Pressure is mounting on the outlawed Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) to substantiate its charges after the insurgent outfit claimed to have attacked a senior journalist in Manipur for having part of an extortionist gang.
The All-Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) and Editors' Forum, Manipur (EFM) have called for a white paper from the underground group substantiating its charges. The two organisations have also called for a probe by an independent body into the charges against Ratan Luwangcha who was shot at by KCP activists on February 9.
AMWJU/EFM said in a statement that the charges levelled by KCP against Luwangcha were unsubstantiated, and until such time as credible evidence is produced, he was to be considered innocent. They said if the charges were backed up with evidence, the AMWJU, in accordance with its constitution, would take appropriate action against him. The two organisations asked the underground group to make available a white paper to AMWJU with evidence backing the charges against Luwangcha.
They also appealed to all independent bodies to aid them in this regard by conducting an inquiry into the truth or otherwise of the charges levelled by KCP. AMWJU/EFM also noted that Luwangcha had been working as a journalist since 1998, and from that time till date, no underground group has levelled any sort of charges against him. Incidentally, Luwangcha is himself the general secretary of AMWJU.
The KCP claim came Sunday within the 48-hour deadline set by journalists failing which they said any militant group failing to clarify its role in the attack would be summarily blacked out of the press. AMWJU/EFM had on Friday last asked all militant organisations in the state to issue a clarification within 48 hours. They had said if a rebel outfit failed to issue a clarification, its press handouts would not be published.
The move came after unidentified gunmen shot at and critically injured a senior journalist in Imphal Thursday last. The incident took place at the Uripok Bachaspati Leikai area shortly after 8 am when three armed men came on a two-wheeler and pumped in three bullets on Ratan Luwangcha, bureau chief of Manipuri daily Poknapham when he was browsing through the morning papers outside his residence.
Luwangcha, 40, suffered two bullet injuries. One bullet passed through his abdomen while the other passed through the left thigh. He was operated upon immediately. The bullet that hit his abdomen near his navel and exited after piercing the hip plate, ruptured his small intestine in six places and his colon at one.
KCP, in a statement issued by its information and publicity secretary, Pibarel Mangang, accused Luwangcha of involvement in extortion from the public in the name of the underground group, and otherwise working against the revolutionary movement. Mangang said the shooting had been carried out with the approval of the party central committee, as Luwangcha had persisted in his 'crimes' despite being given ample opportunity to reform. KCP claimed that Luwangcha had for several years given shelter and support to people who were working against the party.
Luwangcha, acording to the Imphal Free Press, had dismissed the charges, and said that if the charges were true, it would not have been possible for him to have serve the public fearlessly for so long. He called for an unbiased inquiry by an autonomous and independent body into the charges against him to establish his guilt or innocence, and appealed for aid and cooperation of the public in this regard.
Noting that the attempt on his life had been carried out with the sanction of KCP's central committee, Luwangcha said the committee members should be ready to commit suicide to save the party's reputation if the charges turn out to be false. He also denounced the tendency among some underground groups to level all kinds of charges on their victims after executing them, and added that the opportunity should be taken to root out this tendency once and for all.
The Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) has anounced its own probe into the allegations. KYKL, in a statement, said the matter was not one on which it could remain silent, since the incident had reinforced doubts many people have about underground groups and their activities and exposed them to ridicule as being ignorant of democratic norms. Seeking cooperation of the media community and the public in general, KYKL also called on KCP to cooperate. KYKL has urged KCP to make public a white paper within a week specifying all evidence in support of the charges levelled against Luwangcha.
The United National Liberation Front (UNLF) too has asked KCP to make public credible evidence to back its charges within a week. UNLF too, in a statement, said it had decided to conduct its own probe into the shooting of Luwangcha. If required, the group would work together with other underground organisations to take the probe forward.
UNLF also warned KCP against making any kind of threat against Luwangcha or his family. It asked KCP not to exert any pressure on the media on this issue. Otherwise, it would be taken to be a mere armed gang rather than a revolutionary organisation.
The secretary of the Indian Journalists Union (IJU), Geetartha Pathak, decried the assault on Luwangcha, and journalists should be given their unfettered rights to discharge their duties without fear. Pathak, also a member of the Press Council of India (PCI) was in Imphal study the situation following the attack on Luwangcha. Pathak would be submitting a a report on Manipur and Assam incidents to Justice (Retd) GN Roy, PCI chairman, urging him to send a delegation to the region.
