Four months to the day (January 4) when the Supreme Court decided to appoint a 3 member Commission to hold an inquiry into the alleged fake encounter killings of 7 people in Manipur, yet another step for the families of literally thousands of men in the prime of their lives to the long wait for justice has been marked with the Commission announcing that cases were all fake. The Supreme Court decision for instituting the Commission followed after accepting a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM) and Human Rights Alert seeking the Apex Court’s intervention in the case of 1528 alleged extrajudicial executions during 1979-2012. The announcement of the panel headed by former apex court justice N. Santosh Hegde, along with former Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyndoh and retired Karnataka Director-General of police Ajay Kumar Singh as members brought the first faint glimmer of hope given the body of work that the three had undertaken and their track records. The Commission examined witnesses for 6 cases of extra judicial killing in which seven victims died: Azad Khan (14) of Mayang Imphal Phougakchao Makha Leikai, Elangbam Kiranjit (22)of Thoubal Haokha Mamang Leikai, Nameirakpam Nobo (27) from Bashikhong, Nameirakpam Govind (25), also from Bashikhong, Akoijam Priyobarta (25) of Mongshangei, Chongtham Umakanta (24) of Iroishemba and Khumbongmajum Orsonjit (19) from Keishampat Jailer Leirak both in Imphal and New Delhi. The Imphal based proceedings centered upon the examination of family members and state security personnel while the Delhi proceedings was held after an appeal from the Assam Riffles that the location be so since their security personnel who would be deposing had since been posted to different areas.
One main factor that shone through the proceedings in both Imphal and New Delhi were on the inconsistent narratives of state and Assam Riffles witnesses who were deposing. While lower rung security personnel let out that even a rank of Havildar could lead an operation, those at the upper level resorted to edging out of having to answer questions directed by the Counsel for the applicants and even the Commission members. The examination of security personnel also revealed a huge statistics of ‘joint operations’ where the state police and the Assam Riffles would combine together on the mere basis of ‘reliable information’ and engage in encounters with ‘3-4 armed cadres’ and always, a 9 mm pistol in the story. The other interesting aspect was that while state police personnel were being named in news reports and the state counsel were fine with that, the naming of Assam Riffles personnel once the proceedings took place at New Delhi was greeted with affront by the Counsel for the Home Ministry and Ministry of Defense in a clear indication of different response for different folks. Understandably, this hinted at the sidelining of the state police and indicating too, that the state police would be left handling the mess. After all, the Assam Riffles could still get away with the impunity given by the Armed Forces Special Power’s Act.
Another takeaway from the Commission proceedings were the huge blunders being committed at the investigation level and the sheer lack of appropriate procedures: starting from tampering with evidence or not having any serious intent to collecting evidence, maintaining paper work and file process. In an earlier era, there was a saying that the dead do not tell tales but in the present era of forensic science, the dead do tell their stories of being beaten up brutally before being sprayed with bullets. They tell their stories of being cheated out of their lives and of how they left behind families of parents and siblings and wives and children: families who have now come together as a support group and dared to speak of the stories that were being brushed under ‘encounter with under ground cadres’. If the 1528 cases of alleged extra judicial killings still manage to shock people, it should be noted out that this number is a compilation of only one survivor group and there are more such groups who are yet to take up a legal fight. This is where it becomes critical to document cases and pursue such cases on a legal framework instead of merely focusing on street agitations for these can inflame people for sometime but peter out in the long run. Yes, the legal system is long drawn out in the country but justice does prevail. For the family members of the 7 men including a young boy who got killed, it has meant some sort of solace just to be able to put a face to the people behind the deaths of their loved ones. The SC panel’s observation that the cases were all fake is only a validation of what the family have been shouting all these years. All eyes would be set on April 9 when the SC Bench will announce its decisions but for the family members, the validation now must be giving peace of mind and closure.