When the bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and UU Lalit made the dramatic pronouncement on July 8 that, “if members of our armed forces are deployed and employed to kill citizens of our country on mere allegation or suspicion that they are “enemy,” not only the rule of law but our democracy would be in grave danger,” they were stating what people of the North East have been echoing for decades.
The world still remembers the protest by naked women in Imphal against the brutal rape and killing of Thangjam Manorama, a young woman who was alleged to have been a member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), an insurgent outfit based in Manipur. Manorama was picked up by the 17 Assam Rifles on July 10, 2004 and a day later, her bullet ridden body was found in a nearby field. Such inhuman brutalities have become part and parcel of life in the insurgency afflicted states of the North East.