The Supreme Court has come out strongly in favour of the human rights of Indian citizens, including those living in the “disturbed” areas. The court’s direction on a PIL petition on the 1,528 alleged killings by security forces and the police in Manipur shows that it was not satisfied with the submissions made in defence by the government and the Army. After a long time the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has come under a critical review. The court has asserted that there is no absolute immunity under the Act.
While the Army maintains that it needs AFSPA’s protection, allegations of misuse of power have surfaced frequently and bred resentment against the state and its armed forces in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir. Ideally, the Army should not deal with terrorism. Punjab was able to contain militancy without Army help. Whenever the Army is deployed, it has to be ensured that excessive or retaliatory force is not allowed to be used. A prolonged Army deployment with unlimited powers under AFSPA can prove counter-productive as has happened in Manipur. For many years now Manipur has lived with internal disturbances, fake encounters and protests against AFSPA. The Centre and the state government are to blame for the excessive reliance on the Army to contain insurgency.
The Supreme Court has called for an inquiry by an independent agency into all Manipur encounters that have happened in the last two decades. This will hopefully make the powers-that-be realise that no matter how difficult and challenging a situation, violations of the rule of law cannot be overlooked or sanctioned. The Army, at best, can supplement the civil administration’s efforts to control a volatile situation in the short term. If allowed to carry on beyond a point for whatever reason — political convenience or inadequacies of the state/Central forces — the arrangement is bound to backfire. When AFSPA is allowed to stay for six long decades, instances of abuse of power are bound to crop up. As and when excesses happen, these must be investigated thoroughly and swiftly so that the guilty don’t go unpunished.