Thursday, November 22, 2007

Back to the mainstream policy

By L Olivia Ngaineihlian

The North Eastern State of India have long been the battle ground between UG Groups and other various subversive forces who have been trying to break away from the Indian Union and the Government machinery which is committed to prevent them from doing so. These ideological-less subversive forces have raised their head in almost all of the seven States of this region at one point of time or another. At present Hill and Valley based UG groups of Manipur run a parallel Govt. strictly independent of each other with highly optimistic aims and objectives.

A direct consequence of this long standing tug of war has been that these states inspite of their rich natural and mineral resources, have been left far behind in the development graph. The North Eastern States tend to gain very less or nothing at all from the rapid industrial and economic growth made by the rest of the country since the era of economic liberalization. This is a classic example of a catch 22 situation, due to insurgency there has been no development and since there’s no development, insurgency will never end. Until and unless united revolutionary groups comes together as an undivided insurgent movement with clear cut objectives and are given an autonomy like the J & Kashmir example, there will be no rest and bloody Cl ops will continue. Both State and the Central Govts. have to be the masters as well as harbingers of peace. They have the money, resources, influences and readily available fire power for leverage.

The Indian Armed forces have been battling it out with the insurgent groups of the North East region since India gained its Independence. However, despite commitment of men in uniform and material the results have not been very encouraging in terms of total elimination of insurgent groups.

Inspite of its unquestionable success in keeping the sovereignty of this country intact and bringing order to these states, the fight against the North Eastern UG groups in general and the UG groups of Manipur in particular is far from over and now the time is ripe to carry out a thorough introspection of the approach by the Military to combat insurgency. A pragmatic CI ops policy to complement national interest is needed. The present surrender policy extended by the Govt. authorities clearly make a desirable impact.

The State Govt. must follow an enticing and trust worthy surrender policy officially “advertising” conduct by the Central armed forces for brighter future. This revaluation of specific surrender policy was clearly highlighted by a few readers in the form ‘letters to the Editor’ and in some unsolicited articles.

One of the most talked about steps taken to combat insurgency has been to encourage armed cadres of the insurgent groups to lay down their arms officially and in return, the State Govt would ensure their rehabilitation and return to “the Mainstream”. The State Govt as well as the Armed Forces have a well laid out surrender policy but unfortunately, in the years gone by, there have been a few takers. We have heard about the surrender fiasco at the HQ IGAR two years back when the district police chiefs and their officers made a surprising U-turn and openly retracted their involvement even though they were present when 4 or 5 “self- styled” UG Militants surrendered their firearms to Lt Gen Z.U.Shah, then GOC 3 Corps, now Dy Chief of Army Staff (Dy COAS). It showed that there was no common surrender procedures and in specific a combined policy. Although the existing surrender policy promises various rehabilitation measures, the Govt. set up at various levels has failed to educate the masses about the finer points and merits of this policy. It is very important to bring out the concrete measures taken by the State Govt. in this direction when numerous surrenderees were recruited in the state police commandoes, IRB and MR battalions. It is also extremely important that public awareness campaigns be undertaken jointly by the civil administration as well as the armed forces so that this costly policy reaches the main target “audiences”. Only the people power and socio - political views can make the big difference. Hence, the need for the armed forces to win the hearts of the local population and publicize the- finer points and terms of their surrender policy for general public’s knowledge.

Apart from the publicity campaign, the State Govt. like the Central Govt. need to keep and fulfill their promises publicly. It is also important for the armed forces to make an honest endeavour to let the “misguided youth” enter the mainstream and lead a secured and normal life. Here, it is also of paramount importance to ensure the security of these surrendered insurgents against any kind of backlash from their outfits. Many dharnas have been carried out repeatedly by surrendered UG militants interned at the state police Commandos HQ Complex. So, more security and regular stipend than Rs. 3000 per month and incentives are needed to be given a boost in its present form. The noteworthy point is that if implemented in a proper manner, this surrender policy may initiate a chain reaction and there may be numerous individuals who would come forward to lay down arms in return for a better life. In short, it is just a matter of setting the right precedence. With Rs. 3 Lakhs of insurance money for each surrenderee’s confidential personal bank account numbers, all-round protection system like the FBI//CIA “double-agents”, specific money for each weapons surrendered, the present upgraded surrender policy is highly promising then ever before.

The North Eastern region has long been the soft underbelly of the nation. The resurgence of the Maoist movement naxa-lites and increased terrorist threats have made matter only worse for the security forces. Hence, it becomes extremely important to use the existing surrender policy in an effective way to pull out the state of Manipur from this unwanted quagmire. There are much too many self-styled and wayward militants around in the name of revolution.

Under the upgraded surrender policy, wisely made “open secret”, apart from Rs. 3 to 5 lakhs personal bank account and Rs. 3000 to 5000 per month as revised recently, AK or M16 assault rifle will be reimbursed with a direct payment of around Rs 50,000 to Rs70,000, whereas 9mm pistol or .45 semi-automatic pistol will be paid with Rs 8000 to 15000 according to the quality and their origins. An RPG with projectile rocket will be given around Rs. 5000 to Rs 8000 plus, an LMG, MMG or UMG will be repaid with around Rs. 5000 to Rs 8000, wireless radio sets (HF) and Hand sets (GP) carry a price of around Rs. 2000 to Rs 3000 when surrendered officially.

A Dragunov or M-40 sniper rifle is worth Rs. 10000 to Rs. 12,000 if it is fitted with infra-red ray or 10x all- weather scope. A SAM, not available or used by any UG outfits in NE India, with projectiles, needs to be paid off with atleast Rs. 50,000+25000 to Rs. 80,000 each per set. A G-3.30 US Carbine, SLR, etc, are worth around Rs. 5000 to Rs. 7000, with loaded extra Mags; HE Grenades, Land- Mine, Mortar round, P-203, IED, etc are reimbursed with around Rs. 1000 to Rs. 2000 each.


Source: http://www.thesangaiexpress.com/Others/Articles.htm

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