Imphal, Sept. 5 : Assam Rifles today stirred the hornet’s nest by pitching for the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
Inspector-general, Assam Rifles (South), Maj. Gen. A.K. Choudhary, told reporters here today that security forces operating in Manipur required the army act to make their campaign against militants more effective.
“The militants are trained in foreign countries, they are equipped with sophisticated weapons and armed to the teeth. So the security forces require special provisions (like the army act) for meeting the challenges,” he said.
His statement is likely to evoke sharp reactions from human rights groups and supporters of Irom Sharmila, who has been on a fast since November 2000 to demand repeal of the act. The state has witnessed massive protests in the past over the issue, forcing the Centre to constitute a committee to look into the matter and make recommendations.
The IG said the security forces had been asked to assist the government until the state police could deal with the situation and the civil administration functioned properly. And as long as the forces operated in the state, they needed special provisions like the army act.
He, however, added that any soldier found guilty of committing excesses and violating rights was given exemplary punishments.
The statement comes as Sharmila Kanba Lup (save Sharmila campaign) is holding a daily relay hungerstrike near Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital at Porompat in Imphal East where Sharmila is being kept.
The group has been holding the fast since December 10 last year to expresses solidarity with Manipur’s “iron lady”.
The statement also comes on the eve of the release of a book on Sharmila, Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur, by Delhi-based author Deepti Priya Mehrotra. The biography, published by Penguin Books India, will be released by Union minister of state for rural development Agatha Sangma in Delhi tomorrow.
As part of the campaign against militants, Gen. Choudhary stressed the need to smash the rebels’ overground extortion networks. He claimed that counter-insurgency operations had forced the militants to be on the run, “but the problem needs a political solution.” He also called for people’s support to root out insurgency.
On the allegation by the NSCN (IM) and Naga civil society bodies that the Assam Rifles disturbed peace and violated ceasefire ground rules in Ukhrul by attacking NSCN (IM) cadres the officer said the well armed militants fired at the troops and the troops were only retaliating.
“We take maximum care while retaliating not to cause any colateral damages,” he said.
Troops of the Assam Rifles gunned down two NSCN (I-M) militants in an operation on August 12 in Phungyar sub-division of Ukhrul.