Once again, a district of India’s very dear seven sisters bears the burden of a mistake laying down the bodies of 14 innocent civilians.
On 4th December, the Indian Military situated in the north-eastern region, by caring politicians over decades, mistakenly committed a murder.
Thirteen civilians were shot dead in a district in Nagaland at an Indo-Myanmar border.
Fifteen people, including 14 civilians and one special forces personnel, have been killed in the district. A murder case has also been filed. The Nagaland government has formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police to probe the incident. The case has been transferred to the crime branch police station.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) passed on 11th September 1958 by the Indian Parliament is a sibling to the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance 1942 enacted by the British to quell the Quit India Movement.
The act grants the Indian Armed Forces special powers to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”. According to the Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976, once declared ‘disturbed’, the area has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of 3 months.
The law is baggage of spite and impunity for the same. Despite their different linkages to India, higher organisations have disagreed with the provisions of the act.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee in 1991 questioned the constitutionality of the AFSPA under Indian law and how it could be justified in light of Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR. On 23rd March 2009, UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay asked India to repeal the AFSPA. She termed the law “dated and colonial-era law that breaches contemporary international human rights standards.”
The North East- A subject to selective limelight
As the news gains momentum amongst the masses, the authorities are obligated to present them on a larger scale. Unfortunately, most of the Indian media sleeps on profit beds and lets the news of importance rot in distress of the sufferers and very few who care.
Civilians murdered, dead bodies sent to families, ministers tweeted, committees made—all of it according to convenience. The North-Eastern states are often ignored unless an attention gaining event spurs up the political intents.
A similar plot applies to the recent killing of innocent civilians. The repeal of AFSPA is brought to the limelight, and a repeal of the draconian law is demanded. Most of it has been in action for the past few days.
The questionable part is if India is bothered about its seven sisters (as it calls them). Is the distress faced even a thought in our heads? It will not be long till the issue is put in a never-ending waiting queue and selected as a favourite one when the elections knock at the door. The debate surge, the blame game takes place only when the politicians and their bribed media houses decide.
Political participation of the elected is subjective to most of India, especially the North East. Acute atrocities sponsored by collective incompetence
If peace is the goal to be achieved, then the old world, spite filled, discriminatory laws are not the way around. Situating an army in a ‘disturbed area’ could be one aspect, but moving forward by making it immune from accountability is against human rights. It is not a foreign land mission but a state of this very union.
Numerous laws equally dreadful continue to hold guns to our heads to date. Creating scene of similar genres with a slight twist in plots these laws continue to bring terrible news to Indian families. Collective incompetence of the various governance spheres ensures state abuse and oppression through the same means while the spectators with short attention spans listen. Moreover, forget by the next elections.
