Sex workers complain of harassment

IMPHAL, Mar 10: In this developed era of the world women are still discriminated and harassed in various form in a state like Manipur. And though the women organisation of the state are appealing to stop harassment to the women but it seems some of them still unable to understand the fact of respecting women.And whether they worked in any trade women should not be look down but they should be given extra support since they have been facing several kinds of hurdle and obstacles with no option left in their life.
And such case was held recently to some of the commercial sex workers residing at North AOC, Imphal area.Narrating to media one of the victim who faced the nightmare of the incident maintained that on the midnight of 27th February total of four commandos of Thoubal came in uniform and one in civil dress enter the room where the workers are staying. And after few interrogation they are asked to undress fully in front of them. And later started beating up and tortured in various act which she feel shy as well as embarrassed to disclosed since the act has crossed the limit she asserted.On the other had one of them also noted that such act is not the first time happened to them but it si often happened in the area. Not only harassment and tortured but they were also asked to stand nude and took clips with their mobiles.She also noted that on that day after harassing and torturing to six of the workers they were taken to some far off place in a jungle area and they were again beaten up like anything. Some of minor workers even screamed since the tortured was very much dangerous.Added that later they were taken to Imphal West Police and put them in custody the whole night and later they were released.But due to fear, all of them never tried to disclosed the incident infront of media since it will more make hard to them to survive in the area. But after discussing the incident with the people living in that area late they decided to bring the matter infront of media and highlight the incident to the people of state that how state police are wild and dangerous.Therefore, they want the state government to take action against all those police officers who are behind the incident occurred on that day.And they also maintained that people need to understand these women who are working just for few money to survive in this society. Though they are facing various humiliating things but they have no option. And also appealed that people should immediately stop such inhuman act in future and not to give disturbance.

Sharmila Rearrested

Support from Community for Sharmila

Free the Feet from Shackles

By Irom Chanu Sharmila :-

Free my feet from the shackles
Like bangles made of thorn
Confined inside a narrow room
My fault lies in
Being incarnated as a bird.

Inside the dark room of the prison
Many voices echo around
Unlike the sound of birds
Not the merry laughter
Not that of a lullaby

A child snatched away from the mother’s bosom
The lamentation of a mother
A woman separated from her husband
The cry of anguish of a widow
A cry springing out of a sepoy’s hand

A ball of fire is seen
Dooms day follows it
The ball of fire was lit
By the product of science
Because of oral experimentation
Servants of sense organs
Everybody is in trance
Intoxication – the enemy of thinking
Wisdom of thinking is annihilated
No experimentation of thinking

Laughing with smiles on the face
By the traveller of coming beyond the hill ranges
Nothing remains but my laments
Nothing saved by the seeing eyes
Strength cannot show itself

Human life is precious
Before life comes to an end
Let me be light of darkness
Nectar will be sown
A true of immortality will be planted.

Putting on artificial wings
All the corners of the earth will be covered
Near the joining line of life and death
Morning songs will be sung
The chores of the world will be performed.

Let the gate of the prison be flung wide
I will not go on another path
Please remove the shackles of thorn
Let me be not accused
For being incarnated in the life of a bird.

Translated from Manipuri to English by
Wide Angle Social Development Organisation

A child's view

Man abducted by security men released after he promised to pay

IMPHAL, Jan 19: A person by the name of Elangbam Toto, son of E Ibohal, of Keishamthong charged that he was abducted from his work place by masked security personnel some of whom spoke Manipur and others Hindi at 8.30pm on January 17 and threatened death.
He was however released when he promised to pay them a sum of Rs. 1,50,000 he charged.
In this regard, the meira paibis of the Keishamthong locality staged a dharna protesting the atrocious act of security men turning on the people they are supposed to protect.
Recounting the incident, Toto said he was at his workplace, Hiro Hito, a factory which manufactures track suits, where he was advisor, when two armed security men, one conversant in Manipuri and the other who spoke only Hindi entered and pretended they were interested in buying tracksuits.They also entered the other rooms where the factory’s workers stay overnight.
The workers thinking they were again customers from organisations such as the CRPF, Army and Assam Rifles, who frequent the factory, asked them if they belonged to any of these organisations in friendly manner. The answers were in the negative.
Thereafter the intruders asked Toto to accompany them to the ground floor. They then took him to the road outside, where there was initially nobody in sight.
Two Gypsy vehicles full of armed security personnel emerged from the south and north side of the road.
They asked Toto to step into one of the vehicles. When Toto in petrifaction pleaded not to take him away as he was a family man, the men forced into one of the vehicles and whisked him away to a spot in Keishampat. There they stopped and asked why he was involved in extortion. He denied he was involved in such activities.
Toto said the mask from one of the security men nearly fell off as he got off a vehicle, and after that they started being more rude. They also blind folded him and drove for what seemed about 3 km in the Imphal area and when his blindfold was removed they were on an isolated black topped road.
There one of them took out a gun and told him that it was not a government issued weapon but one meant to set him up. One of them even held him by the throat as he spoke. The petrified Toto pleaded in desperation and promised to pay them if he was released safe.
The security men consulted between themselves and then one of them asked how much. He said he would arrange Rs 50,000. One of his captors then said make it Rs 1,00,000, to which he agreed in order to be free.
However the security men consulted among themselves again and came up with the figure of Rs. 1,50,000. Again he agreed in order to be let off, Toto said.
The men then took him away and left him at a place in Keishampat.The next day, he received a text message inquiring what has happened to the deal, Toto said.
The protesting meira paibis demanded an explanation for this state terrorism and extortion from the state authorities.

Police Gets Remand of Alleged Trafficker of 18 State Girls

IMPHAL, Oct 3: A woman detained by the police on the alleged charge of attempt to traffick 18 girls from Manipur to Chennai in Tamil Nadu was produced in a local court and remanded to police custody till the 8th of this month.Police also handed over all the 18 girls to their respective families after verification, an official source said today.On Tuesday last a woman named Apam Khamrang, aged around 30 years, hailing from Ukhrul district of Manipur was detained by the Sekmai police at a check post along the NH-39 along with the 18 minor girls during checking of an inter-state bus bearing registration no. MN-01-1852.The latest case of rescue of 18 girls by the state police, it is pertinent to mention, came amidst the reports of four girls from Tamenglong district escaping from their employers after they were transported to Malaysia.There have been various reports of rescue of minor children from Manipur at various places in the country like Dimapur in Nagaland and from Chennai in Tamil Nadu in the recent times.Of the 18 girls rescued by the Sekmai police on Tuesday, 14 are from villages in Ukhrul district, three are from Senapati district, while one is from Churachandpur district. They are aged between 11 to 23 years.Police said that the alleged trafficker along with the 18 minor girls were detained by the Sekmai police when they were detected during frisking and checking for trafficking of children on October 1 from a bus.Police personnel at Sekmai police station which is the first exit gate from Imphal along the Imphal-Dimapur section of the NH-39 had been keeping a close vigil for trafficking of children after various cases were reported on this route, the source said.During police interrogation, the alleged accused Apam Khamrang has reportedly disclosed that the girls were being carried to Chennai for employment in private jobs in a company.Police sources, however, said that the girls themselves could not give the exact reasons for going to Chennai.“Apam is suspected of procuring the girls, disposing them or using them for illegal purposes by cheating their parents for her wrongful gain. Her act amounts to organized child trafficking,” the police case registered against Apam states.She was produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Imphal west with a prayer for remand to police custody as further interrogation is needed for investigations into the child trafficking cases in the state.The court remanded her upto October 8 in police custody, the source added.It further said that all the 18 girls have been handed over to their respective guardians through the Imphal police station.