Imphal, August 02 2009: At the time of his death, or when he was gunned down by State police commandos at BT Road on July 23, 2009, Chungkham Sanjit was a civilian and a free citizen of India.

As per police record, he was at one time a member of the proscribed PLA and he was arrested in 2000 and later jailed under the National Security Act in 2007 and released a year later.

He had to make periodic appearances before the Court but this was lifted later.

There is no contestation on this ground.

The contestation however is over the question, was he killed in an encounter, as alleged by the police, or was he killed in custody ? The sequence of photographs released by news magazine Tehelka debunk the encounter theory floated by the police, but of course there is something called digitally manipulating photographs, and it is this which the State Government will bank on, to bail them out.

But let us not forget, a picture speaks a thousand words and multiply that by seven pictures, in fact, a sequence of what actually happened on July 23, then a highly plausible picture of State terrorism emerges.

For years, the Congress dominated, not led, SPF Government has been using State violence as a caveat to mean that it means business when it comes to dealing with proscribed members, dubbed or otherwise, and nothing illustrates this better than the sermon delivered by Chief Minister O Ibobi on the floor of the House that it was time to show who rules the land, 'Us or Them.' So was killing Sanjit, then, a demonstration to show who rules the land, Mr Chief Minister, Sir ? We raise this question, because the statement was made on July 23 evening, when the BT Road incident came up for discussion in the Assembly.

Also remember, this statement came just as news of the tragic death of a young pregnant woman, in the same incident, was beginning to sink into the consciousness of the public. We have already raised the question of whose bullet or bullets killed the young pregnant woman, Th Rabina at BT Road on July 23, and now the pictures from Tehelka have given a new dimension to the whole drama.

As per the statement, prepared by the police and read out by the Chief Minister in the Assembly, Sanjit was killed in an encounter and it was also implied very clearly that Rabina was killed when Sanjit indiscriminately fired towards the public.

The interesting point here is, if the pictures are found genuine, then will the police be slapped with a Privilege case for misleading the Chief Minister to deliver a pack of lies on the floor of the Assembly ? It is anybody's guess, but yes the pictures from Tehelka have proven to be a rallying point for the people to come out against the continuing violence perpetrated by the State.

For too long, the State police commandos have been given the long rope, that today they have climbed the evolutionary ladder, on the reverse, from the 'protectors of the people' to 'the predators of the people.' Chief Minister O Ibobi and the mandarins at Delhi may brush aside allegations of State terrorism, for as representatives of the State, they have the power to define what is terrorism, but this is no ground that State terrorism will not stick in the perception of the people, for terrorism or acts of terror and human rights abuses, cannot be strait jacketed into narrow, legal definitions.

This should hold true for everyone and not only the Government.

When the State begins to target civilians and gives a free hand to its armed personnel to unleash terror, then it reflects that it is losing the battle against the insurgents.

Is the SPF Government keen to reverse this and start by letting heads roll in connection with the present case ? The Magisterial probe instead of a Judicial inquiry, however, has come like a bucket of cold water after a hot shower ! .

Comment