Let’s Check the Simple Essay on Law and Order in Manipur
In the year 2000, the Union Government of India inducted NHRC’s report on the Nellie Massacre in Imphal and the Khench Tomato Market incident in Imphal to conduct an Inquiry into the same. This inquiry revealed that these two incidents occurred simultaneously in the same area but were not related. It also revealed that both incidents occurred as a result of inter-group friction. In addition, it revealed that the police were not capable of handling law and order situations due to insufficient logistics, training, and manpower. The report recommended that a State paramilitary force should be created to handle such situations.
In 2003, the government took steps to implement this recommendation by creating the Central Armed Police Camp at Chandigarh with 121 personnel. This has led to a situation where the police can effectively handle violence despite insufficient manpower due to new legislation enacted after these past experiences.
First of all, let us take a look at what has led to the current situation in Manipur. The violent incidents that have caused much concern are mainly due to a flare-up between two groups- the All Paolo Yenson group and the NSCN Vs group- over the deaths of tribal leaders in custody years ago. Now that the two groups are on a war footing, civilians are getting caught in the crossfire.
To suppress violence, the government has enacted stringent laws against violence and criminal conspiracy. They have also increased military funding, which has led to an increase in their combat capability and ability to suppress violence with lethal force.
One controversial law enacted by the state government is ”The Manipur Armed Police Act”. Under this act, only members of the Armed Police forces can carry lethal weapons and maintain law and order.
Civilians cannot carry weapons unless they undergo paramilitary training and are given police ranks. While these changes may help suppress violence, they also lead to civilian casualties as non-armed policemen are no longer accountable when firing live ammunition at will.
Another source of violence is an activity undertaken by the State Special Police Team (SPT). Operating under the command of SPOI (State Protection Operation Intelligence), the SPT targets NSCN Vs cadres hiding across Manipur with complete disregard for civilian life.
By doing so, they disrupt NSCN Vs activities which help them achieve their objective- protecting border areas from NSCN Vs incursions. However, these activities have led to many civilian casualties as SPT members indiscriminately target civilians without cause or justification. Apart from this indiscriminate targeting, there have also been cases of torture by SPT personnel when extracting confessions from suspects. This has resulted in a public outcry against SPT activities as well as violent protests against them by affected communities in addition to legal challenges against their illegalities.
Even though these stringent laws have shown promise in curbing violence, their implementation is still substandard. For instance, rape cases have increased drastically since lawlessness increased after violent actions subsided in 2012. There is no justice for rape victims since there is no formal law enforcement system and no courts or police stations functional in many parts of the state. Therefore, rape victims often go unreported since there is no one around to deal with them- resulting in a lack of justice for sexual abuse cases under circumstances like these.
Overall, there are many positive aspects towards creating a peaceful environment for both humans and animals as well as promoting economic growth and development among other things being achieved through cooperation among various stakeholders within Manipur. However, there are still some challenges facing a peaceful state even after so much work has been put into creating one. In addition, creating a stronger military garrison may help reduce inter-group violence, but it may also increase its level of brutality if given military control over law enforcement agencies within its borders rather than independence among different agencies as desired.