January 16-31, 2007

How can the people of Manipur respond to the elections being imposed on them by the Centre?

The announcement that elections will be held to the Manipur legislative assembly in February has come hot on the heels of the Union government's declaration that the state will continue to be subject to the notorious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. What this means is that Manipuris will be required to go through the motions of electing a new legislature and choosing a government, while the rule of the Army and the Central paramilitary forces, and the denial of the basic civil liberties of the people of Manipur, continues with no let-up.

The reality in Manipur is that the state is governed by the armed forces, and the formal government there has little or no power to do anything against their wishes. The so-called Strategic Operations Group, consisting of top bureaucrats, police officials and intelligence officials, are the virtual civilian government. At the same time, like elsewhere in India, the people are also subject to the antics of a corrupt political process in which various parties and groups compete for the spoils of office. This political process has no relevance to the serious problems of poverty, acute unemployment, deprivation and backwardness that plague the people. The military and civilian authorities together are responsible for the fact that no Manipuri today feels secure in his or her own town or village, that they cannot walk freely without being stopped and harassed day and night, that Manipuri boys and girls have no choice but to leave the state in order to get a decent education, that the people are deprived of even basic necessities.

During election time in Manipur, the exactions and oppression that people have to bear only increases. The presence of the armed forces is strengthened even further, as a large number of forces are brought in from outside. Despite Manipur being such a small state, the election is being conducted in three phases. This is for no other reason than to enable the Centre to achieve a concentration of armed forces in a particular area at a given time. It is not hard to imagine what effect this will have on the lives of the people. A great amount of money changes hands during elections, and extortion demands by police, armed forces personnel, goons of political parties and private armies, increase, making the situation even more intolerable. And at the end of it all, the people are still not masters of their own destiny, while the Indian state gloats that it has succeeded in affirming “democracy” once more in this troubled state

The people of Manipur, workers and peasants, women and youth, the intelligentsia and the shopkeepers, have all unitedly been waging a most persistent struggle for an end to the terrorist rule of the Indian Armed Forces over their land. The entire people of India are now aware of the fascist rule in Manipur and the denial of rights to a whole people, and are demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. However, the will of the people of Manipur has not been respected. Neither has the will of the MLA's of the outgoing assembly, all of whom expressed opposition to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Then what is the meaning of holding elections supposedly to ascertain 'the will of the people' in Manipur?

Protests and rallies have been taking place on a daily basis these days demanding the immediate repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The people are saying - no elections unless this act is repealed. This is an entirely just demand. But the Indian state is not interested in conceding this. It is going ahead with the elections to show its might, and its complete contempt for the people of Manipur and the people of India. It is reported in the media that the Manipur Chief Minister Ibobi Singh has said he wants the AFSPA repealed. All the political parties participating in these elections, particularly Congress and BJP claim to stand for the repeal of AFSPA. But the issue they must be made to answer is that if the elected government of Manipur has no powers to repeal this act, then what is the meaning of electing a new legislature and forming a new government?

The people of Manipur should work out ways to make their own demands – especially the repeal of the AFSPA for which they have struggled so bravely – the agenda of this election. They should develop the organisational forms to achieve this. For example, they could demand from all those standing for elections a commitment to hold a referendum in the state on the unconditional repeal of the AFSPA as the first act of the newly constituted legislature. They could also seek commitment from all the elected legislators to resign immediately after the referendum, to show the contempt of the people for a political process that completely negates the national rights of the people of Manipur.

Thus, even though the elections are being organised to legitimize the status quo, the people of Manipur can make use of the opportunity to further their cause. They can use the elections not only to campaign and work for the repeal of the hated AFSPA, but also to assert their will, and advance their fight for national rights and justice. In so doing, they will win the respect and support of millions of freedom and justice–loving people from all parts of India.