Amongst those who count the dead in Manipur
Four environmental activists sit with me in room 122 of Hotel Imphal. "How can we get information from the state?' one asks. Do they expect an answer because I work for a Delhi-based environmental fortnightly, I wonder. They have failed to get information from state agencies on an important infrastructure project.
"Why don't you use the new powers under the Right to Information Act, 2005 to query the government?' I suggest. Four pairs of eyes confabulate, building a silent consensus on whether to talk or not. Believing that their silence means permission to continue, I go on: "You know it's quite revolutionary, they cannot deny you information under the act. You can ask them anything. People have tried it in Delhi and Maharashtra. Some officers have been personally fined under it for denying information.' My interlocutors' eyes get shifty again, and one of them finally speaks up: "We have another act here: The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (afspa). It gives security forces unrestricted right to carry out their operations, once an area is declared disturbed. Even a non-commissioned officer has the right to kill, just on suspicion: on the pretext of