KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has come under friendly fire for her promise to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur if Trinamool Congress is voted to power in that state.

After party MP Kabir Suman accused her of shedding crocodile tears for Irom Sharmila, rights activists - who were once government-appointed mediators with Maoists - slammed her on Tuesday for making empty promises.

Mamata's pledge to do away with AFSPA is little more than an electoral promise with no practical value, civil rights activists in Kolkata say.

"Mamata Banerjee has tried to woo Manipur voters with these statements but they have no practical value. When she has not succeeded in withdrawing the joint forces from Jangalmahal, how can she even think of repealing AFSPA even if she does win the mandate in Manipur?" said rights activist Sujato Bhadra.

The AFSPA is very difficult to do away with, Bhadra remarked. "The Jeevan Reddy Committee, set up to review the Act after Manorama Devi's death in Manipur, recommended repeal of AFSPA but nothing happened. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has been fighting to repeal the act for several years but has not succeeded. The lobby in favour of AFSPA is simply too strong. How can Mamata even consider changing the situation at her level," Bhadra asked.

Chhoton Das, who was a mediator between the government and the Maoists till Kishanji's death, remarked that politicians seldom keep their promises. "Many of the statements made by politicians before elections seem to be very positive. At the end of the day, none of the commitments are kept. There is no exception to this. This has become a rule in this country. Politicians have a consistent record so far as breaking of promises is concerned," he said.

Bhadra pointed out that Mamata had done nothing to release those detained under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act in Bengal. "During a meeting with us, the chief minister said that she would not be able to withdraw the joint forces from Jangalmahal but she promised to release the UAPA detainees. Though the crackdown under this Act has stopped, none of the detainees have been releases yet. In December, we sent a fresh list of people falsely implicated under this Act but the government didn't take any action," he said.

On Republic Day, Kabir Suman had criticized Mamata for drawing a parallel between her 26-day fast during the Singur agitation and Irom Sharmila's epic 10-year fast against AFSPA in Manipur. "The fact is the state government neither forced her (Mamata) to break her strike nor arrested her. On the other hand, Irom Sharmila was arrested by the Army in the beginning and then she was forced to eat by using tubes," Suman wrote in his blog.

The singer-composer pointed out that Sharmila's name never once came up during Mamata's fast at Esplanade. Kabir Suman goes on to criticize Mamata's failure in withdrawing joint forces from Jangalmahal. In fact, most of his blogs in the last few months have gone against Mamata. He has written not only against the police firing at Mograhat that killed two persons but also composed a song for the farmers who have committed suicide due to debt.