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ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
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ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
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Gurbani (537-556)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
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Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
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Gurbani (660-685)
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Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
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ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
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Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
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Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
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Anand (917-922)
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Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
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ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
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Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Murder In Plain Sight
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<blockquote data-quote="spnadmin" data-source="post: 108579" data-attributes="member: 35"><p><strong>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 18px">Murder In Plain Sight</span>[/FONT]</strong></p><p> <span style="font-size: 10px"><em>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In Manipur, death comes easy. In this damning sequence of photos, a local photographer captures the death of a young man, killed in a false encounter by the police in broad daylight, 500 metres from the state assembly. How can a State justify such a war against its own people, asks [/FONT]</em>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<strong>TERESA REHMAN</strong>[/FONT]</span></p><p> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>1. Chongkham Sanjit, 27, is seen standing in a PCO with the Manipur Police Commandos adjacent to a pharmacy (marked by an arrow) in Imphal on July 23</strong></span>[/FONT] </p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>2. Though surrounded by commandos, there is no obvious resistance from Sanjit </strong></span>[/FONT]</p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong> (marked by a red circle) </strong></span>[/FONT] <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix5.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>3. Sanjit is seen calmly walking away with the heavily armed commandos</strong></span>[/FONT] </p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>4. While a commando reaches for his pistol, Sanjit remains visibly calm. They are standing barely 500 metres from the state assembly</strong></span>[/FONT] </p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>5. Sanjit, known to be a former member of the People’s Liberation Army, had retired on health grounds. Though surrounded, he is calm and there seems to be no urgency or imminent violence in the picture</strong></span>[/FONT] <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix6.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix7.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>6. In a sudden turn of events, Sanjit is hustled away roughly by the commandos</strong></span>[/FONT] </p> <p style="text-align: left"> [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>7. Sanjit is dragged by the commandos into the pharmacy.</strong></span>[/FONT]</p> </p><p>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong> He has been surrounded by commandos for several minutes</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 9px"><strong> and is obviously unarmed</strong></span>[/FONT] </p><p> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix9.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>8. A few minutes later, commandos drag Sanjit’s dead body out of the pharmacy</strong></span>[/FONT] </p><p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>9. Sanjit’s body is thrown into a truck. At no point while the camera was clicking had he offered any resistance to the commandos</strong></span>[/FONT] <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>10. Sanjit’s dead body on the truck. The camera continues to click. The commandos make no attempt to stop the public gaze</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 9px"><strong></strong></span>[/FONT] <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix11.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix12.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: left"> [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>11. The body of Rabina Devi, a pregnant bystander. </strong></span>[/FONT]</p></p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong> She was killed a few metres away in the police firing</strong></span>[/FONT]</p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong> when they chased a fleeing youth</strong></span>[/FONT] </p> <p style="text-align: left"></p> <p style="text-align: left">[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 9px"><strong>12. Sanjit’s body on a stretcher.His family claims he had broken his earlier links with the militants and was leading a normal life</strong></span>[/FONT] </p> <p style="text-align: left"></p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><a href="http://tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne080809murder_in.asp#" target="_blank"><span style="color: #007c00">View slideshow</span></a> </strong></span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"> If any picture can speak a thousand words, these photos — available exclusively to TEHELKA — could fill volumes. They capture a shootout that happened in the heart of Imphal, Manipur’s capital, barely 500 metres from the state assembly, on July 23. They show the moments before, during and after the ‘encounter killing’ of a 27-year-old Indian citizen – a young man called Chongkham Sanjit, shot dead by a heavily-armed detachment from Manipur’s Rapid Action Police Force, commonly known as the Manipur Police Commandos (MPC).</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">There is a grotesque and brutal history to the bullets that killed this young man. For years, decades even, security forces in Manipur have faced allegations of human rights violations and extrajudicial murders committed under cover of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). In 2000, Irom Sharmila, stirred by the gunning down of 10 civilians, including an 18-year-old National Child Bravery Award winner, by the Assam Rifles, started a hunger fast — that lasts to this day — in protest against the AFSPA. In July 2004, the nation was rocked by the protests of a group of Manipuri women who marched to an Assam Rifles base in Imphal, stripped naked and raised a searing banner: “Indian Army Rape Us”. They were protesting the rape, torture and murder, a fortnight earlier, of Thangjam Manorama, 32, who was picked up from her home at night by the Assam Rifles.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Manipur rose up in protest that day, and in August 2004, the Centre relented, withdrawing the AFSPA from Imphal’s municipal zone. ‘Post-Manorama,’ as history is marked in Manipur, the army has taken a backseat, withdrawing outside the municipality. However, life in Manipur is still lived on the tightrope. In a seemingly new counter-insurgency strategy, the MPC has unleashed a reign of terror in the state.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PAST INCIDENTS[/FONT]</strong></span></p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">NOVEMBER, 2008:</span> </strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong> SALAM AJIT SINGH</strong> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"> Singh, 30, was allegedly killed by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 39 Assam Rifles on November 7, 2008. Singh ran a taxi service. In January 2009 his family filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">DECEMBER, 2008:</span> </strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong> MD TASLIUMUDDIN</strong> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"> Tasliumuddin, 20, a daily wage labourer, was allegedly killed in an ‘encounter’ by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 32 Assam Rifles on December 30, 2008. The NHRC has registered a case</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">DECEMBER 2008: </span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong> OKRAM RANJIT SINGH</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong> </strong> Singh, 27, a brick mason was allegedly killed in an ‘encounter’ by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 12 Maratha Light Infantry on December 22, 2008 in Imphal West district. The family has filed a petition with the NHRC</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">JANUARY 2009: </span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong> LAISHRAM DIPSON</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"> Dipson, 28, was allegedly killed by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 39 Assam Rifles on January 12, 2009 at Laingam Khul. The lorry driver’s family has filed a police complaint</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">JANUARY 2009:</span> </strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong> NINGTHOUJAM ANAND</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong></strong> The 30-year-old auto rickshaw driver was allegedly killed by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 16 Assam Rifles on January 21, 2009. A complaint has been filed with the NHRC</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The organisation known as the Manipur Police Commandos (MPC) was first set up in 1979 as the Quick Striking Force (QSF). Former Inspector General of Police, Thangjam Karunamaya Singh told TEHELKA, “They were trained for special operations. But the men had strict instructions. They were told to fire only when fired upon and pay special attention to the needs of women, children and the elderly. If they arrested somebody on suspicion, they had to take responsibility for their security,” stated Singh.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The MPC does not fall under the AFSPA but has now become notorious across the state. It operates only in the four districts of Manipur – Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur. The MPC is housed in isolated commando barracks and has minimal contact with the general population, though its personnel are all locals.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Extra-judicial killings, and, in particular, fake encounters by the MPC have become common in Manipur. In 2008, there were 27 recorded cases of torture and killing attributed to the MPC. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">Where once they conducted ‘encounters’ in isolated places, they now do not think twice before operating in cities, in broad daylight, as they did on July 23. In several incidents, innocent civilians carrying money and valuables have been robbed and sometimes killed. In some cases official action has been taken against commandos for misconduct. For instance, in July 2009, five police commandos who had reportedly robbed three youths were suspended. But for the most part, their extra-judicial activity goes scot free.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">According to the official version of Sanjit’s encounter death at 10:30am on July 23, a team of MPC personnel was conducting frisking operations in Imphal’s Khwairamband Keithel market. They saw a suspicious youth coming from the direction of the Uripok locality. When asked to stop, the version goes, the youth suddenly pulled out a gun and ran away, firing at the public in a bid to evade the police.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The official record states that the youth was finally cornered inside Maimu Pharmacy near Gambhir Singh Shopping Arcade. He was asked to surrender. Instead, he fired at the police. The police retaliated and the youth was killed. The account states that a 9mm Mauser pistol was “recovered”. The youth was identified from his driver’s license as Chongkham Sanjit, son of Chongkham Khelson of Kongpal Sajor Leikai, Manipur.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Usually, such official versions of encounters are difficult to disprove though everyone may know them to be false. But in an almost unprecedented coincidence, in Sanjit’s case, a local photographer rushed to the scene and managed to shoot a minute-by-minute account of the alleged ‘encounter’. The photographs (shown in preceding pages) clearly reveal that, contrary to the official version, Sanjit was, in fact, standing calmly as the police commandos frisked him and spoke to him. He was escorted inside the storeroom of the pharmacy. He was shot point blank inside and his dead body was brought out. The photographer, fearing for his safety, does not dare publish these pictures in Manipur.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The photographs clearly reveal that contrary to the official version, Sanjit was standing calmly as the MPC commandos frisked him</span>[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Eyewitness accounts partly corroborate the police version — except their account is obviously about a young man other than Sanjit. These witnesses state that a youth did escape from a police frisking party about a hundred metres away from where Sanjit was killed. The police chased this youth and opened fire, killing an innocent bystander, Rabina Devi — who was pregnant at the time — and injuring five other civilians. Afterwards, the police showed the media a 9mm Mauser pistol which they alleged was thrown away by the militant before he fled. After about half an hour, the police claimed to have killed the youth who escaped from their hands “in an encounter”; according to them, this youth was Sanjit. The photographs clearly indicate otherwise.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The police claim Sanjit was a member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a proscribed insurgent outfit. Chief Minster Okram Ibobi Singh also made a controversial statement in the assembly that day, asserting that there was no other alternative but to kill insurgents.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Sanjit was indeed a former PLA cadre. He was arrested in 2000 but freed. In 2006, he retired from the outfit on health grounds. In 2007, though, he was detained again under the NSA and was only released a year later. Since then, he had been staying with his family at his home at Khurai Kongpal Sajor Leikai and had been working as an attendant in a private hospital.</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">But even if Sanjit was a former militant, he should not have have been killed in a false encounter. The photos show him talking to his killers, calmly, without offering any resistance. He was frisked moments before the shootout. He was not an insurgent on the run. In fact, Sanjit had to make periodic appearances before the Court, a requirement that the Court later lifted. “Legally speaking, Sanjit was a free man,” says M Rakesh, a lawyer at the Gauhati High Court’s Imphal Bench. There are also significant inconsistencies in the police versions of the recovery of the weapon. First, they said it was flung away by the fleeing militant. Then they said it was recovered from Sanjit after the encounter. As the photos show, Sanjit was ushered into the pharmacy, not chased in. Also, if Sanjit was, in fact, armed with the 9mm Mauser, why wasn’t it found during the frisking? Why, as the photos show, was he taken inside the storeroom?</span>[/FONT]</p><p></p><p> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">First the police said the pistol was flung away by the fleeing militant. Then they said it was recovered from Sanjit after the encounter</span>[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">The law says if a death is caused by state forces in an encounter which cannot be justified by Section 46 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the officer causing the death would be guilty of culpable homicide. In this case, only a rigorous investigation can establish what exactly transpired. Instead of instituting a judicial enquiry, however, the state government is setting up a departmental enquiry, which is unlikely to yield any justice to the victims’ families. Sanjit’s family claims he had broken his earlier links with the militants and was leading a normal life. They say he had gone out that day to buy medicines for his uncle, who is undergoing treatment at Imphal’s JN Hospital.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 10px">Says Sanjit’s mother, Inaotombi Devi, “Life is very cheap in Manipur.”</span>[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]<span style="font-size: 10px">Manipur is routinely roiled by such devastating narratives. Ex-MLA 78-yearold Sarat Singh Loitongbam’s son Satish Singh was killed by the armed forces. Though a devout Hindu, he refuses to perform his son’s last rites until his name is cleared of wrongdoing. Like Satish, there is Ningombam Gopal Singh, a 39- year-old Grade-IV employee at the Imphal Bench of the Gauhati High Court, a man who was chatting over tea with women at a hotel when he was dragged off by men in plainclothes, to be shot dead in an ‘encounter’. There is 24-year-old Elangbam Johnson Singh, a student and part-time salesman, picked up by the MPC while out with a friend and killed in an encounter, his corpse at the morgue bearing signs of torture. Stories like these are a grotesque lattice in Manipur. “Life in Manipur,” as one observer puts it, “is like a lottery. You are alive because you are lucky.”</span>[/FONT]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spnadmin, post: 108579, member: 35"] [B][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=5]Murder In Plain Sight[/SIZE][/FONT][/B] [SIZE=2][I][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In Manipur, death comes easy. In this damning sequence of photos, a local photographer captures the death of a young man, killed in a false encounter by the police in broad daylight, 500 metres from the state assembly. How can a State justify such a war against its own people, asks [/FONT][/I][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][B]TERESA REHMAN[/B][/FONT][/SIZE] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix2.jpg[/IMG] [LEFT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]1. Chongkham Sanjit, 27, is seen standing in a PCO with the Manipur Police Commandos adjacent to a pharmacy (marked by an arrow) in Imphal on July 23[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]2. Though surrounded by commandos, there is no obvious resistance from Sanjit [/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B] (marked by a red circle) [/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix4.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix5.jpg[/IMG] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]3. Sanjit is seen calmly walking away with the heavily armed commandos[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]4. While a commando reaches for his pistol, Sanjit remains visibly calm. They are standing barely 500 metres from the state assembly[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]5. Sanjit, known to be a former member of the People’s Liberation Army, had retired on health grounds. Though surrounded, he is calm and there seems to be no urgency or imminent violence in the picture[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix6.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix7.jpg[/IMG] [LEFT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]6. In a sudden turn of events, Sanjit is hustled away roughly by the commandos[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]7. Sanjit is dragged by the commandos into the pharmacy.[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT] [/LEFT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B] He has been surrounded by commandos for several minutes and is obviously unarmed[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix9.jpg[/IMG] [LEFT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]8. A few minutes later, commandos drag Sanjit’s dead body out of the pharmacy[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [LEFT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]9. Sanjit’s body is thrown into a truck. At no point while the camera was clicking had he offered any resistance to the commandos[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix10.jpg[/IMG] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]10. Sanjit’s dead body on the truck. The camera continues to click. The commandos make no attempt to stop the public gaze [/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix11.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://tehelka.com/channels/News/2009/Aug/08/images/pix12.jpg[/IMG] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]11. The body of Rabina Devi, a pregnant bystander. [/B][/SIZE][/FONT][/LEFT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B] She was killed a few metres away in the police firing[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B] when they chased a fleeing youth[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=1][B]12. Sanjit’s body on a stretcher.His family claims he had broken his earlier links with the militants and was leading a normal life[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [/LEFT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B][URL="http://tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=Ne080809murder_in.asp#"][COLOR=#007c00]View slideshow[/COLOR][/URL] [/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2] If any picture can speak a thousand words, these photos — available exclusively to TEHELKA — could fill volumes. They capture a shootout that happened in the heart of Imphal, Manipur’s capital, barely 500 metres from the state assembly, on July 23. They show the moments before, during and after the ‘encounter killing’ of a 27-year-old Indian citizen – a young man called Chongkham Sanjit, shot dead by a heavily-armed detachment from Manipur’s Rapid Action Police Force, commonly known as the Manipur Police Commandos (MPC).[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]There is a grotesque and brutal history to the bullets that killed this young man. For years, decades even, security forces in Manipur have faced allegations of human rights violations and extrajudicial murders committed under cover of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). In 2000, Irom Sharmila, stirred by the gunning down of 10 civilians, including an 18-year-old National Child Bravery Award winner, by the Assam Rifles, started a hunger fast — that lasts to this day — in protest against the AFSPA. In July 2004, the nation was rocked by the protests of a group of Manipuri women who marched to an Assam Rifles base in Imphal, stripped naked and raised a searing banner: “Indian Army Rape Us”. They were protesting the rape, torture and murder, a fortnight earlier, of Thangjam Manorama, 32, who was picked up from her home at night by the Assam Rifles.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Manipur rose up in protest that day, and in August 2004, the Centre relented, withdrawing the AFSPA from Imphal’s municipal zone. ‘Post-Manorama,’ as history is marked in Manipur, the army has taken a backseat, withdrawing outside the municipality. However, life in Manipur is still lived on the tightrope. In a seemingly new counter-insurgency strategy, the MPC has unleashed a reign of terror in the state.[/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=2][B][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PAST INCIDENTS[/FONT][/B][/SIZE] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff0000]NOVEMBER, 2008:[/COLOR] SALAM AJIT SINGH[/B] Singh, 30, was allegedly killed by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 39 Assam Rifles on November 7, 2008. Singh ran a taxi service. In January 2009 his family filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff0000]DECEMBER, 2008:[/COLOR] MD TASLIUMUDDIN[/B] Tasliumuddin, 20, a daily wage labourer, was allegedly killed in an ‘encounter’ by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 32 Assam Rifles on December 30, 2008. The NHRC has registered a case[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff0000]DECEMBER 2008: [/COLOR] OKRAM RANJIT SINGH [/B] Singh, 27, a brick mason was allegedly killed in an ‘encounter’ by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 12 Maratha Light Infantry on December 22, 2008 in Imphal West district. The family has filed a petition with the NHRC[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff0000]JANUARY 2009: [/COLOR] LAISHRAM DIPSON[/B] Dipson, 28, was allegedly killed by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 39 Assam Rifles on January 12, 2009 at Laingam Khul. The lorry driver’s family has filed a police complaint[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff0000]JANUARY 2009:[/COLOR] NINGTHOUJAM ANAND [/B] The 30-year-old auto rickshaw driver was allegedly killed by the Imphal West Police Commandos and 16 Assam Rifles on January 21, 2009. A complaint has been filed with the NHRC[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The organisation known as the Manipur Police Commandos (MPC) was first set up in 1979 as the Quick Striking Force (QSF). Former Inspector General of Police, Thangjam Karunamaya Singh told TEHELKA, “They were trained for special operations. But the men had strict instructions. They were told to fire only when fired upon and pay special attention to the needs of women, children and the elderly. If they arrested somebody on suspicion, they had to take responsibility for their security,” stated Singh.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The MPC does not fall under the AFSPA but has now become notorious across the state. It operates only in the four districts of Manipur – Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur. The MPC is housed in isolated commando barracks and has minimal contact with the general population, though its personnel are all locals.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Extra-judicial killings, and, in particular, fake encounters by the MPC have become common in Manipur. In 2008, there were 27 recorded cases of torture and killing attributed to the MPC. Where once they conducted ‘encounters’ in isolated places, they now do not think twice before operating in cities, in broad daylight, as they did on July 23. In several incidents, innocent civilians carrying money and valuables have been robbed and sometimes killed. In some cases official action has been taken against commandos for misconduct. For instance, in July 2009, five police commandos who had reportedly robbed three youths were suspended. But for the most part, their extra-judicial activity goes scot free.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]According to the official version of Sanjit’s encounter death at 10:30am on July 23, a team of MPC personnel was conducting frisking operations in Imphal’s Khwairamband Keithel market. They saw a suspicious youth coming from the direction of the Uripok locality. When asked to stop, the version goes, the youth suddenly pulled out a gun and ran away, firing at the public in a bid to evade the police.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The official record states that the youth was finally cornered inside Maimu Pharmacy near Gambhir Singh Shopping Arcade. He was asked to surrender. Instead, he fired at the police. The police retaliated and the youth was killed. The account states that a 9mm Mauser pistol was “recovered”. The youth was identified from his driver’s license as Chongkham Sanjit, son of Chongkham Khelson of Kongpal Sajor Leikai, Manipur.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Usually, such official versions of encounters are difficult to disprove though everyone may know them to be false. But in an almost unprecedented coincidence, in Sanjit’s case, a local photographer rushed to the scene and managed to shoot a minute-by-minute account of the alleged ‘encounter’. The photographs (shown in preceding pages) clearly reveal that, contrary to the official version, Sanjit was, in fact, standing calmly as the police commandos frisked him and spoke to him. He was escorted inside the storeroom of the pharmacy. He was shot point blank inside and his dead body was brought out. The photographer, fearing for his safety, does not dare publish these pictures in Manipur.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The photographs clearly reveal that contrary to the official version, Sanjit was standing calmly as the MPC commandos frisked him[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Eyewitness accounts partly corroborate the police version — except their account is obviously about a young man other than Sanjit. These witnesses state that a youth did escape from a police frisking party about a hundred metres away from where Sanjit was killed. The police chased this youth and opened fire, killing an innocent bystander, Rabina Devi — who was pregnant at the time — and injuring five other civilians. Afterwards, the police showed the media a 9mm Mauser pistol which they alleged was thrown away by the militant before he fled. After about half an hour, the police claimed to have killed the youth who escaped from their hands “in an encounter”; according to them, this youth was Sanjit. The photographs clearly indicate otherwise.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The police claim Sanjit was a member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a proscribed insurgent outfit. Chief Minster Okram Ibobi Singh also made a controversial statement in the assembly that day, asserting that there was no other alternative but to kill insurgents.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Sanjit was indeed a former PLA cadre. He was arrested in 2000 but freed. In 2006, he retired from the outfit on health grounds. In 2007, though, he was detained again under the NSA and was only released a year later. Since then, he had been staying with his family at his home at Khurai Kongpal Sajor Leikai and had been working as an attendant in a private hospital.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]But even if Sanjit was a former militant, he should not have have been killed in a false encounter. The photos show him talking to his killers, calmly, without offering any resistance. He was frisked moments before the shootout. He was not an insurgent on the run. In fact, Sanjit had to make periodic appearances before the Court, a requirement that the Court later lifted. “Legally speaking, Sanjit was a free man,” says M Rakesh, a lawyer at the Gauhati High Court’s Imphal Bench. There are also significant inconsistencies in the police versions of the recovery of the weapon. First, they said it was flung away by the fleeing militant. Then they said it was recovered from Sanjit after the encounter. As the photos show, Sanjit was ushered into the pharmacy, not chased in. Also, if Sanjit was, in fact, armed with the 9mm Mauser, why wasn’t it found during the frisking? Why, as the photos show, was he taken inside the storeroom?[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]First the police said the pistol was flung away by the fleeing militant. Then they said it was recovered from Sanjit after the encounter[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]The law says if a death is caused by state forces in an encounter which cannot be justified by Section 46 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the officer causing the death would be guilty of culpable homicide. In this case, only a rigorous investigation can establish what exactly transpired. Instead of instituting a judicial enquiry, however, the state government is setting up a departmental enquiry, which is unlikely to yield any justice to the victims’ families. Sanjit’s family claims he had broken his earlier links with the militants and was leading a normal life. They say he had gone out that day to buy medicines for his uncle, who is undergoing treatment at Imphal’s JN Hospital. Says Sanjit’s mother, Inaotombi Devi, “Life is very cheap in Manipur.”[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]Manipur is routinely roiled by such devastating narratives. Ex-MLA 78-yearold Sarat Singh Loitongbam’s son Satish Singh was killed by the armed forces. Though a devout Hindu, he refuses to perform his son’s last rites until his name is cleared of wrongdoing. Like Satish, there is Ningombam Gopal Singh, a 39- year-old Grade-IV employee at the Imphal Bench of the Gauhati High Court, a man who was chatting over tea with women at a hotel when he was dragged off by men in plainclothes, to be shot dead in an ‘encounter’. There is 24-year-old Elangbam Johnson Singh, a student and part-time salesman, picked up by the MPC while out with a friend and killed in an encounter, his corpse at the morgue bearing signs of torture. Stories like these are a grotesque lattice in Manipur. “Life in Manipur,” as one observer puts it, “is like a lottery. You are alive because you are lucky.”[/SIZE][/FONT] [/QUOTE]
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