Open Forum

New Delhi, 13 September 2007

Understanding The North East

POSITIVE ROLE OF ARMED FORCES

By Lt. Gen. (Rtd) M.M.Lakhera PVSM, AVSM, VSM

Firstly, it needs to be clearly understood that the North East comprises eight States i.e. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura & Sikkim. If one was to analyse the law and order insurgency problems in these States, it would emerge that insurgency is on only in parts of Manipur and parts of Assam. In Nagaland today, there is no active insurgency since a cease-fire has been agreed to by the NSCN (I&M Group).

However, some sporadic clashes between the two rival factions of the Nagas i.e. NSCN (I&M) Vs NSCN (K) do take place off and on. This is primarily because of the ongoing peace talks between the Government of India and the NSCN (I&M Group). Obviously, the other group is trying to make its presence felt and does not want to be left out of the whole peace process.

As regards Arunachal Pradesh, there is no insurgency in the State. Sporadic incidents, however, do take place, when the ULFA of Assam on being chased by the security forces cross over into the areas of Arunachal bordering on Assam. Sikkim and Mizoram are totally peaceful.

There is no active insurgency in Meghalaya. A few bandhs on inter-tribal demands do take place some time. However, these are very much a part of our democratic process. Tripura did have insurgency earlier. However, the insurgent groups have been fully contained and the State today enjoys a peaceful environment.

It will be seen from above that it is most unfair to bracket all these North East States as disturbed areas. This only proves a lack of understanding of complex problems of the North East region. It must be understood that no two States of the North East are similar. In fact, each State has its own set of problems. They have been grouped together as the North East region for geographic convenience only.

It is really surprising that the people at large have been talking of the AFSPA as being applicable to the whole of the North East. Nothing could be farther from truth and more damaging. The AFSPA is only applicable in parts of Manipur, parts of Assam and Nagaland. It is not applicable to the other States of the North East Region.

Secondly, it needs to be understood as to how this Act came into force. When the law and order problem in certain parts of the country deteriorated and the situation went out of control of the normal law enforcing agencies, the Army had to be called in. It was then felt by the Central Government that to tackle such special situations, special powers were required. India’s Parliament thereupon passed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958.

This Act is applicable to an area or a State only after due concurrence of the State, and that, too, for a specific duration. Unfortunately, the situation in certain parts of the country has continued to remain critical from the law and order point of view and hence the Act had to be extended from time to time.

The other fallacy about the Act is that the Armed Forces are using it indiscriminately. If it was so, there would have been a total revolt against such forces. What must be understood is that in an ongoing conflict, there may be stray incidents where on the spur of the moment, more than justifiable force may appear to have been used.

Unfortunately, such incidents get over-played. In fact, some units which have done a number of good works in the same area are never highlighted. Instead, one bad incident gets over-played and the Armed Forces get portrayed as villain. More often than not, reporting becomes one-sided and is followed by a trial, where the media becomes both the judge and the jury.

This also suits our national psyche where we enjoy and give more importance to such ‘masala’ news. The race among our multiple channels to be the first to ‘break news’ also makes the factual story the first casualty. Few appreciate that the Armed Forces have not gone there on their own. The situation has been handed over to them by the State administration when things have gone out of their control.

It is also a fallacy that Armed Forces personnel are seldom punished for such excesses. The strength of the Armed Forces is in its discipline. Each action is investigated and any violation of rules is swiftly punished within a few months. One would like to ask as to which other organisation in our country is taking such prompt action. We have incidents where criminals elsewhere roam around freely and, in some cases, it takes years to bring the culprits to trial.

Nevertheless, there is a definite need to modify a few clauses of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Fortunately, these are already under review by the Government of India.

In the final analysis, let us not continue to make adverse comments on the North East as a whole. We are part of the Indian nation and have our share of violence. But the violence is much less compared to the rest of the country. In fact, some of our States are ‘Islands of Peace’. We do hope this phenomenon will spread to our other sister States soon.

Similarly, we must understand the Indian Armed Forces today belong to India and are manned by Indian citizens, who very well understand the value of peace. Their primary task is to defend the country from external aggression. Unfortunately, because of the inability of the normal law enforcing agencies to maintain peace in their areas, the Government is constrained to hand over the situation to the Armed Forces as a last resort.

They are not there on their own. In fact, they would prefer to concentrate on their primary role of defending the nation from external aggression. Our attitude to use them as a whipping boy on the slightest pretext is contributing to frustration. Let us be fair to all. Condemn wrong acts; but give credit to good work also. Avoid a one-sided story.

Remember, law and order and insurgencies are national problems and require national support to be fought. Let us all contribute our bit to fight these and make India a peaceful and developed country for the others to envy. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)