Imphal | June 18 : "Manipur will be called a land of widows if armed conflict is not stopped", said founder and secretary general of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network (MWGSN) Binalaksmi Nepram at the fifth day of the week long Global Week of Action on Gun Violence Friday.
Over 20,000 people have been killed in the last five decades in Manipur due to arm related conflicts, she said and pointed out that according to official statistics, in 2008 alone more than 400 people have lost their lives. Ms Neparam further maintained that most of the people killed in Manipur are young men between 19 and 42 years of age and as a result, an average of 300 widows are created every year in Manpur due to ongoing conflict.
In the year 2009, over 450 people have been shot dead in the state, effectively outdoing Jammu and Kashmir as a state with the highest number of killing due to arm conflict, she said, adding that the state is also infamous for registering the highest number of disappearance cases of students in the country.
The government of India says that there are no arm conflicts in Manipur, she said and quickly pointed out that the UN report suggests otherwise. “If the UN says that 5000 people are killed in Manipur, there is a strong basis that suggests the existence of arm conflict in the state,” she said.
“In any other parts of the country, the army or paramilitary forces do not and can not secure unauthorized access to people’s houses, but in Manipur such oversight are all too common,” she argued, adding that “the army or paramilitary forces should be protecting the country’s borders not our houses.”
There are more than 30 armed underground groups operating in Manipur and to control them the Centre has stationed more than 40 battalions of army and paramilitary forces. Manipur is living under an abnormal condition and not a day passes without a gun killing, she added. 38-year old widow Mamtaz, a victim of armed conflict and a member of MWGSN, shared her anguish to Newmai News Network saying that her husband (L) Md Asad Khan was killed in an alleged fake encounter at Irilbung in Imphal East district of Manipur in March 2009.
According to her, her husband was approached by the proscribed Peoples United Liberation Front (PULF) to negotiate on their behalf with the government for the initiation of suspension of operation between the government and the outfit. While the initial groundwork was underway, on March 7, 2009, an alleged fake encounter killed her husband with five others at Irilbung in Imphal East, she said.
While the police claimed that he was the chairman of the Azad Khan faction of PULF, Mamtaz said that her husband had been framed by the police and the army in a failed attempt to staged “fake” surrendering drama of the underground outfit. At the end of the deliberation today, the participants including members of MWGSN have resolved on four-point Imphal declaration: one, to stop encounter killing; two, to remove armed forces special power act; three, that UN should look into the matter and four, all available assistance should be extended to victims of armed violence.
Over 20,000 people have been killed in the last five decades in Manipur due to arm related conflicts, she said and pointed out that according to official statistics, in 2008 alone more than 400 people have lost their lives. Ms Neparam further maintained that most of the people killed in Manipur are young men between 19 and 42 years of age and as a result, an average of 300 widows are created every year in Manpur due to ongoing conflict.
In the year 2009, over 450 people have been shot dead in the state, effectively outdoing Jammu and Kashmir as a state with the highest number of killing due to arm conflict, she said, adding that the state is also infamous for registering the highest number of disappearance cases of students in the country.
The government of India says that there are no arm conflicts in Manipur, she said and quickly pointed out that the UN report suggests otherwise. “If the UN says that 5000 people are killed in Manipur, there is a strong basis that suggests the existence of arm conflict in the state,” she said.
“In any other parts of the country, the army or paramilitary forces do not and can not secure unauthorized access to people’s houses, but in Manipur such oversight are all too common,” she argued, adding that “the army or paramilitary forces should be protecting the country’s borders not our houses.”
There are more than 30 armed underground groups operating in Manipur and to control them the Centre has stationed more than 40 battalions of army and paramilitary forces. Manipur is living under an abnormal condition and not a day passes without a gun killing, she added. 38-year old widow Mamtaz, a victim of armed conflict and a member of MWGSN, shared her anguish to Newmai News Network saying that her husband (L) Md Asad Khan was killed in an alleged fake encounter at Irilbung in Imphal East district of Manipur in March 2009.
According to her, her husband was approached by the proscribed Peoples United Liberation Front (PULF) to negotiate on their behalf with the government for the initiation of suspension of operation between the government and the outfit. While the initial groundwork was underway, on March 7, 2009, an alleged fake encounter killed her husband with five others at Irilbung in Imphal East, she said.
While the police claimed that he was the chairman of the Azad Khan faction of PULF, Mamtaz said that her husband had been framed by the police and the army in a failed attempt to staged “fake” surrendering drama of the underground outfit. At the end of the deliberation today, the participants including members of MWGSN have resolved on four-point Imphal declaration: one, to stop encounter killing; two, to remove armed forces special power act; three, that UN should look into the matter and four, all available assistance should be extended to victims of armed violence.
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