MPP rallies against excesses of AR personnel
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 04: Along with taking out a protest rally in condemnation of the excesses committed by the Assam Rifles personnel on the people of Umathel area in the aftermath of the September 30 ambush, leaders of the Manipur People's Party (MPP) have appealed to the Governor for exerting pressures on the Central leaders for discussing the report of the Jeevan Reddy Commission set up to review the provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act during the forthcoming winter session of the Parliament.

The protest rally was taken out on the roads of Imphal today decrying the atrocities of the Assam Rifles personnel on the innocent people of Umathel and its surrounding areas.

Rally staged by the MPP to denounce AR excesses

Led jointly by party president Dr L Chandramani and party MLAs namely Dr Ng Bijoy, Dr I Ibohalbi and RK Anand, the protest rally was attended by around 300 party workers.

The protestors carried placards and banners with slogans demanding removal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act and decrying violation of human rights by the security forces.

After the rally, a delegation of the oldest regional party in the State went to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor Dr SS Sidhu.

The party leaders also appealed to the Governor for exerting pressures on the Central leaders for tabling the report of the Jeevan Reddy Commission formed to review the provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act for discussion during the forthcoming winter session of the Parliament.

Earlier talking to mediapersons, former Deputy Chief Minister and party president Dr L Chandramani said despite the claim of being the most disciplined force in the world, Assam Rifles has been acting just the opposite in Manipur and committing excesses on the innocent people with immunity granted under the inhumane Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Reiterating the party's commitment to the cause for repealing the draconian Act, Dr Chandramani rued that security forces has gained the notoriety of violating the rights of the people in the North East region including Manipur even though the slogan of the people all over the world in this 21st century is protection of the rights of the people.

MLA RK Anand described as 'cold-blooded' the retributive action of the Assam Rifles on the innocent people of Umathel.

The attitude of the Government at the Centre toward the people of Manipur, even if they are also citizens of the country, is discriminatory, he said, adding that such discriminatory attitude is undemocratic.

Dr Ng Bijoy observed that incident of ambushes on the security forces by the underground activists are also taking place in other States of India, but in these States, the security forces restraint themselves from committing any excesses on the innocent people.

Security forces are free to do whatever they like in Manipur because of imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, he said.

It is high time for all the people to join hands and extend their support to the struggle of Irom Chanu Sharmila for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Manipur, Dr Bijoy exhorted.