GUWAHATI, Aug 16: India's troubled northeastern state of Manipur threatened to reimpose a controversial anti-terror law as violent protests flared during independence day celebrations on Sunday.
Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters in the latest of weeks of demonstrations against sweeping military powers. "We shall be forced to clamp AFSPA once again if the protests and incidents of violence do not show any letup," Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh told reporters.
The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives the military powers to shoot on sight and detain without warrant as part of its crackdown on insurgents, was partially lifted in some areas this week.
The state bordering Myanmar has been rocked by protests since the alleged killing in military custody of a 30-year-old woman, Thangjam Manorama, on July 11. Paramilitary forces say she was a leading rebel and died in a gunbattle.
On Sunday, protesters took to the streets attacking festivities marking India's independence anniversary. "Police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells to disperse hundreds of protestors in Imphal," a police official said. "The situation is tense," he added.
Intelligence officials accused rebel groups of encouraging civilians to take to the streets to intensify the campaign against the anti-terror law. "Militants have been using pressure groups to intensify their agitation and pile pressure on the government to ensure AFSPA is lifted in totality from Manipur," said an intelligence official.
A young Manipuri man doused himself with kerosene and set himself on fire on Sunday demanding the anti-terror law be scrapped. "He has sustained up to 80 per cent burn injuries and is battling for his life in hospital," said a police spokesman.
Manipur, one of India's most troubled states, imposed the act in 1980 to fight an insurgency that has left more than 10,000 dead in the past two decades. -AFP
