Imphal | August 6 : A memorandum was submitted to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on the issue of state terrorism, informed, Nimaichand Luwang the president of Manipur People’s Party (MPP) in a press conference held at its office on Wednesday.
Addressing the press conference, the president of MPP further stated that a party meeting and sit-in-protest, to be held on Wednesday was postponed owing to the imposition of indefinite curfew by the government. The meeting with all the members of Joint Action Committee (JAC) constituted against the killing of Ch Sanjit and Th. Rabina would be held on Thursday, informed, Nimaichand. Supporting the demands of the public, the MPP president further stated that the only solution to the problem would be to fulfill the demands of the public. He further asserted that imposition of curfew at this juncture is not a right step and it would not bring any solution.
Cautioning to lift the ongoing indefinite curfew at the earliest, the MPP president asserted that failure to lift the curfew would lead their party members to go against the curfew norms. Stating the incident to be very shocking the MPP stated in the memorandum that the incident occurred in the crowded market area of Imphal barely 500 meters away killing one pregnant woman and a former militant, Ch Sanjit, it was claimed as a fake encounter by the Tehelka,delhi based weekly magazine. It further stated that the confused matter has been clarified by reports and the photographs published under the caption “Murder in Plain Sight”.
It further mentioned in the memorandum that a very serious matter troubling both the press and the civil populace of Manipur is that fear stalks this state now and consequently there is no press freedom state in Manipur. The instance of failure to expose the photograph in Manipur newspapers that was published in the capital by the Tehelka, a Delhi based weekly magazine owing to the fear of police reprisal in Manipur indicated the curtailment of press freedom in Manipur, which is a very serious in a democratic country like India, stated in the memorandum.
The memorandum listed the demands that included, a judicial enquiry to be headed by a sitting judge of the Gauhati High Court be ordered for enquiry into the entire matter by canceling the Magisterial Enquiry. An FIR case be registered against the police personnel and the investigation of the case be handed over to CBI for farness and transparency. All police personnel allegedly involved in the incident be kept under suspension immediately. It further demanded the compensation be paid to the bereaved family including the family of the injured and also the dismissal of the irresponsible SPF government. The memorandum was submitted to UPA chairperson chief Sonia Gandhi,P. Chidambaram,Home minister,L.K Advani,opposition leader,imformed Nimaichand Luwang.