Two civilian porters
were killed and nine Assam Rifles troopers were injured in an
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast at Monmao village, near
the India-Myanmar border, in the Changlang District of Arunachal
Pradesh, on February 6, 2015. One of the injured AR trooper succumbed
to his injuries a day later. An unnamed source from the Khaplang
faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K)
claimed that the attack was a joint operation by the NSCN-K and
the Independent faction of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-I),
against the Indian Army. This is the only case of terrorism related
killing in the State in 2015, thus far.
The State, however,
recorded a total of nine fatalities, including three civilians
and six militants, through 2014, as against four fatalities (all
terrorists) in 2013. In 2001, at the peak of insurgency, Arunachal
had recorded 63 fatalities, including 40 civilians, 12 Security
Force (SF) personnel and 11 militants.
A civilian killing
was recorded in the State in 2014, for the first time since October
25, 2007. On that day, three AR troopers and a civilian were killed
in an ambush carried out by militants of the Isak-Muivah faction
of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM)
at a remote jungle in the Tirap District. Significantly, no SF
trooper had been killed since the October 2007 incident, till
February 6, 2015.
Fatalities among
militants increased from four in 2013 to six in 2014. On October
20, 2014, SF personnel killed two unidentified NSCN-IM militants
at Thinsa village in Tirap District. One AK-56 rifle, along with
two magazines and 50 rounds of ammunition, and one M-16 rifle
with a magazine and 30 rounds of ammunition, were recovered from
the slain militants.
Incidents of killing
increased from three in 2013 to five in 2014. In the worst incident
of 2014, two NSCN-IM militants and two civilians were killed in
crossfire between Assam Rifles troopers and militants at Holam
village in Khonsa, Tirap District. Two AK-47 rifles, a sniper
rifle and an M-16 rifle were recovered from the incident site.
Incidents of killing
through 2014 were reported from two Districts, Tirap and Longding.
In 2013 fatalities had also been reported from two Districts,
Lohit and Changlang. The Government of India (GoI) extended the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) by another six months
in Tirap, Longding and Changlang Districts, with a formal notification
issued on September 20, 2014. The AFSPA was first implemented
in these three Districts on September 17, 1991. Arunachal has
a total of 17 Districts.
Meanwhile, the
inter-State border dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh
flared up again in 2014. On January 29, 2014, 15 persons were
killed and another eight received bullet injuries when encroachers
from Arunachal Pradesh opened fire with hand-made weapons in the
Behali Reserve Forest area of Sonitpur District in Assam. On August
31, 2014, State Home Minister Tanga Bylaing disclosed that Tani
Land National Liberation Tigers (TLNLT) claimed responsibility
for the attack. TLNLT is a relatively insignificant group demanding
a separate homeland for the Tani people, variously known as Mising
in Assam and Adi, Nyishi, Galo Bangni, Apa, Tagin, and Hill Miri
in Arunachal Pradesh. The genesis of the current border dispute
dates back to 1983 when Arunachal, as a Union Territory, started
demanding certain plain areas of Arunachal [then known as North-East
Frontier Agency (NEFA)] that were transferred to Assam according
to a February 23, 1951 notification. The demand was reiterated
when Arunachal became a State on February 20, 1987. The Assam
Government, subsequently, filed a case in Supreme Court in 1989.
In 2006 the Supreme Court formed a commission to identify the
boundaries between Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Despite
meeting 19 times (till July 2014), the Commission has failed to
resolve the issue.
Terrorist outfits
operating in the neighbouring States have primarily been responsible
for the violence in Arunachal Pradesh. NSCN-IM, a group principally
located and operational in Nagaland, was responsible for two of
the three civilian killings reported in Arunachal in 2014 (another
civilian death remain unattributed). Of the six militants killed
in the State in 2014, four belonged to NSCN-IM, while two were
from NSCN-K.
Of 19 militants
arrested in eight incidents through 2014, 13 belonged to outfits
which are based outside the State’s boundaries. These included
five of the Manipur-based Peoples Liberation Army (PLA);
four each of the Nagaland-based Unification faction of NSCN (NSCN-U)
and NSCN-IM. The other six arrested belonged to Arunachal Pradesh-based
outfits – five of the Tai Singpho Security Force (TSSF) and one
of the National Liberation Council of Taniland (NLCT). In a significant
incident, in a joint operation, SFs arrested five militants of
PLA and recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition from their
possession from the Pongchau area in Longding District on March
5, 2014. The number of arrests through 2013 stood at 22 in 10
incidents.
Crucially, most
of the terrorist formations active in the State have their bases
in neighbouring states of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur. The State
is principally used by Naga militants, and some local organisations
have sprung up with the support of Naga militant groupings. Significantly,
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) while extending the AFSPA
in Tirap, Changlang and Longding Districts, noted that the law
and order situation in these Districts remained unchanged and
that the Districts were being used by various insurgent groups
for trafficking arms and ammunition from neighbouring countries,
particularly Myanmar. On August 19, 2014, Inspector General of
Border Security Force (BSF, Meghalaya Frontier) Sudesh Kumar observed,
“There are isolated instances of arms and ammunition entering
into the country at international border with Bangladesh, but
a substantial quantity comes from international border with Myanmar
and China”
Further, the State
has become the ground of turf wars between these outfits. On May
23, 2013, the then Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, General (Retired)
J. J. Singh, had noted that the people of three eastern Arunachal
Districts - Tirap, Changlang and Longding – were living in fear
due to the presence of cadres of the two NSCN factions [NSCN-K
and NSCN-IM] in the area, who resorted to kidnappings, extortion
and factional feuds. This was further corroborated by the then
Intelligence Bureau Chief, Syed Asif Ibrahim, on November 28,
2014, who observed that, in Arunachal Pradesh, there was a turf
war between factions of NSCN, and that the safe sanctuaries of
the militants in neighbouring countries, particularly Myanmar,
were compounding the insurgency problem in India’s Northeast.
The State also
faces a security threat from Bodo insurgents from Assam, who have
created safe havens along the Arunachal-Assam border. In the aftermath
of the December 23, 2014, massacre
by the I.K. Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front
of Bodoland (NDFB-IKS)
in Assam, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki of Arunachal Pradesh disclosed
that the State Government had issued directives to the Deputy
Commissioner (DC) and Superintendents of Police (SP) of Districts
bordering Assam - West Kameng, East Kameng, Papum Pare, Lower
Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang, Lower Dibang, Tirap, Changlang
and Lohit - to keep a strict vigil on the possibility of militants
sneaking into the State's territory, and observed, “All the available
Paramilitary forces have also been instructed by the State Home
Department to conduct patrolling along the border areas.”
The Arunachal Pradesh
Police has made an action plan to check insurgency in Tirap, Changlang
and Longding Districts, which includes the setting up of 11 new
Police Stations and upgrading the existing nine Police Stations.
1,769 posts were filled up in the Police department of the three
insurgency-affected Districts in 2014. The department also procured
313 INSAS rifles, 158 pistols (9mm), 40 mortars (of 2 inch bore),
33 Light Machine Guns (of 7.62 mm bore), and over 200,000 rounds
of AK-47 ammunition during 2014. 28 night vision devices, 20 video
cameras, 23 digital cameras and other gadgets were also procured
during 2014 for fighting insurgency in these Districts.
In a bid to make
Arunachal less depended on the Central Government in the maintenance
of law and order and counter insurgency, Union Home Minister Rajnath
Singh and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, on
August 12, 2014, assured all possible support to Arunachal Pradesh
for modernization of the State Police. Arunachal was assured that
Police modernisation fund would be hiked from INR 110 million
to INR 220 million from fiscal year 2014.
In the meantime,
the Government of India has commenced work to develop six airports
in the State. According to the proposal the first of these airports,
at Tezu, is to be made operational in January 2016. The increased
air connectivity within the State and with other parts of the
country is expected to help in the development of the State. Accelerated
development of State’s economy as well as infrastructure are considered
in maintaining peace in the region.
Providing a secure
environment to carry forward developmental works, however, remains
a challenge. Indeed, on January 30, 2015, State Ecology and Mining
Minister Kamlung Mosang noted that coal mining in the Namchik-Namphuk
coal block in Changlang District had been suspended since May
2012, after GoI directed the State Government to suspend extraction,
following involvement of insurgent groups in illegal coal extraction.
A number of developmental projects could potentially be jeopardised
by the various lingering security threats in Arunachal, even as
the dividends of an enduring peace continue to elude the people
of the State.
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