A move to intensify state terrorism and violence

The Manipur government announced on May 3 that it is planning to create a special vigilante force, by recruiting residents of Heirok and Lilong Chajing, allegedly to protect them from kidnappings, extortions and attacks by underground militant groups. This follows the gruesome killing of three youth in Heirok in Thoubal district of Manipur on March 24 and a person in Lilong Chajing in Imphal West district on April 23, by members of underground militant groups. The residents of these areas have been angrily protesting against the killings and demanding that the government ensure their security. 

Top officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs visited Imphal in early May, to work out the arrangements with the state government. According to news reports, the state Cabinet has agreed to recruit 500 local ‘volunteers’, 300 from Heirok and 200 from Lilong Chajing. The state police department will impart training to them on the use of weapons and techniques. These volunteers will be called ‘special police officers' (SPOs) and will be deployed in their respective localities. They will be armed with .303 rifles and other weapons. They will be given a stipend of Rs. 3000 per month, as well as uniforms, food and motor cycles. The SPO would function under the supervision of the concerned district superintendent of police.

All over Manipur, people have come out opposing and condemning this announcement of the government to recruit, arm and train SPOs. Residents of Heirok and Lilong Chajing have denounced it. The Peoples Democratic Movement and the United Committee Manipur (UCM) have also condemned the Manipur government’s decision. The Apunba Lup, a group of 32 mass organizations, has strongly condemned the government’s decision and organized a mass rally on May 11 to demand the repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), an end to state terrorism and for a solution through political dialogue.

People’s Voice joins political groups and other mass organisations in Manipur and the north-east, in denouncing this move of the government to create a special vigilante force, allegedly to protect people from underground militant groups. Behind this move is the nefarious aim of the Indian state to divert the attention of the people of the region from the main source of terrorism and insecurity, i.e., the state, to attack the popular struggle against the AFSPA and to make people slaughter one another.

In its efforts to crush the aspirations of the people of Manipur and other north-eastern states, the Indian state deploys various methods – open state terrorism, untrammelled powers enjoyed by the army under the AFSPA and the rape, murder and loot of innocent people, in the name of “counter-insurgency”. Despite mass protests in Manipur and other states demanding scrapping of the colonial, draconian AFSPA, the UPA government, like its predecessor, the NDA government, continues to justify this law and all the atrocities committed under it. 

The activities of various underground militant groups directly assist the Indian state in justifying state terrorism and continuation of the fascist laws like AFSPA. It is widely known that several of these groups are closely connected with ruling class parties and politicians in the state. Apart from this, the Indian state directly organizes various underground militant groups, to spread terror and confusion among the people. In close coordination with the intelligence agencies of the state, they carry out murders, kidnappings, extortions etc. Their activities serve to justify the open state terror and create confusion about who is the real source of terrorism. They serve to sow division and suspicion among the people and set back the broad united struggle against state terror, in defence of the rights of the people.

The Indian state, the central and state governments have no answer for why, in spite of so much army presence, in spite of the use of draconian laws like the AFSPA, in spite of the ‘heightened intelligence’ they boast of, they are still incapable of preventing terrorist attacks on innocent people. It is the responsibility of the state to provide safety and security to all its citizens. This is what the people of the affected villages as well as people all over Manipur and in other parts of the country are demanding. If the state, with its huge armed presence and sophisticated systems, cannot provide security to the people, then it is indeed hard to imagine that civilian youth can be armed and trained in a few days to protect people from terrorist attacks!

The experience of Chhattisgarh, where the Indian state, in the name of arming the adivasis to protect themselves, has since 2005, funded and armed the notorious Salwa Judum to spread terror, divide the adivasis and make them kill one another, is a chilling warning of what such a step by the government will mean for the people. And just as in Chhattisgarh, all those opposing the state terror and the Salwa Judum are being attacked and incarcerated by the state, so also, in Manipur, human rights activists opposing this recent move of the government are being arrested and victimized. On May 7, the police arrested Manipur Forward Youth Front president, on the charge of making ‘seditious statements’, at a public rally held in Imphal to denounce this move of the government and expose its real motive.

Both overt and covert state terror serve the same aim of the ruling class, of perpetuating their system of ruthless exploitation and plunder, by creating divisions among the people and attacking the struggle in defence of  our rights. Recruiting touts in the form of a special vigilante force, to make people kill one another, serves the same purpose. It has nothing to do with providing security to people.

The people of Manipur have had bitter experience of state terrorism in its different forms, including the terrorism of so called militant groups. The aim of both is to depoliticize the people, and margnialize them from politics. The aim of both is to leave the arena of politics in the hands of the ruling class, so that the problems confronting the people never get addressed. However, the indications from Manipur are that the people are awakening and uniting to fight state terrorism, for a political solution to their problems. All serious political forces in Manipur need to address this situation.