With these words, I would like to extend my thanks to you for giving me this opportunity.
16.34 hrs. (Mr. Speaker in the Chair)
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KUMARI KIM GANGTE (OUTER MANIPUR): Sir, a lot of my time is being taken. (Interruptions)
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I thank you very much for giving me this opportunity.
If I am not mistaken, this is the first time that a time has been allotted to discuss the situation in the North-East. I cannot but look back to those long 50 years, what had been done and what is happening today in the North-East. We keep accusing one another but the people keep suffering. I think the presence of each Member in the House today is very, very important. It is in the interest of the nation, I feel that enough time should be given to us so that we can bring out the problem that is besetting the North-East which ultimately affects the national security. But it is very sad that a time frame of just a few minutes is given to everybody within which he cannot even have the time to think and speak. As one Member has said, we are not computers. So, enough time should be given to us so that we can bring out the problems, provided we are really interested in solving the problem of the North-East which is really the nation's problem.
Sir, the North-East is rich in minerals, rich in water resources, rich in forests and rich in all the natural resources. But why is the North-East so much backward today mentally? I want to say that we are not mentally backward but economically we are backward. I am sure that the hon. Members have the information that literacy is very high, especially in Mizoram, Manipur and some of the North-Eastern States. But why are those States of the North-East so much backward today?
I think our discussion today is aimed at solving the problems of not only of insurgency but others. Why are we talking about insurgency? What is the reason for the mushrooming of insurgency?
I want to say that I am against the statement or the contention of Shri Tapan that more Army should be sent into the region. I will give the reason. Sending more Army will not solve any problem if you are really interested in solving the problem. Because I will cite one example. It was in l958 that in Mizoram the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was imposed and under that Act many people have been killed apart from the insurgents. I am just saying that our attitude towards the North-East and the insurgents should be changed. They are our brothers, they are our sisters and they are our children. Once I think this mentality and attitude change, then I think we will know how to solve the problem. As long as we are looked at as enemies I think the problem will increase.
Even before the insurgency came into being in about l958 the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was already in force. Why? My question is, why was it there? Last time when I said `if' some hon. Members objected to my saying `if'. But I will say it again today. If we are really a part of India and we are Indians, that is the reason why I am speaking here today. If that is the case, why is it that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act not removed and a conducive atmosphere created so that our children will have a chance to come and talk to us? But if you ask the Army people to keep on chasing them, kill them wherever the Army finds them, how will they come to the negotiating table?
I have with me here many photographs showing how women have been killed, children have been killed, boys have been killed and students have been killed by our Army personnel. Can I kill my own brothers and sisters? If anybody wants to see they can see these pictures; everyone can see them. Some are of students. It is very sad. Our women have been killed. How many women have been killed? Anybody can come and see the pictures. How many women have been shot at? And you may ask me where were they shot at. What about the insurgents killing the innocent people? The insurgents are outlaws. They are above the law. But the Army personnel are under certain rules and regulations. And I am talking about them because they are bound by some rules and regulations. Just because the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is there, why should they take the law into their own hands and harass anyone or kill anyone, shoot at anyone and put them in jail?
My heart is very heavy when I talk about this. On the 22nd July what happened to three boys? The name of one is Boboy, that of the second one is Joy Chandra and that of the third one is Roy Kumar.
The boys aged 7, 8 and 10 had gone for fishing. They were made to have oral sex by the Army. This is too much in our country. This should be taken note of. Not only this, but a lot of other things are also happening there. If it is a part of this country, why is there a Restricted Area Permit in Manipur? The Restricted Area Permit should be removed so that foreigners also would come and we can promote tourism, thereby creating more employment avenues.
Why is this in Kashmir and Punjab? I am not going to answer it. I want each Member of this august House to think over it. Fifty years have passed. It is too long a period. What have we done? Why are we accusing each other? What has been done for the last 50 years? (Interruptions).
I take unemployment problem. As I have mentioned, in the North-Eastern region, in particular Manipur, the literacy rate is very high. We have about 59 per cent literacy rate. There are more than one lakh youths who are without employment. They come back home. There is no job. There are no industries, no factories, and no mills. The youths cannot find jobs and without jobs, they have to survive. There are more than one lakh refugees in Manipur. What has been done for these poor people?
We talk about insurgency. You kill all of them, but you cannot do it. Should we agree to kill all the insurgents? Are not they any more our brothers and sisters? This will not help. If you kill one insurgent, three or four more will come because the insurgents haves got their brothers, sisters and other relatives. We should love them. insurgency.
I lost words because I have been working with the downtrodden, poor and the womenfolk. Today, they are looking at us. What are we going to do for them? What the Government is going to do for them?
MR. SPEAKER: Madam, please wind up.
KUMARI KIM GANGTE : Sir, I have got some suggestions for solving these problems. I think, accusing the Government and the Opposition will not help. We are looking at each of the hon. Members as leaders and I think, each Member should possess national character. I am looking at the North-East in particular because it is far behind 50 years now.
Sir, I have got some suggestions. Remove Armed Forces Special Powers Act immediately and create a conducive atmosphere.
Recruit anyone who wants to join the Army or the Armed Forces without much problem because many boys came to me asking me if I could help them to get them recruited into the Armed Forces. I think, the Government should take note of this and recruit as many boys as possible, who want to get recruited.
17.00 hrs.
MR. SPEAKER: Now please wind up.
KUMARI KIM GANGTE : Sir, I am giving only my suggestions. I have got just two or three more suggestions to make.
The Shukla Committee's recommendations should be implemented; employment opportunities should be created by establishing village industries, mills and factories; Restricted Area Permit should be removed so that tourism could be promoted; tribals' lands should not be snatched in the name of conserving or preserving forests; alternative arrangements should be made for these tribals; merger agreement should be implemented; and information centre should be established so that what the Government is providing for these people should be known at the grass-root level and they can have access to it.
We must not lose sight of one significant point that all these developments, as announced by three successive Prime Ministers in a span of two years, are sought to be hurried off to end the sense of alienation that has gripped the people of the region. The state of insurgency and terrorism is not only a manifestation of that alienation but has triggered off the pervasive hostility towards the establishment. Insurgency and terrorism, in the ultimate analysis, is a state of mind. In politics, however, there is no quick-fix solution. If we argue that since alienation is the cause of insurgency and terrorism and, therefore, pump in more money to end alienation and ultimately to end insurgency and militancy, I am afraid, we run away with a fallacy. All these packages are for rebuilding in the future, the future of the North-East, so that corrective action is taken and such neglect of a region is prevented and it is never done in such a way. But, Sir, even a dozen more packages like this will not put an end to the sense of hostility, we should bear that in mind, unless we fashion out some changes in the basics of the law and order administration.
Whenever the situation goes beyond control, the Government summons the Army. And since the Armed Forces are trained to fight the enemy to its logical conclusion, there naturally lies the danger that unless they are effectively checked, excesses are bound to be committed. With the police force ill-equipped and ill-trained to meet an extraordinary situation, I do understand the compelling circumstances of the Government to fall back upon the Army. But why things went wrong? They went wrong because of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, as amended in 1972, as has been said by the hon. lady Member which gives unlimited power to the Armed Forces operating in the insurgency-prone North-East, was never examined to assess that this could degenerate into a Draconian piece of legislation. This is clear from the powers given under Section 4A of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, as amended in 1972.
that this could degenerate into a Draconian piece of legislation. This is clear from the powers given under Section 4A of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, as amended in 1972.
It reads and I quote :
"If he is of opinion that it is necessary to do so for maintenance of public order, after giving such due warning as he may consider necessary, fire upon, or otherwise use force even to the causing of death."
Sir, an Army officer armed with such a power to kill, and an immunity under the Act is naturally instigated to invoke such powers right from the word `go in a confrontation'. If fighting terrorism is a state of mind, then causing deaths, while tackling the terrorists, is also likely to be registered on an Army personnels state of mind. So, it is a fun of paradox: Government deploys the Army to fight the terrorists for the protection of the citizens, but it is the common men and women who are caught in the cross-fire and suffer the most. So, the Act needs to be suitably amended. I understand the feelings where brutal operation were conducted under the Armed Forces Act. It is true that the scars on the soul cannot be bartered away with economic packages.