CorCom tears apart Rawat's AFSPA statement
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 31 2018: The CorCom has lambasted the Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat for his statement that it was not the time for rethinking AFSPA or softening it.

A statement issued by CorCom media coordinator Ksh Yoiheiba remarked that the army chiefs statement smacked of sheer arrogance and directly endorsed the rampant human rights violation by Indian military forces in WESEA including Manipur and Jammu & Kashmir.

Whereas the draconian Act licences Indian military forces to kill people at their fancy and whims in the alleged occupied territories, General Rawat's statement implied that the Indian military forces have no morale and are afraid to face the revolutionary groups of these regions without AFSPA.

Since the alleged annexation of Manipur into the Indian Union, the Government of India has been working relentlessly to suppress the liberation movement using all its military might.

At the same time, the Government of India has been conspiring continuously to dilute the distinct identity of the people of Manipur through homogenization and assimilation into mainland India, it alleged.

Under the shadow of AFSPA, which contradicts international laws, Indian military forces have been committing genocide as well as isolated killings for the past many years.

In the aftermath of the outrageous murder of Manorama in 2004, the Government of India's 'black law' came under international glare.

Subsequently, the United Nations Human Rights Committee recommended the Government of India repeatedly to repeal AFSPA with an unambiguous remark that AFSPA is inhumane and draconian.

UN Commissioner for Human Rights N Pillay and Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns too castigated India for rampant human rights violation under AFSPA and demanded immediate repeal of the same Act.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) categorically stated that AFSPA was an instrument of colonialism and contradicted international laws, and it must be repealed, the CorCom said.

Even Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee constituted by the Government of India after the murder of Manorama recommended that AFSPA should be repealed but the Government of India flung aside the same recommendation because its military was not in favour of repealing the infamous Act.

It only shows that Government of India has been imposing military rule in Manipur and WESEA even though India is said to be a democratic country, the CorCom alleged.

After six cases out of 1528 alleged fake encounter cases have been confirmed as genuine fake encounters by Santosh Hegde Commission and the Supreme Court has been preparing to begin trial of these cases.

It is at this juncture that General Rawat came out with a statement in support of AFSPA.

Such statement only exposes the Government of India's perception of WESEA and Jammu & Kashmir.

Saying that CorCom condemns General Bipin Rawat's statement in the strongest term, it appealed to all the people to analyse how the Government of India has been determining the value of human lives in WESEA.

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