Society
Tales from the
Margins
by Rachana Rana Bhattacharya
Conflict happens when
everyone speaks the truth, but only his/her truth - ignoring the other
facets of a situation. But however falteringly we do so, we need to seek
the truth, seek solutions. The wonderful thing about Delhi-based
independent filmmaker Kavita Joshi's documentary, 'Tales From the
Margins', is that it lacks pretence. The film is just as truth should be
- unvarnished, irrefutable, able to stand up for itself - inescapable in
the end.
The film travels to
Manipur, a little-known, strife-torn corner of India; driven for decades
by insurgency. Draconian laws like the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special
Powers Act, 1958) - a law enforced by the British in 1942 to suppress
the Quit India Movement - are still enforced; in Manipur, it has been
used from the 1950s to the present. The Act gives the Armed Forces the
authority to arrest, search or destroy property without a warrant; to
shoot - and even kill - on suspicion alone. What's more, it gives them
near-total immunity against any judicial action.
In this soul-stirring film, which is like a visual diary of events,
Joshi draws us into the lives of Manipur's women and their anguish and
chronicles the outstanding courage with which they have protested
against the grim situation in the state.
The human rights violations in the state, many of them neither known or
recorded anywhere, read like a gristly horror movie - only, this is for
real and most of us know nothing about it. The incidents leading up to
the events astound you:
* March 14, 1984: CRPF
personnel attacked by militants during a volleyball match. The crowd
runs helter-skelter, the CRPF fires into the crowd - 14 dead.
* July 10, 1987: Armoury from the Assam Rifles (AR) post at Oinam
village is looted by militants; nine personnel die. A three-month-long
reign of terror by the AR in 30 villages follows. Fourteen civilians are
shot dead. In one of the most infamous incidents of all, a woman is
forced to deliver her child out in the open, in public view.
* November 2, 2000: An army convoy is attacked near Malom town. In
retaliation, the AR guns down 10 civilians at a bus stop, including a
frail old woman. Brutal combing operations follow. In protest, human
rights activist Irom Sharmila decides to go on a fast-unto-death
demanding that the ASFSP be revoked. The authorities arrest and jail
Sharmila claiming she tried to commit an offence - suicide. She is
force-fed through the nose.
It has been seven years since, and she is still on her fast and still
being force- fed. She is doing this to secure the rights of the people
of Manipur. But no one seems to be listening.
'Tales From the Margins' contains a rare interview with Irom Sharmila,
one of the few with the courage to say 'no' to government apathy. No
matter what the cost. Her words, her frail voice that rings with
unyielding conviction is deeply disturbing. So is the simple poem that
accompanies the film's narrative.
In one of the incidents that the film highlights, on July 11, 2004,
Thangjam Manorama Devi, 32, was picked up from her home in the dead of
night by an all- male AR team. Her bullet-ridden corpse was found near a
hillock a few hours later. Her clothes were torn, her body bruised and
marked with gashes, her private parts shot through. Manorama Devi's
family alleged she had been raped.
Four days later (on July 15), 12 Manipuri women disrobed in public
outside the gates of the AR headquarters, protesting the custodial
killing and also the blatant human rights violations in Manipur. The
screams of mothers and daughters - RAPE US, KILL US, FACE US - resonate
in the mind and conscience. Rage snowballed - there was a spate of
protest marches and the agitations against AFSPA-backed excesses was
followed by savage brutality by the 'security' forces, ironically
fighting for their own lives as well, equally enraged by government
apathy. Helpless, valiant soldiers sent to 'defend' the nation but
forced to murder their own countrymen. Their idealism crushed, their
hearts ripped apart by disillusionment.
Manipur burned for months, while the government increased its might to
torture. But the trivia-obsessed media only highlighted the nudity and
not the issue. Men sniggered over the naked protest. No one cared to
know the truth or see beyond the nakedness. In despair and anger, some
Manipuri activists began circulating CDs with footage of the incidents
in the Capital.
When Joshi, who has earlier made a film on Manipuri theatre stalwart
Ratan Thiyam, got to see one of the disturbing CDs in 2004, she decided
to take the innocent voices of the people of Manipur to the world, doing
what she does best - make a film.
Over the next two years, she scraped funds together and made this film -
which is 23 minutes long and in Manipuri language, with English
subtitles - so that the world would stand up and listen. "And I'm glad
to say, it did. 'Tales from the Margins' is now being shown across
India, Europe and North America. It has received the Special Jury Prize
at the 23rd International Medias Nord Sud Geneva 2007 as well as a
Silver Remi at the WorldFest Houston," says the filmmaker. (Recently,
the film was showcased at the 50th International Leipzig Festival for
Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, as part of the international
programme section.)
It just goes to prove that every single one of us can make a difference.
If we try.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by
Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
