IMPHAL, May 30: The Manipur Alliance of Child Rights, MACR organized a state level workshop on Juvenile Justice System (JJ System) at the conference hall, Hotel Imphal today.
Convener, MACR, Keisam Pradipkumar in his keynote address said that 92 minors have fallen victims of counter insurgency operations in the state since 1970.
He expressed that the Juvenile Justice System is to protect child rights, however what is lamentable is that the laws and the constitution of the country seem only for the grown-ups especially in a state like Manipur where the Arm Forces Special Powers Act has been enforced.
The child rights activist cited several cases of children being kept in jail and given harsh punishments during his speech.
He said according to the JJ System if a child is found to be guilty he/she is liable to serve for only three years.
Elaborating more on the system, the activist explained that the provision of special powers to the security forces weakens the JJ Board in its fight to deliver justice to a juvenile during any face-off between the SFs and the JJ Board.
He continued that in the present scenario, child trafficking in the state has increased double-fold as culprits go unpunished at most instances.
The Standard Operational Procedure of the JJ Board or any bodies concerned with a juvenile case should be the welfare of the displaced juvenile, he added.
He further expressed his desire to incorporate a mandatory lesson on child safety procedure into the training module of all state and central forces.
Senior Manager of Child Rights and You Ashim kumar Ghosh lamented that a major difference in opinion exists in today’s society regarding the age group of a juvenile whenever a police case arises concerning a minor.
He said, the fact is that anyone under the age of 18 should be considered a minor, and the case should be taken up accordingly. The establishment of a separate court to deal only with child related cases was brought up in Parliament in the year 2000.
The police have to follow certain procedures while handling a juvenile case, he said before elaborating that both the police and the judicial officials should be considerate enough not to challenge the mind-set of the juvenile.
Ashim further talked about Child welfare Committee (CWC) and also about Child Protection Committee (CPC) before adding that the role of the JJ Board is weak in different districts of the state and needs more sensitization on the issue.
The workshop was also attended by several child rights activists from the districts of Chandel, Ukhrul, Imphal East, Imphal West and Bishnupur.
