From: Kirity Roy <kirityroy@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 3:38 PM
Subject: URGENT 25 HRDs (Save Sharmila) are in detention in police station at Manipur
To: hrd-nhrc@nic.in
Friends - this is one urgent news, need your immediate intervention. I received one phone call from Mr. Meher Engineer who gave me contact of Ms. Mukta Srivastava. After calling that number I heard that ---
Ms. Irom Sharmila Chanu, is a woman from Manipur. She is on hunger strike since the Year 2000 in Manipur against draconian law AFSPA.
SSSC (Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign) has organized a Srinagar to Imphal – Save Sharmila Jan Caravan covering 4,500 km across 10 states. The Caravan that started on Oct 16 from Srinagar and reached Manipur yesterday.
Today, 28th October about 25 people of the caravan, mainly from Gujrat, Maharastra, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh were assembled before the hospital at about 8am where Ms. Sharmila was kept. They sent request to the authority well before for permission to meet Ms. Sharmila. The request letter neither accepted nor rejected.
The police party present there did not allow them to enter the hospital. Then those people sat down in front of hospital on silent protest. But the police did not allow them to stay there. All the 25 people were arrested at about 11 am and took them Imphal East Porompat Police station under arrest. Thre were 8 senior citizen (more than 70 years) out of them 6 were women.
As usual, Police did not issued any Memo of Arrest. Those arrestees were in complete dark about their future. Till now no case has been registered against them. Completely illegal detention in the name of "Security of the STATE"
Please take action.
--
Kirity Roy
Secretary
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM)
&
National Convenor (PACTI)
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
40A, Barabagan Lane (4th Floor)
Balaji Place
Shibtala
Srirampur
Hooghly
PIN- 712203
Tele-Fax - +91-33-26220843
Phone- +91-33-26220844 / 0845
e. mail : kirityroy@gmail.com
Web: www.masum.org.in
With respect Babloo Loitongbam who is both the nephew of the DG Imphal Police and leading Human Rights Activist is part of the Save Sharmila Group. Whatever the truth of what happened today there remains one sure way to end Sharmila's satyagraha peacefully through the democratic process. Next year the Manipur State Legislative Assembly will be dissolved and fresh elections called. If Manipuris are serious about the removal of AF(SP)A from Manipur then all they have to do to secure its abolition is to make it clear that they will vote only for those MLAs who pledge to remove Disturbed Area Status from all of Manipur. Mr Loitongbam in 2004 secured its lifting from Imphal City Limits which is why his Uncle now was able to arrest his fellow activists but as you say in theory AF(SP)A does not apply and they may sue for false arrest. Rather than waste time on that a direct plea to the people of Manipur to rid themselves of the black law might be more helpful. Me I just want AF(SP)A driven out of Manipur and Sharmila free. What others want is really up to them. I am a little tired of hearing how the majority of Manipuris want the black law lifted but they don't understand what the vote means. It is time Manipuris taught their political masters the meaning of democracy. It is time Manipuris voted for change. But if you prefer to be outraged at today's incident rather than her 11 years of imprisonment whose terms since 2005 have been deemed illegal by the chief judicial magistrate Imphal East, well each to their own. We have always been isolated she and I. Our day shall come.
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