No one can be under any illusion as to the UPA government’s policy towards Manipur. It is to crush the spirit of the brave people of the state and their unity through unparalleled open state terrorism as well as by inciting individual acts of terrorism. It is to crush the struggle of the people of the state for dignity, for the right to life, for the right to livelihood, for the protection of their resources and their heritage, for the protection of their national rights which have been brutally violated by the Indian state. Since the cold blooded killing of a youth and a pregnant woman by men of the Indian Reserve Battalion on July 23, 2009, Manipur has once again erupted in mass protests involving all sections of the people. Women, youth, school students, as well as working people in different sectors have been participating in these protests. Both the people of the Valley and the hills are united in these protests. The people are demanding that those responsible for these murders and those who have backed these murderers in uniform, in particular the Chief Minister Ibobi Singh should be punished.

On August 24, 2009, school students across the capital Imphal organized sit-ins outside their school gates carrying placards like “Resign killer CM Ibobi,” “Punish criminal commandos” and “Repeal Armed Forces Special Powers Act”. Meanwhile, women have been organizing torch light marches in the night, violating the curfew, in their traditional form of protest.

The cold blooded killing of the youth Sanjit by police commandoes, on July 23, 2009, caught frame by frame on camera, has brought to the fore the ugly face of state terrorism unleashed by the Central State against the people of Manipur. This state terrorism has only escalated since the beginning of 2007, a period in which the Manipur government claims to have killed 751 “insurgents”.  Of these 225 people have been killed in the first seven months of 2009. In addition, 65 people have been killed allegedly by insurgents of different groups as part of their kidnapping and extortion campaign.

The people of Manipur want an end to state terrorism, including the extortions and killings by some so called underground groups carried out with state support. Since the beginning of 2008, there have been hundreds of protests by the people against extortions and kidnappings by private groups, apart from the protests against the openly state organized murders.

Just this week, people caught a man who had thrown bombs at an Imphal hospital, injuring patients and their relatives. The Manipur police have admitted he was a soldier of the Indian Reserve Battalion, who was working in liaison with some underground group. He has admitted to having carried out various other bombings in other hospitals and clinics.

Many of the so called encounter killings that have taken place before Sanjit’s murder have been questioned as fake encounters by the people. Organising extortions and fake encounters have become a preferred policy. According to the Indian Express, Manipur Police swept the August 15 “gallantry awards” list with 74 awards, as opposed to 138 for policemen from other parts of India! Almost all of these awards were for so called encounters. These gallantry award decorations fast-track promotions and rewards. The Manipur commando force has swelled four times in four years — from 400 to 1,600 personnel.

What the Indian state has done, in the wake of the massive protests by the people of Manipur against the Assam Rifles and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, is to create a fascist commando force consisting of Manipuris who will murder, rape and carry out extortions, in the pattern of the infamous Punjab police raised by KPS Gill.

The state terrorism in Manipur has gathered momentum after the UPA government sent a high level central team to the state and ordered Chief Minister Mr Ibobi Singh to crush all opposition to “developmental activities”. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Chidambaram have been extremely proactive in the “war against insurgency”, in the name of which the state wants to crush the struggles of the people against the open loot of their land and natural resources.

Manipur and Bangladesh are rich in natural gas, and so is Myanmar bordering on Manipur. The bourgeoisie wants to exploit these resources. Furthermore, the bourgeoisie is competing with China in a look east policy towards the countries of ASEAN. All this requires the crushing of the resistance struggles of the peoples. The struggle of the Manipuri people is considered one of the major roadblocks to the bourgeoisie’s imperialist goals in this part of the world. This is why state terrorism is being escalated.

The struggle of the people of Manipur against state terrorism is a just struggle which deserves the support of progressive forces all over India and the world.