Manipur rights activists warn Team Anna

GUWAHATI: Human rights activists in Manipur have cautioned Team Anna to be careful while negotiating with the Centre over the Lok Pal bill and asked them not to blindly trust the government without studying their real intention.

They cited the movement in Manipur against Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in 2004 over the rape and murder of Manorama Devi by Assam Rifles personnel. The agitation ended after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to replace AFSPA with a more humane law. But, nothing has been done by the centre so far and the act still remains.

"Team Anna need to be cautious with Prime Minister's assurances as his promise in regards to AFSPA is yet to be realized," said Babloo Loitongbam, an activist of the Imphal-based Human Rights Alert."If the Prime Minister gave assurances to Team Anna on Lokpal bill, we can only hope Singh keeps his words on a strong anti-corruption law for the country," he added.

Manipuris had a bitter experience with the anti-AFSPA movement when they trusted PM's assurances. At a meeting in November 2004 with the leaders of Apunba Lup, which spearheaded the anti-AFSPA agitation, Singh assured them that AFSPA will be replaced by a more humane law. The Prime Minister's Office even issued an official statement on it.

The rape and murder of Manorama Devi in July 2004 led to some elderly Manipuri women staging a naked protest in front of Assam Rifles headquarters at Kangla Fort in Imphal. This ignited the anti-AFSPA movement in Manipur and the agitation ended with PM's assurance in November 2004.

"The Centre had also constituted Justice (Retd.) Jeevan Reddy Committee, which submitted its report in June 2005 recommending the repeal of AFSPA. But, the Centre has not done anything to either repeal or amend the act," Babloo said.

Surjit Chongtham, who was part of the Apunba Lup delegation that met PM in 2004, also cautioned Team Anna on trusting the government's promises without verifying their real intention. "We had bad experiences. Despite Singh assuring us a more humane law, we till today are experiencing the draconian law and human right abuses continues," he said.

However, Lokendra Arambam, noted Manipuri theatre director who led Apunba Lup team at the PM's meeting, said the Centre would not be able to ignore Anna Hazare's movement. But, he wanted Team Anna to take a cautious approach.

"The Centre's attitude towards marginalized people or those living in periphery is not encouraging. In Anna's case, he is getting the support of mainstream and the centre just cannot ignore him," said Arambam, who felt Anna was fighting for a good cause.

Regarding the demand of AFSPA's repeal, Arambam said the Ccentre was ignoring it as the issue does not affect the mainstream and only affected those in the periphery like northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.