Manipur, which accounts to only 0.2 per cent of the country’s population, has registered nearly 65 per cent of cases under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, (UAPA). Out of the 975 cases of UAPA registered in the country in 2014, 630 are from the small north-eastern State of Manipur. 659 people from the State are charged under UAPA in these 630 cases.
Altogether 974 people are charged under UAPA in the country, according to the latest figures released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Commenting on the high number of UAPA cases, Babloo Loitongbam, a human rights activist based in Manipur said that the figures clearly point that there are “serious political issues concerning the people of Manipur and instead of addressing these issues the State is suppressing them”.
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“It is an attempt of criminalising the political struggle of the people,” Mr Loitongbam added.
Six Manipur-based organisations are banned by Union Home Ministry under the UAPA Act.
“Not only the cases but the number of organisations banned in Manipur is also highest,” said Mr Loitongbam.
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These are, People’s Liberation Army (PLA), United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL) and Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF).
Describing UAPA as a “draconian act” Kolkata-based rights activist Sujato Bhadra said that UAPA, is “worse than the Rowlatt Act”.