Click to play videoImphal (Manipur): A shocking protest was witnessed against the Indian Army on July 14, 2004, in Manipur.
Four years later, the protest continues, and this time it is in Delhi. The brave mothers of Manipur who had stripped and dared the Army are in the national capital and their message stays unchanged.
"To demand scrapping of AFSPA and extra judicial execution that is being carried out with impunity,” says one of the protestors.
While the other one adds, “Nothing has changed and this is intolerable.”
"If this act is repealed even for a day I would be happy to die,” claims another protestors.
Far removed from the capital in the streets of Imphal, it is just another day for Hatujab Bibi, who lost her husband in what she believes to be a fake encounter.
The body bore signs of severe torture including cut marks, protruding intestines, bruises and abrasions all over as well as gunshot injuries.
"I remember my husband every time I see my children. I have heard of the black law and it must go,” Sijatun Bibi, wife of a victim.
Many believe the root cause of violence in Manipur is the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA).
The Jeevan Reddy Committee and the Veerappa Moily Administrative Reform Committee both recommended a repeal of the act but with completion of 50 years of AFSPA that bridge it seems will take time to cross.
A Manipuri saying goes that you can never douse a flame by putting a cloth over it, the cloth itself will burn and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act the Manipuris' believe, is only alienating people of a nation from one another.
Back in Delhi, the determination to fight is written on the faces of the brave mothers of Manipur, as they battle to redraw lines and get the army off the streets in their state.
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