AFSPA, 1958 and Violation of Women Rights in North-East India: With Special Reference to Manipur

Violence against women violates the very fundamental human rights and is an insult to women's inherent human dignity. Physical, psychological, and sexual violence against women and girls, public and private, plagues all societies and classes and poses serious obstacles to the achievement of equality, development and peace. The insurgency movements led to the violation of women's rights in diverse ways. To counter the insurgents, armed forces are deployed in the region with a maligned law which conferred special powers upon armed forces in the ‘disturbed areas’ in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. It was later extended to Jammu and Kashmir. Armed forces special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) is absurdity of law in action which violates the very fundamental rights of life, liberty and equality enshrined in the constitution of India. This paper seeks to analyze issues pertaining to gross human rights violation, especially on women. The insurgency issues are somehow directly related to the violation of women rights. The armed forces carry out house to house searches especially in nights and harasses women. Women are being harassed physically, mentally and sexually. The women are accused of protecting the boys and that itself is a potential ground for the armed forces to violate the rights of the women. The case of Manorama Devi needs special mention here. Thangjam Manorama Devi, A Manipuri woman who was arrested on flimsy charges, raped, tortured and shot dead in cold blood by personnel of the 17th Assam Rifles in 2004 is an instance in the endless killing spree continuing in the region since 1958.