1,528 victims of fake encounters in Manipur

[Windjammer]

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of a PIL alleging that there had been apathy on the Centre and Manipur government's part to bring to book the guilty among armed forces and state police, which allegedly were responsible for 1,528 extra-judicial killings in last 30 years.

The impact of the magnitude of extra-judicial killings of innocent citizens in Manipur was visible on a bench of Justice Aftab Alam and Ranajana P Desai, which had been instrumental in getting the CBI to go full throttle and unearth larger conspiracy behind two such fake encounters in Gujarat, where alleged criminals Sohrabuddin and Tulsiram Prajapati were killed by police officers.

The bench took judicial note of the PIL by NGOs — Extra-judicial Execution Victims families Association of Manipur through Neena N and Human Rights Alert through Babloo Loitongbam - and issued notices to the Centre and the Ibobi Singh government. It asked the Centre and state to file their responses by November 5.

Asking petitioner's counsel senior advocate Colin Gonsalves to make other required officials party to the PIL, the court requested the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to respond to the macabre incidents and appointed advocate Menaka Guruswami as amicus curiae to assist the court in the case.

The petition gave details of each of the 1,528 people killed in fake encounter since 1979. It said though the SC upheld the constitutional validity of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 15 years ago, it had issued certain dos and don'ts to the security forces. But, these guidelines were seldom followed, it alleged.

"By way of example, petitioner cites details of 10 cases where eyewitnesses exist, but the killings had been justified as encounters with militants," the petitioner alleged. Even though the PIL detailed the killings by the security forces and police, it did not reflect on the killings resorted to by militants in the state, which could have resulted in eliminating an equal number of persons in the state.

"In almost all cases, young boys attending to their daily chores were picked up randomly by security forces and killed in cold blood. In several of these cases eye-witnesses, parents and neighbours were present when the victims were gunned down," the petitioner said.

"What are even more frightening are the breakdown of the criminal justice system and a complete denial of the protection of right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. There is not a single instance where the perpetrators of the heinous crimes - torturing and killing of young in cold blood - have been brought to justice," the petitioner said.

"Out of the 1,528 killings, petitions relating to 20 murders were taken to the Guwahati High Court where these are still pending. The cries of anguish had fallen on deaf ears," it said and alleged that not a single investigation or departmental inquiry against the alleged perpetrator had been taken to logical end.

The petitioner said in a functioning democracy eyewitness accounts would be immediately acted upon leading to registration of murder cases, but "in Manipur such FIRs are not accepted at the police station, no investigation is done and no disciplinary action is taken".

1,528 victims of fake encounters in Manipur: PIL - The Times of India

 

[TopCat]

Racism to its extreme.. Thats India.

 

[Roybot]

Racism to its extreme.. Thats India.

Do you have how many Chakmas were killed by Bangladeshi security forces? Guess thats not racism at all?

There is no place for separatists in India, they ll be crushed to death whenever they raise their heads.

 

[Windjammer]

There is no place for separatists in India, they ll be crushed to death whenever they raise their heads.

"In almost all cases, young boys attending to their daily chores were picked up randomly by security forces and killed in cold blood. In several of these cases eye-witnesses, parents and neighbours were present when the victims were gunned down," the petitioner said.

Doesn't seem like they were separatists, not withstanding the term....Fake encounters.

 

[Roybot]

Doesn't seem like they were separatists, not withstanding the term....Fake encounters.

No one buys that non sense. Anyone with an iota of brain will know that its propaganda. What exactly will Indian security forces achieve by killing random innocent kids? If anything it will piss people off even more and hence counter productive.

Manipuri separatists are notorious for enlisting child soldiers. A child soldier with an AK is just as lethal as a grown as man, and hence is a fair game for the security forces.

 

[mfreak]

First off, has this case been investigated and settled? If not, then buying into the prosecutions arguments is stupidity. Yes, there have been atrocities commited by the Indian Army, but to say that they randomly pick up kids only to shoot them in the head, is fuckin ridiculous. Yet to see hard evidence supporting that for a fact. The fact that some of these militant groups kidnap and train child soldiers also adds to the suspicion, whether the armed forces really killed children in cold blood or actually shot at them for suspecting/or being terrorists.

Secondly, the difference is, that in India the supreme court takes note of it and we do something about it. In the muslim world, those who blow themselves up in a public area, or blow up a school bus killing children are heralded and paraded around as heroes, and those who die trying are called martyrs. That is the difference between India and our "compassionate" and "highly moral" neighbors.

 

[Windjammer]

No one buys that non sense. Anyone with an iota of brain will know that its propaganda. What exactly will Indian security forces achieve by killing random innocent kids? If anything it will piss people off even more and hence counter productive.

Manipuri separatists are notorious for enlisting child soldiers. A child soldier with an AK is just as lethal as a grown as man, and hence is a fair game for the security forces.

My dear, sometimes it helps to read the article, since those in authority seems to have fallen to what you term as nonsense and propaganda.

The Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of a PIL alleging that there had been apathy on the Centre and Manipur government's part to bring to book the guilty among armed forces and state police, which allegedly were responsible for 1,528 extra-judicial killings in last 30 years.