NE conflicts have socio-economic roots: Rajnath

Guwahati, Nov 29 : Most conflicts in the North-eastern region have socio- economic reasons behind them and these (reasons) have been there since even before independence, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Saturday.

Intelligence Bureau director Syed Asif Ibrahim on the other hand said the Northeast situation was “fragile” despite several groups talking peace with the government.

Addressing the inaugural function of the 49th All India Conference of DGS and IGPs – held for the first time outside the national capital – here Saturday, Singh said these socio-economic disparities have existed due to lack of development including that of infrastructure in the region.

“The level of development including infrastructure development has not been as satisfactory as it should have been. Some conflicts have roots in these socio-economic reasons. This is a matter of concern. It is not an exaggeration that these disparities have existed since even before independence,” Singh said.



He also expressed concern over incidents of violence carried out by various groups in the region despite peace talks, ceasefire and suspension of operation by several of these groups.

“The Government of India has been talking to some groups while some others are either in ceasefire or have declared suspension of violence on their own. But despite that, extortion and other incidents have been on,” Singh said.

Pointing out that holding the All India Conference of DGPs and IGPs outside Delhi was a major decision taken by the government, the Home Minister also said that holding the first such conference in Guwahati was at the initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

“It is at the Prime Minister’s suggestion that we are holding this important conference in the Northeast,” he added.

Earlier, giving an overview of the situation, Intelligence Bureau director Syed Asif Ibrahim said the security scenario in the Northeastern region continued to be fragile due to violent activities carried out by groups that are still outside the process of peace talks with the government.

“The situation in the Northeast continues to be fragile because of violent acts carried out by groups that are still outside the dialogue process with the government,” Ibrahim said.

Giving a state-wise break-up he said that while the Songbijit faction of NDFB was responsible for 85 per cent of the casualties in Assam, the GNLA was responsible for over 75 per cent casualties in Meghalaya.

“In Nagaland, internecine clashes for area dominance and extortion have remained a cause of worry, while two Naga outfits are engaged in a turf-war in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh. In Manipur on the other hand, Meitei underground groups are responsible for over 55 per cent casualties,” Ibrahim said.

~SangaiExpress

Rajnath rules out AFSPA repeal

New Delhi, Nov 23 : Relaxation in the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is not imminent, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said here today.

Singh’s statement comes a day after Vice-President Hamid Ansari nudged the Government on the alleged “misuse” of the Act.

The Home Minister said although there was a perceptible change in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Government would wait before considering any relaxation in AFSPA.

“We want to normalise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir like in any other State but for now there is no decision to withdraw the AFSPA. We will see in the future,” he said while answering a question at a conference here.

Singh’s answer is an iteration of the Narendra Modi Government’s hardline stand on AFSPA. Earlier, former Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the Government endorsed the army’s view on AFSPA. The army is stridently opposed to even a relaxation — leave alone abrogation — of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act of 1990.

Since the Modi Government took over in May this year, hopes for AFSPA to be abrogated or even relaxed have been dashed.

The North East, especially Manipur, has been demanding repeal of the Act that gives the army sweeping powers even to kill on suspicion. Manipur’s rights crusader Irom Sharmila has been on a hunger strike since November 2000, seeking repeal of the Act.

Former Home Minister P Chidambaram had openly endorsed reworking the Act, but the Defence Ministry during the UPA administration had toed the army line.

While the NDA Government appears to have a consensus on not tinkering with the Act, a nudge came from Ansari yesterday.

Delivering the eighth VM Tarkunde Memorial Lecture, the Vice-President remarked that in today’s context the most concerning aspect was the conduct of the State, resulting in violation or denial of rights of citizens.

“Serious complaints are frequently made about the misuse of laws like the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Disturbed Areas Act or the Public Safety Act,” the Vice-President said. “This reflects poorly on the State and its agents,” remarked Ansari.

A Supreme Court-appointed commission, headed by Justice Santosh Hegde, had last year noted after investigating six cases of AFSPA misuse in Manipur that the continuous use of the Act evidently had little or no effect in Manipur.

“On the other hand, the six cases, which have been shown to be not real encounters (fake encounters), are egregious examples of the AFSPA’s gross abuse,” the commission noted.

Singh’s statement in context with the AFSPA, however, did not include any concerns on alleged human rights violations either in Jammu and Kashmir or in the North East.

The Th Manorama case of 2004 in Manipur, among scores of other cases, tested the draconian nature of the 1958 Act that was specifically framed for the North East. In the backlash and opposition that followed, the Government had to constitute the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee to look into the continuation of AFSPA.

Not made public till now, the Reddy Committee report stated that the Act needed to be reworked and more areas in Manipur should be de-notified from its jurisdiction. The Hegde Commission agreed with the Reddy Committee’s report, which said that AFSPA had become “a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high-handedness”.

~The SangaiExpress