New Delhi, August 7 (MExN): A group of individuals and organizations are organizing a solidarity meeting at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 2:30 to 6:30 pm on August 9, the day Irom Sharmila ends her fast. The meeting is being held to show solidarity with Irom Sharmila and also the democratic peoples’ movements for justice and peace in Manipur and elsewhere in the country.
“We may sing some songs, read poetry, draw, sit in a circle, talk…; some may want to fast for the day, they could break their fast at 6. We would like to light candles as it gets dark. We are not planning this as a protest. Rather, a moment of quiet solidarity,” stated the organizers of the programme.
They highlighted that people in Manipur, including Imas (`mothers’: elderly women activists), Meira Paibis (women’s groups, literally women holding `mashaals’), and many civil society groups, are struggling for AFSPA to be repealed, in the interests of peace and justice. “They want good governance to be restored in the state. Experts argue that the Act perpetuates violation of fundamental democratic rights. It grants excessive powers, and impunity, to armed forces. Atrocities against ordinary citizens have been documented over the years,” it was pointed out.
In 2012, it was stated, the Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) filed a PIL in the Supreme Court of India alleging 1,528 fake encounters in Manipur since the 1980s. “The Court ordered investigation into six cases, all of which were proved to be fake encounters: killing of innocent persons, by armed forces or police commandos. The Court has ruled that all the remaining cases must be thoroughly probed.”
The organizers, which comprise of ordinary people, students, teachers, feminists, activists, noted that humane, democratic solutions are needed to solve real problems faced by people; dialogue rather than repression. “We care for democracy and human rights, peace and good governance, accountability and justice. We feel that we are all responsible for helping to bring this about. We need to listen, learn, and together search for ways to move ahead, to actually resolve many very difficult situations,” they added.
All individuals and organizations have been invited to the programme, which is a spontaneous action with no central organizing committee.
