No more SOFT STATE!Indian Army at war against Insurgency!
PM Modi had given the go ahead to the Indian Army for "hot pursuit" of militants into Myanmar.Thus,Ghuskar Maar Rahe Hain!
No chance of withdrawal of AFSPA, Army gets free hand to kill!
Palash Biswas
Irom Sharmila speaks to NDTV in Delhi
No chance of withdrawal of ARMED FORCE Special Power Act,AFSA as Army gets free hand to kill Insurgency.In the first such cross-border operation, special forces of the army in coordination with the air force today carried out a surgical strike inside Myanmar, killing nearly 20 insurgents of the group. In the biggest counter-insurgency operation carried out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's year-old government, the Indian army entered Myanmar to strike militants involved in an attack last week that killed 20 soldiers.
As the ARMY Operation strategy seems to be,with various insurgent groups joining hands,and Thursday's killing of 20 Indian Army soldiers, New Delhi must move fast and on several tracks.
Media reports confirm,in a pro-active strike, Army on Monday carried out an operation along the India-Myanmar border inflicting "significant casualties" on two groups of Northeast insurgents, suspected to be involved in the killing of 20 soldiers in Manipur last week
Meanwhile, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore disclosed today that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given the go ahead to the Indian Army for "hot pursuit" of militants into Myanmar.
"Its become a habit for these militants to strike at the Indian Army or paramilitary forces or citizens of the nation and then cross over into safe havens being confident of the fact that Indian Armed forces will not pursue them," he told a TV channel.
"This message is now very clear for all those who harboured intentions of terror on our country. Unprecedented though, but our PM has taken a very bold step and given a go ahead for hot pursuit into Myanmar," the minister said.
"Therefore, we are confirming that Indian armed forces crossed over into Myanmar and carried out strikes on two of the militant camps, annihilating the entire camps and they have returned back safely," he added.
Asked whether India will extend this strategy to other sectors like the western side, implying Pakistan, the minister said, "its undoubtedly a message to all nations that harbours any terror intentions, be it the west or the specific country where we went in right now. Even if there are groups within a country that harbours terror intentions, we will choose the time and place of hitting them," he said.
However, Irom Sharmila, human rights activist from Manipur has blamed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for the gruesome attack on Indian Army soldiers on Thursday morning. The Act gives the army sweeping emergency powers in troubled areas.
"Yesterday's incident happened where AFSPA is fully applied so there is no use of AFSPA. The Government should change their policies and programs because violence creates only violence," Ms Sharmila told NDTV. She was in Delhi in connection with a pending case from 2006 in a local court.
In conversation with Subhajit Sengupta, anti-AFSPA activist Irom Sharmila condemned the ambush on an Army convoy which killed 18 soldiers and called it inhumane. However, she also highlighted that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) did not protect anyone and needed to be repealed immediately.
She highlighted that Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) did not protect anyone and needed to be repealed immediately.
How Other States Can Follow Tripura's Lead In Lifting AFSPA
Huffington Post India-04-Jun-2015
Observers of the Northeast will agree that the AFSPA did not have any role whatsoever in this success story. It had to do more with the Left ...
Kashmir Images-04-Jun-2015
Manipur ambush: Peace process jolted by attack
India Today-04-Jun-2015
Earlier as Indian Express reported on 6th June:Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high-level Task Force on the North-East wants the army to be pulled out of counter-insurgency duties in Manipur and Nagaland, and re-deployed east to guard the porous border with Myanmar, government sources said. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/manipur-ambush-pm-modis-task-force-wants-army-out-of-counter-insurgency-duties-in-north-east/#sthash.kGSl8mOE.dpuf
Media reports the number of the killed insurgents as varying as the operation intensified.Some say 15 ,some other twenty.The toll has to rise, howevee , and Indian state is all set to shed the image of a SOFT State!
India remains silent on Myanmar Rohinga Muslim Killing episode and this diplomacy is paying back.As the Indian Army launched a massive combing operation in Manipur's border areas post the ambush that killed 18 soldiers, strategic experts said India needs to coordinate with Myanmar if the terrorist bases in that country have to be destroyed.
Media reports from New Delhi says that Special forces of the Indian Army on Tuesday carried out a surgical strike inside Myanmar, slaying about 15 insurgents of the groups believed to be responsible for the deadly Manipur ambush!
Mind you,On June 4 Indian Army trucks were attacked with 'Lathod guns' and grenades by suspected terrorists of NSCN (Khaplang) killing 18 Army men and injuring 15 others in Moltung area of Chandel district of Manipur.
The first truck carrying about 5-6 soldiers also had barrels of fuel which exploded taking out the trucks behind it.
The second truck was carrying about 18-19 soldiers while the rest of the about 46 member-strong convoy were in the other trucks.
The bodies of majority of the soldiers were charred completely.
The strike was carried out by commandos on specific intelligence input in coordination with Myanmarese authorities, with the Army saying that "significant casualties" had been inflicted on two militant groups believed to be NSCN(K) and KYKL.
Sources said about 15 insurgents were killed in the assault with no casualties among the soldiers.
Addressing a press conference Major General Randhir Singh said, "This was done at two different locations, along the Nagaland and Manipur border," and added, "Significant casualties have been inflicted on the militants."
He revealed that Manipur massacre militants were killed near Myanmar border after specific intelligence was received about the militants.
He also revealed that Myanmar was cooperating with the India Army in their anti-insurgency operations.
"We are in communication with Myanmar authorities and we have traditionally had close relationship with Myanmar Army," Singh said.
"We look forward to working with them to combat terrorism in future too," Major General stated, as per ANI.
Noting that the army had been on "high alert" after Manipur attack, Singh said that in the course of last few days, credible intelligence was received about further attacks that were being planned within Indian territory.
While Singh said the operation was carried out "along the Indo-Myanmar border at two locations, sources said the strike was carried out inside Myanmar with the coordination of local authorities, as per PTI.
The Diplomat reports:
Indian soldiers were returning home with their bags after serving a tour in the region when the ambush took place, catching them off guard. Media reports say that this is the deadliest attack against the Indian army in recent years. Some suggest that the Indian army has not suffered such casualties since the Kargil War against Pakistan in 1999.
The militant-infested state of Manipur has seen relative peace for quite some time, but these killings have broken the lull and drawn the nation's attention once again to the problem of insurgency in the northeastern state, which shares a long border with Myanmar.
Various reports suspect the involvement of a new group called the United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (ULFSEA), a conglomerate of various insurgent organizations based in Manipur and neighboring areas with its headquarters in the jungles of Myanmar. The group is supposedly led by SS Khaplang, who is the head of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN). A few months ago, a decade-long ceasefire agreement between the Indian government and the Naga group was terminated. The attack is meant to be a reminder to the Indian government about the strength of the NSCN's Khaplang faction or NSCN(K),which is largely based in Myanmar.
Since 1997, there has been a ceasefire agreement with the Nagaland and Manipur-based Isak-Muivah group of the NSCN, the most powerful Naga group. New Delhi went into an informal ceasefire with the Khaplang faction later on and this helped in maintaining relative peace in the Naga-dominated regions of the northeast. But early this year the Indian government terminated the agreement with the NSCN(K).
"Thursday's ambush could be Khaplang's message that he can still hit back within Indian territory in many different ways, other than dramatically announcing the arrival of ULFSEA," writes Pradip Phanjoubam in The Wire.
Rajeev Bhattacharya, a Northeast India-based journalist who visited the headquarters of the ULFSEA in Myanmar in 2012, says that the "new outfit has been created to give a greater punch to the independence movement of different separatist groups in the North East."
He also adds that such a high profile attack has some "strategic purpose for the insurgents." "It galvanizes the cadres and help them recruit more," opines Bhattacharya, who has recently written a book titled Rendezvous with Rebels, an account of his 800-mile journey into the den of insurgent groups in the jungles of Myanmar and his interactions with all the senior rebel leaders from the northeast.
In an interview with The Diplomat, Bhattacharya notes that "rebel groups, through such attacks, want to tell the administration that the Indian troops should leave the state."
The central government reacted angrily to the latest development. The army sent extra troops to the region and firm instructions have been given to the military to find the rebels and confront them. But such a knee-jerk reaction usually ends up killing innocent people, thereby alienating the region further.
This has been a chronic problem. India has always seen the northeast through the prism of security and there has never been much interest in New Delhi in using a political approach to the issue of separatism. Military means are taken for granted as a solution.
"From day one there has been refusal to address it politically," notes Angomcha Bimol Akoijam of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). "They use a carrot and stick policy: use military intervention and try to buy peace by distributing money. But it does not address the issue," adds Akoijam.
Even the military has its own limitations. Most of the insurgent groups operating in Manipur and neighboring areas are based in Myanmar, which shares a long and porous border with India. Myanmar's cooperation is important for nailing down the militants. The irony is that the Khaplang faction holds a ceasefire agreement with the neighboring government. Besides, Myanmar itself is facing a tough time in negotiating with many militant groups operating within its territory.
Bhutan and Bangladesh have helped India in cracking down on rebel groups taking shelter within their borders. Will Myanmar also fall in line? Past assurances from Myanmar have not yielded any positive results.
However, before India looks outside for support it has to set its own house in order. It has to seriously examine why the insurgency in the northeast has been so persistent, even after over six decades of independence. Is the insurgency just a law and order problem or a socio-economic issue rooted in the unique historic context in which the northeast has evolved over the years? Why does the region remain emotionally alienated from New Delhi?
"If you compare [it] to the Kashmir problem, India's approach to the militancy in the northeast is completely different. It is always law and order. There is no required political approach to the problem. This is the part of the general orientation towards the region," says Akoijam, the JNU professor.
There are over 30 insurgent groups active in Manipur itself. In recent years, the government has managed to neutralize a majority of them, but the political problem that allows so many underground groups to remain active has never been addressed.
The first reaction of the Indian government after Thursday's attack was to reinforce its military presence in the region and hunt down the rebels without an acknowledgement that such approaches have led to failure in the past. The Indian government needs to find a new way to deal with this problem.
http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/militancy-strikes-back-in-indias-northeast/
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