The killing and anti-AFSPA stand Manipur back in 2004
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A child born back then would now be a strapping youngster of 22 but to the professionals engaged with the Imphal based newspapers, July 15, 2004 must still be fresh in their mind. The situation was tense for it was on July 10 of the same year that the battered and bullet riddled body of Thangjam Manorama was discovered after she was picked up by personnel of the 17th Assam Rifles the previous night from her Bamon Kampu residence. Tense it certainly was, but what unfolded on July 15 was something no one was prepared for, at least in the office of The Sangai Express. The news that was received at the office of this newspaper was that some womenfolk had gathered near the western gate of Kangla, as a follow up of the course of agitation against the excesses of the Assam Rifles personnel. A reporter was promptly asked to be ready, that is go to Kangla side and see what is there to be reported. What followed has certainly gone down in the history of Manipur, for it was on this day that 12 womenfolk, all meira paibis, disrobed in front of Kangla, emblazoned with words such as ‘Indian Army Rape Us.’ This obviously sent the hand held cameras clicking, for back in 2004 the high megapixel smart phones were yet to come to Manipur and the landline phones at the office of this newspaper started ringing every minute, so much so that even ideas of keeping the phones off the hook were entertained. The nude protest gave a fresh push to the demand to roll back the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and it was this singular act that prompted the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to personally fly down to Imphal and address the media inside a packed conference hall at the Lok Bhavan. Back in 2004 it was Raj Bhavan but there was not even the hint of anything Raj or Royal about it, for it was a place where the media interacted with the who is who of the country, including the then Army Chief General Shanker Roy Choudhury much earlier. Not unexpectedly a number of media persons based in places like Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata rushed to Imphal to get a first hand account of the situation as well as cover the visit of the Prime Minister. This was how it was 22 years earlier. And it was during a media interaction at the then Raj Bhavan that the Prime Minister announced the formation of Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission of Inquiry to study the feasibility of rolling back the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a demand which was fast gaining traction. What has happened to the findings of the Commission is something which only the Government can tell and perhaps the then Army Chief General JJ Singh.
A brief account of the event that unfolded on July 15, 2004 and which definitely gave a fresh push to the growing demand that AFSPA should be done away with from the soil of Manipur. The then Congress Government in Imphal went ahead and repealed the Army Act from the areas that come under seven Assembly segments within the Imphal Municipal Corporation, an act which merits a recall, for if the grapevine is to be believed, it was done so against the inputs of the security forces. A trait which many would like to pit against the present BJP dispensation in Manipur. Year 2004 was significant in many ways. The Army Act enabled a group of Assam Rifles personnel to pick up a young woman from her residence and later kill her; a fresh push was given to the demand that AFSPA be repealed from the soil of Manipur; it gave birth to the earth shaking nude protest before the gate of the Assam Rifles at Kangla; and very importantly it goaded the Prime Minister of the country to personally come to Imphal, address the media and announce the formation of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission and fielded questions from the media. All significant and it is in taking this significance a notch or two higher that July 15 has been set aside as Anti-Repression Day and to many the modern history of Manipur will never be complete without a reference to Thangjam Manorama and the nude protest at Kangla on July 15, 2004. This was Manipur 22 years back, but has things improved ? A question to which there will be no easy answer.
A brief account of the event that unfolded on July 15, 2004 and which definitely gave a fresh push to the growing demand that AFSPA should be done away with from the soil of Manipur. The then Congress Government in Imphal went ahead and repealed the Army Act from the areas that come under seven Assembly segments within the Imphal Municipal Corporation, an act which merits a recall, for if the grapevine is to be believed, it was done so against the inputs of the security forces. A trait which many would like to pit against the present BJP dispensation in Manipur. Year 2004 was significant in many ways. The Army Act enabled a group of Assam Rifles personnel to pick up a young woman from her residence and later kill her; a fresh push was given to the demand that AFSPA be repealed from the soil of Manipur; it gave birth to the earth shaking nude protest before the gate of the Assam Rifles at Kangla; and very importantly it goaded the Prime Minister of the country to personally come to Imphal, address the media and announce the formation of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission and fielded questions from the media. All significant and it is in taking this significance a notch or two higher that July 15 has been set aside as Anti-Repression Day and to many the modern history of Manipur will never be complete without a reference to Thangjam Manorama and the nude protest at Kangla on July 15, 2004. This was Manipur 22 years back, but has things improved ? A question to which there will be no easy answer.