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AFSPA

As Manipur burns

Are we in the habit of first taking a wait-and-watch approach, or just play a routine role, and then look for ways to blame others when things spill out of control? Is it a kind of play-safe approach we follow without coming to action mode and facilitating quick solutions? Had there been genuine intent followed by real action, things may have gone a different way

Of outrageous fortune

The AFSPA (1958) that happens to be one of the most draconian instruments of security and control, first applied to Assam and Manipur and later amended in 1972 to extend to Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, vests unaccountable and extraordinary powers with the armed forces. The public consciousness against the AFPSA was raised when a group of elderly and middle-aged women from different organisations of the Meira Paibi the largest civilian movement fighting state atrocities and human rights violations in Manipur, besides drug abuse and crimes against women - led a protest march against the rape of Thangjam Manorama by soldiers of Assam Rifles. The fast unto death begun by Irom Chanu Sharmila on 2 November 2000, in protest against the Act, that continued well into August 2016, stirred public conscience