December 16-31, 2006

No to the barbaric Armed Forces Special Powers Act!

Statement of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, 4 December 2006

The UPA Government headed by Manmohan Singh has finally come out with its answer to the unanimous demand of the people of Manipur and of all freedom loving people of the country. Hiding behind a bullet-proof enclosure in Imphal, Manmohan Singh made it clear that the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act is here to stay.

Sixteen months after the whole of Manipur went up in flames following the barbaric rape and killing of Th. Manorama Devi by the armed forces, the hated law under which such acts are regularly committed with impunity has got a renewed sanction from Delhi. Sixteen months after men and women, the young and the old, poured out onto the streets of Manipur day after day demanding the total withdrawal of the AFSPA, the Indian government has made it clear that it has no intention of acceding to their just demand. The UPA government just used the intervening period to try and cool down the situation by making soothing noises about how it would look into the grievances of the Manipuri people. The Communist Ghadar Party of India denounces the UPA government for its utterly anti-people stand and actions, and reiterates its demand for the complete removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the statute books.

In refusing to repeal the Act, the UPA government has had to reject the recommendations of its own committee appointed to look into the issue after the escalation of the long struggle of the Manipuri people last year. It is known that the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee had recommended scrapping of the Act while incorporating some of its provisions into other laws. The UPA government could not tolerate even this recommendation – it could not even table the report in Parliament – because it went against what the government had decided from the very beginning, which was to keep the AFSPA come what may.

To a people who have suffered so much because of this Act, Manmohan Singh had the gall to stand in front of them and say that his government would try to make some of its provisions “more humane”! How does one make a pistol or a machine-gun staring someone in the face more “humane”? Every Manipuri youth, or woman, knows what it is like to live with the reality of daily harassment and humiliation at the hands of the armed forces. By merely removing the provision of “shoot to kill” from the wording of the law, as Manmohan Singh promised, this reality is not going to change. It will not change because this government, like other governments at the Centre before it, will not relent unless the indomitable people of Manipur completely give up their demand for their national rights, for their democratic rights, for a life of security and dignity free from the jackboots of the armed forces.

The fact that such an outrageous law as the AFSPA can remain nearly 50 years on the statute books is a damning indictment of this ‘world’s largest democracy’. It shows that even the most basic rights, such as the right to life, and what is termed as the “due process of law”, are not considered inalienable rights of every human being in this country. The most basic rights are denied to whole sections of the people at the whim of the executive. This is the situation facing millions of our people in different parts of India, whether they are from other parts of the North East, or Kashmir, the tribal peoples or those fighting in defence of their land or livelihood. People from all parts of the country should get together and fight as one against such blatant denial of our rights by the rulers. The Communist Ghadar Party of India considers that the struggle of the Manipuri people and others in the North East against the AFSPA and the rule of the armed forces is an extremely important part of our common struggle for a new political order, which will enshrine human rights for all and in which the peoples will be free to determine their own destiny.

The categoric refusal of the UPA government to accede to the popular demand to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is a challenge to all of us.. In the weeks and months to come, we must find ways to further escalate our struggle and strengthen our fighting unity in defence of our rights. The Communist Ghadar Party of India salutes the indomitable spirit of the people of Manipur, and pledges to continue to work wholeheartedly for the withdrawal of the AFSPA and all other draconian laws; and for an end to army rule in Manipur and other parts of the country.