Nehemiah Rong
Oinam Hills is a small village in the heart of the Lepaona Poumai area and blessed with an indigenous art of pottery. Surrounded by the blue hills, green trees and meandering fresh streams and guarded by the neighbouring villages, it lies in the very strategically war convenient place where no other villages dare to attack during the bygone headhunting days. No one could dare to come and get the head of son of Oinam soil because of its centrality in its location. It was because of this advantageous location it was popularly said that only an eagle of the air could come and pierced through the village. It is said in the history of the village no outsiders had ever come and conquer this village during the headhunting days. Having that past history, people of the village live in serenity pursuing one’s normal course of live. The village itself is unique one with a unique dialect quite different from the rest of Poumai Naga tribe.
The serene live of Oinam village become quite a nightmare of terror and horror and the proud heritage of hope that no outsiders could conquer the village was proven futile when the Assam Rifles Post near this village was raided in broad daylight by the undergrounds. On that fateful day of 9th July 1987 suspected NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagalim) raided Assam Rifles outpost at Oinam Hill Village at around 12.30 p.m and left with a large quantity of arms and ammunition. Nine soldiers were killed in the attack and three were seriously injured.
It is very much to the point that the story of Oinam nightmare could not be ended just in few words and pages. It was one of the biggest operations carried out by the Indian Security Forces since 1950s in Naga areas. Later on it became a unique struggle in Naga history. When come to this, Naga People Movement for Human Rights writes in their report based on 2nd and 3rd reports of The Co-ordinating Committee on Oinam Issue(COCOI), as “Operation Bluebird” was the biggest operation in recent times. But this time there was difference. The villagers did not remain silent. They have dared to speak out, and with the help of NPMHR they took the armed forces to court.” The report also says, ‘It is a unique struggle in the annals of Naga History.’ It cuts across the boundaries when come to torture of human beings and human rights violations are concerned. Be it journalists, Government Top Officials, Politicians, Students Activists, Human Rights Activists, from Manipur, Nagaland and even beyond were not spared under the wave of ‘Operation Blue Bird’ which was launched on 11 July, an attempt to recover the arms. Major General Kukrety, Inspector General of the Assam Rifles and General Officer in Command of the Manipur section of the Assam Rifles, supervised the operation, which covered twenty Naga villages including Oinam, Chingmai Khullen, Khongdei Khuinan, Khongdei Shimpung, Lakhmai, Ngamju, Ngari Leishang, Phaibung Khullen, Purul Akutpa, Phuba Thapham, Phubung Khunou and Thingba Khullen. Wide scale human rights abuses were reported during the combing operation, including torture and extrajudicial executions. In the course of these operations at least eleven men were killed in the custody of the security forces, apparently after torture, says Amnesty International report on 73 page Document, India, ‘Operation Bluebird.’
The NPMHR in their petition filed in October 1987 to the Guahati High Court, alleged that the security forces committed the following cognizable offences: murder, manslaughter, infliction of grievous injuries, rape and sexual harassment; arson, looting and theft; desecration of Church; wanton destruction of public and private properties; including school buildings; illegal evictions; illegal raids, seizures; illegal detentions and arrests and forced labour.
It was a time for the farmers to enjoy their midday meal and for the school children to enjoy the break time and for the village youth to enjoy their gambling or whatever.
Out of panic farmers from fields ran home. School children rushed home. After a moment, villagers run up and down in commotion. Children searched for their parents and parents looked around for their children. Seeing the faces of the people even as kids it could be well predicted that something horror was striking in the village. Women folks were crying and men folk helplessly running as dark clouds were hovering and rain was pouring down incessantly. Some families having privilege to come to together as a whole escaped to neighbouring villages. But most people stay back.
In the evening many army vehicles reached the village. At dark in the rainy night villagers were summoned near attacked AR outpost area by the Assam Rifles. Walked through the muddy village pathways all women, men, children and old people gathered on wet ground and sat in rain. After interrogation, detentions and threats villagers were told to go home for the night rest with a promise to reach the ground near the attacked outpost next early morning. That ground later become the concentration camp where the people of Oinam were herded like cows and treated like sub-human beings denying them their basic human rights.
It was told that right after the downfall of the camp, a helicopter was sent from Jakhama Army Camp H.Q. By that time the white clouds surrounded the entire Oinam Hills and the chopper could not make its way to lend.
Villagers went back home that night where soldiers roamed around the village whole night. Children were shocked; elders were much troubled with worries what will happen to this village. Even as other people escaped from village for fear of ramification of the incidents the leaders and elders stay back home as men to defend their village even as reigning of terror was clearly visible.
The terror began. All the cruelties, killings and tortures conjured up by the doers. However the report stated in the booklet, ‘Post Torture State of Mental health’ written by 7 Doctors from outside Manipur got to write this, ‘Torture is a cruel, inhuman degradation of one human being by another. Among the 104 victims studied by us, the high prevalence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorders correlates well with the incident of the torture of the victims. In some cases, the physical torture has been so sever that the victims have suffered permanent damage to their physical health as well. All this has naturally led to a great level of disability and incapacity to carry out day-to-day activities. Though this study was based on a purposive sample, it is held adequate to draw the conclusion that PTSD is high among the victims and is related to their being tortured by the personnel of the Assam Rifles.’
Eagle, when landed, it would not leave empty handed back to skies but devour the chicken. The eagle had landed not to devour the Oinam people but to devour the Assam Rifles. Assam Rifles as couldn’t catch the flown away eagle ended up devouring the innocent Nagas at the false pretext of suspects. Eagle not only devour a chicken but frighten the rest of the chicken community when it landed. The ramifications of the ‘Operation Blue Bird’ have left the people much frightened, weak, sick, havoc and crippled the very peaceful existence as human being for the people those who were squarely affected by the cruel wings of that Blue Bird Operation. This is what a team of Doctors who conducted a study on the delayed effects of Torture on Nagas in Manipur in July 1990 on their booklet ‘Post Torture State of Mental Health,’ write when come to symptoms found among the sufferers. “There is an unquestionable relationship with the type and nature of torture with their symptoms, like ‘recurrent distressing dreams f the event’, ‘falling and staying asleep’. ‘recurrent and intrusive painful recollection of the torture’, etc. Barking dogs, sounds of resembling gun shot, sight of olive green dress or even the colour, sound of jeep, sound of helicopter, sounds of children running downhill simulating marching troops, still disturbed these victims with vivid memories of torture and intense psychological distress.
It is found from the study that the percentage of victims still suffering from recurrent dreams of torture(38.61%) and disturbed sleep (66.33%) is fairly high. Major groups of people are still having the problem of maintaining social relationship with other members of the family and village. They are incapable of enjoying village festivals, food, sex and even friendships (54.44%).
A good number of victims have lost their self-confidence and developed a sense of foreshortened future (37.62%). The reports continues to say, ‘The results of the present study show that individuals who are subjected to torture and their family members who are often forced to witness the torture, have developed serious mental health problems.”
All those who were tortured could not work in the field; many of them suffer from constant illness of various kinds. For still many their survival way is very thin. Only rice is their hope. Cultivating rice is labour intensive. As most parents are beaten black and blue and could no longer work, many children have to be dropped from the school due to poverty. Still on hearing the gunshot the people panic and very allergic to the sound. 19 years past now but still the trauma of those nightmares hang on.
On those Blue Mountains the cruel bird in blue landed and operated by the Assam Riffles ransacked lives of many leaving behind in blues, the feathers of nightmares, pains and agonies, trepidation and consternation.
The above article is the first part of a series of articles based on Oinam
