Manipur youth platform flags ‘normalisation’ of gun culture during Assembly election

Much less violent 2017 election had repoll in 62 centres compared to 19 this time, it said

A vehicle that was damaged during poll violence in Manipur recently. | Photo Credit: PTI

IMPHAL

A youth platform in Manipur has said the normalisation of gun culture during the two-phase State polls was a worrisome trend.

The Youth Collective Manipur (YCM) was also critical of the Election Commission for ordering re-election in “only 19” polling stations this time when the “much less violent” 2017 election witnessed repolling in 62 stations.

The YCM documented 78 poll-related incidents of violence that claimed seven lives. The incidents were reported during the campaign and on the two days of voting – February 28 and March 5.

“So far, there are no reports of the authorities taking appropriate action against most of the electoral misconduct, including those that occurred at many polling stations on election day,” Thongam Zingo, the coordinator of YCM’s People’s Election Monitoring cell, said on Friday.

The misconduct included threat and intimidation by party agents, manipulation and destruction of EVMs, proxy voting and booth-capturing, the YCM said.

It added that the parameters for repoll in a few selected polling stations had not been made public by the Election Commission.

The YCM also failed to understand how ‘a much quieter’ election five years ago had repolling at 62 stations compared to 19 during the recently concluded election.

“Another worrisome trend is the normalisation of gun culture. In the pre-election and election days, lethal weapons were widely used to intimidate voters. The post-election victory celebrations had large-scale gun salutes,” Mr. Zingo said.

Such displays of firearms have a psychological, physical and political impact on civilians who hold a political view different from the gun-wielders, he said.

Videos of members of armed groups on ceasefire mode firing from automatic weapons to celebrate the victory of certain candidates, mostly in the constituencies dominated by the Kuki-Zomi communities, have gone viral on social media.

The State’s Director-General of Police, P. Doungel did not respond to calls or messages on such videos.

Analysis of the records of the 60 winning candidates in Manipur showed 23% of them have alleged criminal background.