Assam Rifles in a large-scale joint combing operation with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Manipur Police. Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is all set to replace two battalions of Assam Rifles in the hill districts of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi in violence-hit Manipur, a government official told The Hindu.
Around 2,000 personnel of the oldest paramilitary force will be moved to Jammu region that has seen a spate of terror attacks since 2021 after two decades of relative peace.
The primary responsibility of Assam Rifles is to guard the Myanmar border. In 2022, after a gap of 20 years, two battalions of Assam Rifles were deployed in Jammu and Kashmir.
Tribal groups have opposed the move. The Kuki Students’ Organisation (KSO) said that “Assam Rifles after years of effort and dedication won the hearts and minds of the hill people”.
Ever since ethnic violence erupted in the State on May 3, 2023, the deployment of Assam Rifles and the State police in vulnerable areas has been a bone of contention between the tribal Kuki-Zo people and the Meitei community.
Meitei civil society groups and legislators have alleged that in many “sensitive areas”, Assam Rifles are not responsive and remain mute spectators when unarmed civilians are indiscriminately fired upon frequently. On January 22 this year, 34 MLAs passed a resolution stating, “These forces and their leadership (chain of command) need to give strict instructions and be held accountable and replaced with forces that have the ability to act by returning suppressive fire when they observe that unarmed civilians are being fired upon, to enable civilians to get to cover and safety.”
The Kuki-Zo groups said the decision to replace Assam Rifles with the CRPF is against the will of the local population and the government needs to rethink its decision.
A senior government official said that Assam Rifles was not entirely being pulled out of Manipur. “Only two battalions, one posted in Churachandpur and the other in Kangpokpi districts are being replaced with CRPF. The infrastructure of AR will be retained by the incoming units,” said the official.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said on July 28 that the CRPF is seeing a “further increase” in its role in maintaining law and order in Manipur.
At least 226 people have been killed, and more than 60,000 people internally displaced so far. Around 36,000 personnel from the Indian Army and the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed in the State since then.
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