After 43 years, army operations in Manipur being done in magistrates' presence

With the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 lifted from some parts of Manipur, the Army operations are being carried out in the violence-hit state in the presence of executive magistrates, which is the first in the past 43 years.

Manipur Chief Secretary Vineet Joshi, in a letter on Wednesday, asked Deputy Commissioners of Kangpokpi, Imphal East, Imphal West, Kakching, Bishnupur and Jiribam districts to designate executive magistrates to be part of the combing operations being carried out by the Army and Assam Rifles in order to control violence and recover the weapons which were snatched during the riot since May 3. The letter said executive magistrates are required as the AFSPA was lifted from areas under many police stations in the six districts.

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Magistrates have also been allotted for Army operations in five other districts, where the AFSPA is in force. This, officials said, was decided in order to dispel the fear about possibility of "harassment and excess" by the security forces during the operations.

The Army had earlier requested for 19 executive magistrates to be physically present during operations in the six districts. "The Army requested Executive Magistrates only for these districts as Executive Magistrate is not required for conduct of combing operations in other districts where AFSPA is in force," said the letter.

Disturbed area

Manipur was declared a disturbed area under the AFSPA in 1980 as militancy pushed the state into a turmoil.

The law gives unbridled power to the Armed Forces and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) deployed in “Disturbed Areas” to kill anyone acting in contravention of the law; arrest and search any premises without a warrant; and protection from prosecution and legal suits without the Centre's sanction.

The Northeastern state, however, witnessed strong agitation for withdrawal of the AFSPA, particularly after Thangjam Manorama was allegedly killed by the army during a "counter insurgency operation" in 2004. Irom Sharmila was on a 16-year-long hunger strike demanding withdrawal of the AFSPA from Manipur, till 2016. The agitation for withdrawal of the AFSPA also intensified after 14 villagers were gunned down by the Assam Rifles at Oting village in neighbouring Nagaland's Mon district in December 2021.

The Centre in March last year decided to withdraw the AFSPA from areas under 19 police stations in Manipur citing significant improvement in the law and order situation. The order came into force from April 1, 2022. The AFSPA was also withdrawn from most parts of Assam and from areas under 15 police stations in seven districts in Nagaland too.

Districts under AFSPA

Manipur Chief Secretary's letter further said that deputy Commissioners of the hill districts, Churachandpur, Pherzawl, Tengnoupal, Chandel and Kamjong has also been advised to allot executive magistrates to accompany the Army during the combing operations in order to "dispel misunderstanding among the public." The AFSPA has not been lifted from these districts. The Chief Secretary further sought to dispel the misinformation that the operation would be conducted only in the hill districts. "Combing operations, if necessary, will be conducted in both the valley and hill areas equally to restore peace in the state."

Army was called in to Manipur on May 3 when clashes broke out between the majority Meitei and the tribal Kuki communities over the former's demand for ST status. Nearly 100 people have been killed and over 40,000 others have been displaced in the violence since then. Over 4,000 weapons were also snatched from the security forces during the riot.

The Army on Wednesday launched joint combing operations, both in the hills and Valley districts, for controlling the violence through area domination and for recovery of the snatched weapons. Violence has continued even after Home Minister Amit Shah's recent visit and call for giving peace a chance, at least for 15 days.

Kuldiep Singh, who heads the Unified Command of the Army and other security forces, on Wednesday said so far 868 arms and 11,518 ammunition have been recovered while search was on for rest.