself as it does not only for the AFSPA; but also for the general effectiveness of the armed forces. Can the people afford such rank inefficiency and ineffectiveness from a section of the State that chews up a gross percentage of the budget with the least accountability and morality?
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Women and a Feudal Society
—Periscope on Pakistan—
ADNI Bureau
The coexistence of women fighter pilots and the practice of karokari or honour killing underscores the ambivalent status of women in Pakistan.
News (08/03/10) editorial read : “As the world marks International Women’s Day women in Pakistan have little to celebrate as they continue to endure violence, including murder in the name of honour. On March 5, this newspaper reported a conference in Lahore being told that the Government had failed to check violence against women, which registered a 13 per cent increase in 2009 compared to what it had been in 2008. According to the statistics made public at the conference, as many as 928 cases of rape and 604 cases of the so-called honour killing were reported from across the country last year. The social and economic exploitation that women in general suffer also adds to their plight, as do lack of education, fewer employment opportunities, social taboos and misperceived notions of modesty."
“The Government is yet to mean what it says about protecting women against violence. Its failure so far betrays lack of seriousness to tackle the problem. A society where such violence is abhorred and the perpetrator is taken to task will remain elusive until the Government does away with a culture of impunity as well as discriminatory laws. There is a pressing need for change in the way women are treated in society. That change must first take place within the family. Educational institutions and the media could also play a vital role in changing public mindset to a point where violence against women would readily invite obloquy and legal action.”
Sania Nishtar wrote in the Opinion column of News (08/03/10): “Although effective governance—or the lack thereof—has an impact on every aspect of our societal, social and economic lives, nowhere is its imprint more vivid than in determining the status of women in a society. This comment uses the International Women’s Day, which is being globally observed today as a peg to briefly outline the linkages. This year’s theme of the International Women’s day, ‘Equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all’, is particularly relevant to governance, since upholding women’s political, economic and social rights and striving towards achieving equity and equality of opportunities in a national political context cannot be ensured without effective governance.
“Before we examine the relationship, let us be reminded that the status of women in Pakistan is fraught with an ironic and highly polarised paradox, implicit within which are many inequities and inequalities. These are evident in many areas. On the one hand, women are well-represented in Parliament, but on the other, exceptions notwithstanding, this largely represents an extension of elite and feudal capture. The professional institutions of higher learning have 50 per cent or higher enrolment of women, but at the same time, there is a literacy gap of 45 per cent between men and women and educational opportunities for rural women remain elusive. Similarly, we see a growing number of women in the traditional, male-dominated professions such as engineering, law, medicine, business, the police and the military."
But alongside this trend, the nationally representative labour market statistics speak of gender discrepancies, under-remuneration, systemic impediments to mainstreaming women into the country’s workforce and restricted employment options outside of the informal sectors for socially marginalised and disadvantaged women. Furthermore, it can be argued—and correctly so with reference to a segment belonging to the higher social stratum—that women appear freer than ever to express themselves in the choice of appearance, speech, clothing, arts and entertainment and that they are becoming increasingly progressive, empowered and globalised.
However, many others in their close geographic midst are relegated to the strictest confines of purdah, isolation and disempowerment. Moreover, many Pakistani women of today enjoy a better status than most of the Middle Eastern women. But at the same time, these trends, which are true for a minority, haven’t changed some of the deep-seated social behaviours and fundamental prejudices against women, which translate both into discrimination as well as some of the severest forms of violence.
Some may argue that violence against women is globally pervasive. Indeed, it may come as no surprise that 90 per cent of women in Pakistan encounter domestic violence and that there are an estimated eight cases of rape every 24 hours. However, what is unfortunately unique to Pakistan is the prevalence of some horrific crimes.
We generally tend to attribute all these abhorrent practices to our tribal and feudal traditions and norms and to the systemic subordination of women vis-à-vis men. That may well be the case to some extent.
However, what is not fully appreciated is the role that many other systemic factors play in perpetuating these traditions. Poverty, illiteracy, and social exclusion have a chicken and egg relationship with organised vested interests, of which feudalism is a part, and which promote state capture. A democratic dispensation should be able to break through the strongholds of vested interests, but unfortunately, it sometimes helps to strengthen them.
If the State was governed effectively over the years and Pakistan had sped on the road to development with its economic and social benefits accruing to its population, as has been the case with many Asian countries; if the State had delivered education universally to its population and if an honest Government had weakened the organised vested interests that form the bedrock of undesirable tribal and feudal traditions, perhaps heinous crimes such as honour killings and burying alive, would not be condoned as social customs and tribal traditions today. In the absence of these fundamental attributes, which determine the status of women in a society, the impact of legal reforms to improve the status of women introduced by successive Governments has been, at best, marginal."
In sum, the status of women is deeply linked with many elements of the society—legal, political, religious, economic, and cultural. Governance can play a key role in shaping most if not all of the societal characteristics through ensuring respect for women’s political, economic and social rights.
“So, whilst the enlightened women’s groups draw attention to horrific crimes and discriminatory practices against women—honour killings, live burials, disfigurement by acid, stove deaths, and other undesirable practices, such as childhood marriages, watta satta, vini, marriage to the Quran—to mark the International Women’s Day, we should be reminded that quantum leaps in addressing these challenges can only be made with slow and steady structural solutions.
Dawn (08/03/10) editorial : “International Women’s Day comes as a reminder that Pakistan still has a long way to go before equality of rights and opportunities is translated into reality. There is no denying the fact that the status of women in the country has improved considerably since 1947 but given the very low baseline from which women started we cannot afford to be complacent. At a time when goals of gender equality have been set universally, it is a pity that Pakistan is lagging behind in reaching the Millennium Development Goals that are to a great extent directed at closing the existing gender gap in society."
The real test of justice for women lies in the opportunities they are provided on the ground to obtain education, healthcare, employment and legal rights. It is not enough that these rights are enjoyed only on paper. Women should actually have access to these services which can facilitate their progress that in turn allows society to develop. If in this area Pakistan has failed to advance, the reason lies in the backwardness and oppression of its women who constitute half its population. The positive aspect is that women are now themselves struggling to rise.