Sendra in Bishenpur District, Manipur, in India’s North East and bordering Burma, figures prominently in news in mid-May 2006 not for reasons related to its traditional fame as leisurely tourist spot overlooking the picturesque Loktak Lake, but for a uncanny reason that provoked thousands of questions to everyone’s mind, yet again, on the principles, practices and relevance of Indian democracy, the basic issue of dignity and justice and other questions pertaining to issues of survival as peoples, sensitivity to the culture, way of life and wishes and aspirations of the people of this conflict ridden mountainous region.

Sendra hits news headlines when the villagers of Sendra, mostly womenfolk shed all fears and stormed the camps of the 7th Assam Rifles stationed at Sendra Hilltop, after one of its personnel sexually harasses and attempted to rape a housewife, Laishram Memi, age 25 from Sendra Village on 14 May 2006 when her husband was out fishing at Loktak Lake.

Quite recently in July 2004, a group of womenfolk shed their clothes and stormed the Headquarters of 17 Assam Rifles at Kangla, Imphal after its personnel raped and extra judicially murdered a woman, Thangjam Manorama Chanu on 10 July 2004. The protesting women raised slogans “Come and Rape Us” and “Go Back, Indian Army” as they stormed the camp.

Manipur witnessed intense militarization after she was merged in controversial manner to India in 1949. Attempts of the people of the state to assert their inherent rights for survival and self determination is met with massive militarization, deployment of Indian Armed Forces aided by special emergency legislations. Resistance groups include the United National Liberation Front, Revolutionary Peoples Front.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act , 1958 declared Manipur as ‘disturbed’ and legitimized full-scale operation of Indian Armed Forces with special powers, to even extinguish one’s right to life under mere suspicion and enforced it with blanket legal immunity.

The sexual violence of Laishram Memi at Sendra by military personnel is not the first of its kind in Manipur and cases of women being subjected to sexual harassment and other forms of violence by military personnel are widespread and are well documented by human rights organizations worldwide . The people of Luwangsangbam, Imphal East District, for instance, hardly can erase memories of the rape of one of its women by personnel of 25th Assam Rifles on 11 October 2001.

Many cases of sexual harassment of women went unreported fearing the binds of social fabric and the regulations of cultural and traditional practices. Indeed, women are extremely vulnerable in militarized areas around the world. Women are also left to struggle hard for the survival of their families when their husbands are killed, imprisoned or abducted.

The village of Sendra and other adjoining region, Thanga, Karang has become one of the most militarized zones of Manipur, with the entire hillocks of Sendra, Thanga and Karang possessed by the 7 Assam Rifles, one of the para-military forces deployed for counter insurgency operations. And today every residential area in the state is near or in immediate vicinity of a military camp. And in some areas, the extent of militarization is serious and far overwhelming.

In a mere distance of hardly 5 kilometres from Sangakpham Bazaar and Koirengei Duck Farm in Imphal East District, the land allocated to Security Forces is 470 Acres, 231.47 acres to Assam Rifles at Lamlongei, Matai, Khabam Lamkhai and Luwang sangbam, 74.20 acres at Koirengei old Air field, 50 acres at Koirengei Bazaar given to BSF, 2 acres at Sangakpham to Assam Rifles, 3 Acres at MSRTC Complex to CRPF, 80 acres at Tandan Pukhri Maning, Mantripukhri to CRPF, two acres each at Nilakuthi to Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (6 March 2005, The Sangai Express, English Edition, Manipur) .

And not far from here is the extensive Leimakhong Army base, occupying vast and prime agriculture areas.

Prime agricultural land and resources with considerable social and cultural significance have been sacrificed or taken coercively in many places of the state for military, posing a threat to the physical integrity and cultural survival of the peoples as in the case of forcible occupation of 209.2 acres of land at Mahakabui village, Senapati District, Manipur.

Besides ancestral lands, the militarization process also targets educational complexes and historical and cultural sites. A prime cultural and historical site inside Manipur University, Canchipur, once palace of King Gambhirsing, is now occupied by Assam Rifles and Tombisana School in Imphal Town, is now occupied by the Central Reserve Police Force.

Kangla, the traditional seat of power of the Manipuri kings in Imphal was occupied by the Assam Rifles for a long time. The Indian State unleashed a systematic policy of militarization and terror through counter insurgency operations and in the process every sphere of human life has been affected.

The presence of Indian Army right in the middle of a town or village, a common sight in Manipur interferes severely with peoples daily lives, restricts free movement with check posts, and creates widespread insecurity with unwarranted search, raids and military operations, victimizing many innocent people to extra judicial executions, torture, detentions etc.

Militarization in residential areas has wider and serious implications with the local economy and livelihood and survival issues as restrictions and regulations becomes the order of the day, directing insensitivity and disrespect of ones distinct cultures and other traditions associated with ones traditional ways of life.

And today, residents of Sendra and Thanga suffers their worst nightmare due to military presence in their midst and their revelation of suffering are an account of degradation and humiliation. And today every family of Sendra has a tale to tell of the inconveniences caused by military, each adverse realities reasons for prevailing fear and insecurity among the villagers.

Physical and mental threats and torture of youths by Assam Rifles became widespread. And today, mothers and fathers worry of their sons being tortured and killed anytime and their daughters subjected to sexual harassment. Untimely raids, search in unusual hours and firings in Assam Rifles camps further create insecurity.

And the worst worry is the restrictions on fishing associated with military deployment and the severe impact on local tourism industry, source of revenue for many impoverished local. Fishing in the night and early hours and even day times are now strictly regulated. The Loktak Lake is their ultimate source of livelihood, primarily through fishing and their way of life and culture revolved around their tradition of fishing.

And traditional way of fishing involves setting fish traps and nets primarily in night late hours and harvesting days catch in early morning hours. And now the military deployed at Sendra began to put insensitive restrictions into their way of life. Preparation of fishing ring bandh even during day time is strictly regulated.

And a new writ from the military directed people can no longer live in Huts in Phumdis (floating masses) in Loktak Lake and the new writ means will only lead to more loss of livelihood and source of survival for many people, who depends on the lake for their physical and spiritual survival.

First, the Loktak Hydroelectric Multipurpose Project, commissioned in 1984 inundated thousands of people and displaced them without any rehabilitation and resettlement plan, many of these people naturally moved in to Loktak Lake to eke out their livelihood . And now, the military issued writs to displace them from their source of livelihood.

Sendra as a local tourist spot generates revenue for the impoverished locals and now the military deployment deters tourist arrival and villagers complained that tourist arrival is negligible even in this peak season of May. This will constitute perpetration of double injustice and a clear insensitivity to the suffering of the people and a direct infringement of their right to life.

A serious exploration of militarization and its impact on people in Manipur is mandatory. The latest issue of sexual violence at Sendra is just another manifestation by the Indian military to degrade the entire society and people, women of Manipur and hereby necessitate the importance to consider the manifestations in its entirely, the causes and its impact.

These cases that infringes the dignity and rights of peoples is due to massive military presence, which then immediately related to the Armed Conflict situation in the state.

The incident also brought into focus the pertinent dangers and impact of military in Manipur, the excesses committed, extra judicial executions, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and subsequently the prevalence of impunity, the emergency legislations that empowers the armed forces to operate with immunity and then the question of Impunity.

Another need for serious consideration of the impacts is the issue of Impunity, which is perennial denial of justice in militarized areas. The armed forces, paramilitary groups etc almost always get away with committing horrific human rights abuses without every being prosecuted and the policies of impunity hampers development of fundamental processes of accountability which is the most important component of any democratic society.

Since 1980s, Manipur reels under arrays of emergency legislations and remains outside the framework of protection guaranteed by the constitutions fundamental rights chapter and overridden by the national security provisions.

Specifically, with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) and declaration of Manipur as “Disturbed”, incidents of extrajudicial execution, arbitrary detention, torture and rape, targeting women, children and youths, by the security personnel became rampant and were fully acknowledged by several worldwide human rights organizations .

The culture of impunity is reinforced by ineffectiveness of democratic institutions intended to promote justice, including the National Human Rights Commissions and the Inquiry Commissions instituted in each case of violations. The Supreme Court of India upheld the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 in 1997 under the Indian Constitution .

The Act empowers armed forces of India with special powers, including the right to kill on mere suspicion. It also requires consent of the Central Government for instituting legal prosecution for armed forces personnel involved in abuses. This prevents full redress for violations and reinforces a climate of impunity.

The findings and recommendations of the Commissions of Enquiries, if instituted to cases of excesses of security forces are not legally binding, and as such the Government of Manipur fails to prosecute armed forces involved in violations and excesses. Emergency legislation such as AFSPA is an adversity to modern democracy as it arbitrates the fundamental precept of modern jurisprudence, such as the presumption of innocence till proven guilty.

In 1991 and in 1997, the United Nations Human Rights Committee described section 4 and Article 6 of the AFSPA to be incompatible with articles 6, 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, ratified by India .

One could not comprehend the fact that while Indian Constitution guarantees right to life under Article 21, the world’s largest democracy simultaneously upheld an act that gives powers to take a person’s life on mere suspicion and that is the contradiction of the Indian democracy.

Another interesting development in the state is the increasing militarization of civilian administration. In Manipur, the civilian administration is almost dysfunctional with military increasingly encroaching and taking on civilian affairs. And in Manipur, the army and para military forces compete to organize medical camps, provide agriculture seeds, providing water etc to people where civilian administration has failed to do so.

And the prevailing trend tends increasing towards the consolidation and reinforcement of military laws, rules and objectives over democratic governance and civil administration and with those basic democratic values, principles and practices are bypassed and negated. Then the issue of accountability comes in, when military overrides civilian administration, and then to whom is it accountable to?

And the excessive impunity enjoyed by Indian military is well known worldwide. Everyone will still recall how a mere Army officer from Leimakhong Army Base blackout the entire Imphal Town recently? One still wonders how that irresponsible army officer is being handled, is he prosecuted?

Given the reality of extensive and intensive militarization and impact and intrusion on civilian life in Manipur, the question that emerged pertinently, “Is this Democracy, where there's no accountability, and where there has been no space to accommodate one's wishes and aspirations”. And how long can military continue to curb peoples wishes, voices and sentiments. How long can the military curtail the physical and spiritual space for basic human survival?

Can military extinguish completely the survival of a human race and nations? Or is it possible to arrest the survival and life of peoples completely? And how long can India, one of world’s poorest countries continue to allocate its budget to suppress the wishes and aspirations of the people in Manipur and other parts of North East.

Would not that acting against the very people of India and perpetuation of yet another injustice to the millions and millions of toiling and suffering people across the Indian subcontinent, from Delhi to Kanyakumari, from Calcutta to Kutch.

One need not go too far to understand how people lives in mainland India. What is the symbolism of increasing violence in the heart of India and who are the people who picks up violence in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and the list is endless. This requires a serious rethinking on the part of all, both people living here, in mainland India and the rest of the world, to collectively find justice and truth and to collectively find justice, respecting rights and with full sensitivity and respect of ones wishes and aspirations.

Because military can never suppress peoples spirit, courage and determination and yearning for justice. Military cannot crush the hopes and aspirations of peoples worldwide to gain respect for their cultures, to assert their rights to traditional lands and to demand recognition and self-determination. And militarization and imposition of an array of special legislations, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, National Security Act etc has singularly failed in its stated objectives.

Insurgency has not only continued, but has also thrived and spread in the entire Northeastern region outside Manipur. Militarization only undermined civil space and the immunity extended to the military has only eroded the space for democratic and peaceful dissent. Military rule is inherently arbitrary and undemocratic and in Manipur, the Indian Constitution and the democratic process are non-existent concepts.

When constitutional and democratic processes are suspended, there is no obstacle to violence and that violence prevails with impunity in the state. Prevalence of impunity with widespread and systematic killings amounts to crimes against humanity and those Indian military involved will not subjected to International Criminal Tribunals for prosecutions of their crimes after cessation of conflict.

History bears enough testimony to how militarization only side-lined all democratic practices, traditional norms, ones culture and ones wishes and aspirations. And seeking solution to the incident at Sendra cannot just be a mere prosecution of the Assam Rifles personnel involved in the violence.

The pervading fears and insecurity of the people of Sendra, Thanga and rest of Manipur, has to be removed and their sense of terror has to be done away with. And that means removing the military from Manipur and that requires resolving the ongoing conflict politically.

The political nature of the armed conflict of Manipur has already been recognized even by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in hearing of India’s second periodic report to ICCPR, recommending the Government of India to deal the political issues of Manipur politically and not militarily.

Various proponents of peace, equity and justice have acknowledged the political nature of the armed conflict situation in Manipur and emphasized considering the wishes and aspiration of the indigenous peoples for a peaceful and a durable resolution.

Respecting their inherent right to self determination – as pronounced by several international Human Rights standards – is imperative. The determination and courage of people of Manipur striving for justice notwithstanding the suppression and human rights violations in the hands of military shall always grow to rekindle hopes for the day where we enjoy our fundamental rights and freedom.