Defending Truth Under Fire: The Case of Yambem Laba, NHRC’s Intervention, and the Ongoing Battle for Human Rights in Manipur
🕊️ Defending Truth Under Fire: The Case of Yambem Laba, NHRC’s Intervention, and the Ongoing Battle for Human Rights in Manipur By Lenin Raghuvanshi Founder, People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR) Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI Introduction: When Speaking Truth Becomes a Crime In India’s troubled northeast, voices of truth often echo against the barrels of guns. The recent abduction of senior journalist and human rights defender Yambem Laba from his home in Imphal on 12 February 2025 , marks yet another dark chapter in the long struggle for press freedom and human rights in Manipur. Laba, a respected journalist with The Statesman and former Acting Chairperson of the Manipur Human Rights Commission, was abducted at gunpoint by 15–20 unidentified armed men , detained for over seven hours, and coerced into apologizing for his public criticism of militant groups. This was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of intimidation that has silenced journalists...