IMPHAL, Nov 6: Drawing the attention of the Prime Minister of India to intervene and initiate necessary action on the whereabouts of the chairman of the proscribed UNLF, RK Ongbi Ibemnungshi Devi, wife of RK Meghen alias Sanayaima has sent a representation to the Prime Minister of India, praying for directing the concerned authorities to produce the rebel leader in the event of arrest.
In the representation, she mentioned that her husband was reportedly arrested by a combined team of the Indian intelligence agency RAW and their Bangladeshi counterparts from Laimatia area of Dhaka under Mohammadpur Police Station while he was traveling in his vehicle bearing Regn. No. Dhaka Metro G-l 7-0716 on September 29, 2010.
The news of the arrest of my husband was first broadcasted over the BBC News followed by a flurry of news in connection with the same during the next few days commencing from October 14, 2010 over the electronic as well as the print media, it said.
It also surfaced in the news that an FIR No. 1981 dated 29.09.2010 was lodged at the Mohammadpur Police Station, Bangladesh in connection with the arrest of the rebel leader and also that he was ultimately handed over to the Indian authorities after his arrest by the Bangladeshi Police and flown to New Delhi in an Indian aircraft.
Since then, the status and whereabouts of my husband has remained an imperceptible mystery till date with the Indian authorities denying their involvement in the said arrest as well as the report that he was handed over to the Indian authorities. The situation has come to such an impasse where the Indian as well as the Bangladeshi authorities are neither denying nor confirming the arrest of my husband till date, it said. Further she stated that after learning about his arrest, she submitted various representations to different forums and authorities for disclosing the status and whereabouts of Meghen but the matter is yet to yield any positive results till date. Moreover she has submitted a representation on October 14, 2010 addressed to the Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India with a copy to the Director General of Police, Manipur praying for furnishing detailed information about the whereabouts of the rebel leader. Further she submitted a similar representation on the same day addressed to the Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India. On the failure of the concerned authorities to disclose any information regarding the whereabouts, fact of arrest and handing over of the Sanayaima alias Meghen, she stated that she was compelled to submit a representation dated October 17, 2010 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva praying for kind intervention and for giving direction to the Governments of India and Bangladesh for disclosing the true facts and incidents of the arrest of my husband and his whereabouts, position, location, condition, etc. She also mentioned that she also submitted a similar representation, which is more exhaustive than the earlier representation sent on October 14, 2010, to the National Human Rights Commission on the same day, i.e. October 17, 2010. It is also submitted that if my husband is indeed arrested as mentioned above and handed over to the Indian authorities, such a course of action taken by the concerned authorities in remaining silent without following the due process of law is in gross violation and transgression of the basic right to life and liberty, as guaranteed to both its citizens as well as non-citizens, under Article 21 of the Constitution of India in particular and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in general. In the event of arresting my husband, failure on the part of the concerned authorities to follow the due process of law is also a clear violation of Article 22 of the Constitution of India as well as the internationally accepted norms and procedures. Moreover, if my husband has indeed been kept under illegal confinement for such a long period of 37 days after his reported arrest on September 29, 2010 till the date of this representation, i.e. November 4, 2010, the matter is surely
bound to have national as well as international repercussions, she mentioned. Under these circumstances she said she would really be disillusioned with India which claims to be the largest democracy in the world if it cannot even furnish the details regarding the whereabouts, mental and physical status of my husband in accordance with law.
Besides she also felt that it would not be wrong to say that India is trying to save its democracy in a highly insurgency prone state/ disturbed areas by implementing “Might is right†kind of policy with draconian and black laws. If this fact is in any way contrary to the policies of India, kindly prove it by producing my husband in a court of competent jurisdiction with the utmost promptitude. She lamented that her husband has left the family when their two sons were still infants and they are yet to see the face of their father till today even though they have come of age and are fully matured now. The news of his arrest had initially been met with a certain amount of relief on the part of the family on the anticipation that they would finally be able to meet him after so many years.
However, this sense of relief soon changed into one of anxiety and finally into that of trepidation, under the reasonable apprehension that he may have been eliminated, owing to the stoic but pregnant silence maintained by the authorities concerned till date, it said. Taking into consideration the foregoing facts and circumstances, she fervently pleaded the PM’s compassionate and sagacious disposition for empathizing with the plight and predicament faced by the family during these tiring times and appealed to intervene into the matter by directing the concerned authorities to disclose the status and whereabouts of her husband for producing him from his confinement at the earliest so as to enable necessary action to be initiated against him, if at all he is deemed to have committed any offence(s), in accordance with the existing laws of the land for the time being in force.
A copy of the representation was sent to, Rishang Keishing, Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha, Dr. T. Meinya Singh, Member of Parliament (Inner Constituency), Thangso Baite, Member of Parliament (Outer Constituency), Lok Sabha, Chief Minister, Manipur and to the Director General of Police, Manipur for kind information and necessary action.
