AFSPA, Political Will and Army
July 5, 2010 by nannikapoor
Filed under internal security
The debate over the armed forces special power act (AFSPA) is gaining momentum in the media after the government decided to water down the original act and General VK Singh commented that this would only be for narrow political interests.
The act has been in vogue in the North East for over five decades and has entered its 20th year in J&K. It is obvious for the nation to ask the validity and effectiveness of the act in resolving insurgencies in the war-torn regions of the country. If the act were so powerful, why has the situation in these parts of the country not been brought under control as yet?
I find it quite naive. Those demanding peace in these areas have to understand that both these insurgencies are being fed by our adversaries, monetarily and ideologically. There is a home-grown component, but only little. The local population is being exploited by these forces for their wider aims of weakening the Indian democracy in a proxy war, especially in J & K. The “foreign hand” in North East has also been proven many times over. Under such conditions, where the local administration and the police have put their hands up and politically the situation has only worsened what tools are available to the Armed Forces to stem the rot if not under the cover of AFSPA?
CI operations have a little military component, the larger issue remains political will and administrative functionality to “build” the areas. Thus a joint political, administrative and military effort is mandatory in winning the popular support and creating conditions for peace and stability. The political bungling and administrative malfeasance in these states have caused the situation to slide every time since the release of Rubaiyyah Syed. Thus the “clear” and “hold” phases of the CI Operations by the armed forces are often negated due to political and administrative lapses.
The need for a “Unified Headquarters” in these states has always been run down by the administration in awe of the military. Our COIN efforts from intelligence gathering to conduct of joint planning and operations are shot down for petty turf wars by the state administration, police and the Central Police Organisations. This inter agency rivalry is largely feeding the insurgencies and AFSPA has little to do with it. The discerning will appreciate this. In these times when the politicians in J&K and North East have failed to show results to their electorate, they have chosen the easier way out to placate them- and that is by attempting to repeal the AFSPA. The population in these areas is suffering, no doubt, but unless a joint national effort above petty politicking is launched, they would continue to suffer, at the hands of the insurgents and the security forces.
There are fears and apprehensions projected by NGOs that AFSPA makes the Army all too powerful and unaccountable. Hence they should conduct their operations with their hands tied behind their backs and carry a magistrate for all operations to give them suitable warrants when the bullets and bombs are flying. Army is the last bastion of patriotism in the country and if it is not trusted to conduct CI Operations without a judicial oversight, the originators of proxy wars against the country would win. The choice is ours.
The situation in insurgency affected states has largely been brought under control by the army by a series of CI Operations aimed at flushing militants out of the jungles and villages, by clearing the roads daily and dominating the Line of Control 24 x 7 round the year. These collossal efforts and hardships of the army go unsung in a scenario of peace where the nation takes these as given. When there are nearly two army commands deployed to provide these functions across eight states of the country, there will be cases of judgmental errors and high handedness, specially when there are troop casualties. These collateral damages are far less than the US records in Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam and Pakistan and Sri Lanka’s in their respective countries as brought out by Brig SK Chatterji in a debate on the subject to Barkha Dutt.
This however does not absolve the army of any wrongdoing in discharging its duties in CI Operations. The oversight mechanisms have to get stricter and more transparent to let the people understand that army is discharging its duties diligently. All cases of high handedness must be punished as per law of the land. This is where the army has to win the perception management battle and learn to operate under media glare.
The key to success in COIN largely remains rooted in gaining popular support. The army must play its part while there is a dire need to overhaul the political and administrative processes to win this support.
Nice article. Interested readers may like to read an Asian Age debate on it: Immunity for offence.
http://www.asianage.com/debate/immunity-offence-072
The debate is attached below for convenience of readers
Amend AFSPA to stop misuse
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act was passed on September 11, 1958, in the context of separatist and secessionist movements in the “disturbed areas” in the north-eastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh with a view to conferring “special powers” on the members of the armed forces.
The act empowered any officer, commissioned or non-commissioned, to open fire, use force for the maintenance of public order, arrest without warrant any person who has committed a cognisable offence, or search without warrant any premises to recover arms, ammunition or explosive substances.
The act has been criticised as a draconian law. Many have urged its scrapping. This cannot be done. However, what we can do is make amendments to it so that it is not prone to misuse by sections within the security forces to commit atrocities on innocent people, or take advantage of the act which gives them immunity.
The Indian state has faced formidable challenges in the Northeast. Separatist and secessionist movements were, at different periods of time, fuelled by East Pakistan (subsequently Bangladesh) and even China. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence has been particularly active in the region, stoking the flames of insurgency. If the north-eastern region has not fallen apart, and if the various separatist and secessionist movements were successfully contained, the credit for this goes essentially to the security forces. The Naga insurgency has run out of steam, the Manipur militant outfits have degenerated into gangs carving out areas of influence where they are primarily engaged in extortion, Tripura is on the road to normality, Mizoram has joined the political mainstream, and leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom and National Democratic Front of Bodoland have been arrested in Assam. The act contributed in no small measure to the success of the security forces. This is, however, not to deny that occasionally there have been excesses and examples of high handedness.
The Manipur government withdrew the application of the act from some constituencies in August 2004. The Prime Minister gave an assurance in December 2006 that the act would be amended to make it more “humane” on the basis of the report of the Jeevan Reddy Commission.
The Indian security forces are among the most humane by global standards. Nevertheless, we need to strike a fine balance accommodating security concerns and human rights considerations.
— Prakash Singh,
former Director General, Border Security Force
***
Diluting act will be detrimental
The death toll in the Jammu and Kashmir insurgency over two decades is officially 47,000. It was 78 on a single day in Dantewada, and 145 when Maoists blasted the railway tracks recently. Such is the narrative of insurgencies in this country, and these call for extraordinary measures. Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was enacted to enable the state to contain this proliferating tide from consuming more and more citizens in its swirls and eddies.
Certain facets of the AFSPA trigger virulent criticism. The authority conferred on the armed forces to search premises without a search warrant is an example. Understanding of insurgency operations is a must to perceive the act’s relevance. The insurgent is essentially fleet-footed and changes his location continuously. Forces act on intelligence and can only nab the terrorists by moving swiftly and stealthily. Should the armed forces await a court order, they will never be on time. As the troops close in around a building being used as a shelter or hideout, they inevitably come under fire. The AFSPA authorises them to destroy such shelters, training camps etc. It should not need much explanation to understand that there is no other way of neutralising the insurgent.
At the end of an operation, if an insurgent is dead, a plethora of non-governmental organisations immediately go to courts. The AFSPA stipulates that the permission of the Central government is essential before legal proceedings are instituted against armed forces personnel. Without such legal protection, officers would spend most of their time answering court summons, rather than leading operations.
There are other AFSPA provisions that are debatable. It is also well understood that the success of counter-insurgency operations depends upon winning hearts and minds of people, and ensuring that the terrorist is denied support by locals. Our armed forces are perfectly aware that upholding human rights is the first step to winning the battle.
National Human Rights Commission has taken up approximately 950 cases, of which 28 have been found to be viable enough for the Army to be taking action against 50 personnel.
Counter-insurgency operations call for leadership, commitment and courage to undertake relentless aggressive action. Without AFSPA, officers will stop taking initiative to attack terrorist hideouts. If the nation is to be protected, we need legislation to protect those whom we field to shield our people.
— Brig (Retd) S.K. Chatterji, former Deputy Director General, Public Information, Indian Army
Having made a mess of the country in 60 years of corruption , populism and votebanking this would be a major nail in Indias coffin . Our police forces have already been emasculated by our jaichands , the result is there for all to see on ground . The last fortress left is the armed forces, already fighting with one hand tied . Removing/diluting the AFSPA should take care of the other .
Ideally the move to remove AFSPA is being pursued by our political class at the behest of our proxy rivals who, frustrated by the army, have chosen this new path at subverting the CI efforts of the nation.
The AFSPA, is the calf fattened for the kill,by people,many of whom have a dubious personal record.I have
been involved with anti-terrorist operations for 15 long years.When the going was tough,one had friends,
amongst politicians,beureaucrats,and many locals.Not so now.Breeding and supporting terrorism,is the fastest way of getting rich.Every one stands to gain at the cost of security forces,especiallly Indian Army and its variants.As it is,the Army is fighting terrorists,with hands tied behind thier backs,and now some politicians under the garb of pseudo-Human Rights supporters,want to take away,the filmsy protection the armed forces people have,by way of AFSPA.The ‘ powers-that-be’ have been the root cause,for birth of terrorism in the country,have shady alliances,with some of these terrorist groups.Now they want to become holy,by doing away with AFSPA.Technically speaking,internal disturbances,are to be controlled by the state and central govt home affairs forces.Army is meant only for external threats,and national calamaties.Scrap off AFSPA,and pull out Army from the rot of fighting home grown insurgency.
The political class will have to see the issue from military’s perspective, else we may have to revisit these areas to the advantage of the proxy war by our adversaries.
1. There are three category of fools : 1st category – those who are fools but thankfully, KNOW that they are so; 2nd category – those who are fools but,DO NOT KNOW that they are so; and 3rd category – those who are fools but, THINK THEY ARE SMART. Obviously the 2nd category do much harm but can be pardoned as they do wrongs unknowingly and unintentionally. The 3rd category is the one the nation needs to be wary of – this category includes the larger section of our politico-bureaucratic leadership and ill-read bleeding hearts (who refer to themselves as NGOs). The nation’s security requires hard-nosed decisions and initiatives; these need to be pusued “ruthlessly” and surely cannot be left in the hands of either category of fools.
2. Most competitive sports involve risks of injury to participants or bystanders (spectators) – here we are talking of war – war against the state initiated by indigenous teams, sometimes with borrowed iternational players. The state must win, the nation must provide for freindly turf to the members of the ‘national team’ and cheer them up. Since scope of injury to spectatators is high in this game, responsibilities ae greater for players of the national team. They must not only put ball in the other team’s net more frequently and defend own goalpost but, also stop balls being kicked out hard towards the spectators. Yet within the perimeter of ground where the game goes on, let members of our national team have equal liberties as those of the opposing team. Innocent spectators straying in to the playfield are ilikely to get knocked down by either of the team members. This is understood by all sane thinking spectators hence, if he still chooses to walk in, he would rouse suspicion. The rules of the game for own team members (AFSPA) imposes caution on him to check/search before deciding to tackle (shoot) or escort him out of harms way. In this intense game, where national team not only has to score goals against rivals; defend own goalpost; protect the disciplined spectators in the stands; take care of suspicous/unaware spectators straying in the playfield, there are bound to be wrong tackles and fouls. AFSPA caters for Red, Green and Yellw cards. Of course the ‘bleeding hearts’ would not cheer the team when it scores goals or even defends its goalpost under repeated rival attacks; also not when it blocks a hurtling ball kicked at the spectators. It will only cry ‘foul’ as ‘super referees’ from the comfort of their drawing rooms watching game on giant sized TVs – when they find the unruly straying crowd being herded out of the playfield to safety of the stands by the national team members and in the resultant stampede, one or few of them gets hurt.
3. This game being played is war. Every match is a ‘must win’ match. There is no chance for ‘comeback’ in the next or next match. Please do not impose restrictions on your own team instead, enable them. No solution is without inherent costs and risks. Armed Forces are playing the ‘must win’ game. The nation will have to bear cost and accept risks to win this game. The opinion makers including the bleeding hearts and the media must turn their attention and precious energies to:-
A. Enhancing public scrutiny of political and bureaucratic class who let the insurgency in, in the very first place.
B. Exposing the politico-criminal nexus which is feeding the militancy.
C. Enhancing knowledge, intellectual insight, committment levels and sense of sacrifice amongst the bureaucracy.
D. Enhancing training standards and improving organisational cultures of central police organisations.
E. Improving public awareness of their own role in national security calculus.
Ajay
Very well explained.
This comment is post a similar debate on NDTV. The main post says it succintly. AFSPA is a tool of operations by the army to contain it/ reduce it and allow civil administartion to function. Eradication is a political and administrative Task, which the Administrators have failed to achieve. The breed of politicians has been bashed enough for me to write anything new. What is rarely, if at all spoken about is the absence of administration. Most civil servants, when posted in insurgency areas, stay away from their posts (mostly in delhi, wrangling for their quick exit/next posting). Why is their lack of action or accountability not spoken about? While one of the components of Counter Insurgency operation by the Army is winning the hearts and minds of the people, should the same not apply to the Administration. Make the Administartors accountable. Their CR should mention what their contribution to alleviation of the local problems has been. Assess their efficacy as administrators. Stop making their promotions being automatic on seniority. Stop blaming only the politicians. The Administartion is supposed to have an adequately stiff spine to resist political pressures in carrying out their mandate. Let them show it.
One more comment on what one of the participants said on NDTV about behaviour of soldiers while dealing with the people at check posts, road blocks etc. This worries the Armed Forces also. While the soldiers behaviour can be explained to the stress he is under whenever he steps out of camp for such a duty. The use of women, children, even old people by the insurgents to carry out their nefarious activities has made the soldier, who is naturally trusting, to see his fellow citizens with suspicion. This kind of contact and police like duties are bound to have an effect on the psyche of the soldier. I think Army is the only institution which pays attention to this aspect. Every unit that deinducts from the Counter Insurgency areas pays special attention to the reorientation of the soldiers towards soldiering, his main task, and removing all traces of ‘bossy’ behaviour. He needs to have a strong rapport with his fellow citizens. he cant be watching his back while fighting the enemy during times of war. This has also been one of the strongest arguments against excessive employment of Armed Forces on CI or similar duties.
@ Anil
The curse of the Indian administrative services is fragmenting India along a multitude of socio economic, religious and political divides..they rule but don’t govern and that too without accountability. The nexus of bureaucrats and IPS officers across the spectrum of ministries and responsibilities has plagued the health of the country. These mandarins of the North Block operate the nation from the comfort of their offices and when the situation gets out of control, hand it over to the army and sit back, once again without any accountability. Why should their heads not roll in case of administrative fiascoes? How long will the nation keep watching this malfeasance backed by inefficient politians?
today the parliament is discussing the torture act …hopefully you will run a blog on it and the connected phenomenon called ‘encounter deaths’
1. Firstly, about AFSPA. It is an extraordinary Act meant to be applied in extraordinary security situations. Employing Armed Forces within the state boundaries is in itself ‘EXTRAORDINARY’. The fact that nation’s Cabinet decides to employ Armed Forces should indicate that the threats are grave and situation ‘EXTRAORDINARY’. Management of Internal security is the function of Home Ministry and it has plethora of internal security forces (State Police and CPOs) mandated and legally covered by provisions of existing laws (CrPC) to deter and defeat internal security threats. If the Cabinet considers the threat as not being extraordinary, then it need not invoke AFSPA and employ Armed Forces. One can’t decide that threat is ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ & employ Armed Forces yet expect them to play by ‘ORDINARY’ legal provisions – its like asking an expert boxer to play by the rules of Golf. Of course, there are rules by which even a boxer has to play by – monitored my a referee and at least 5 judges.
2. Now about Torture Law. The civil society’s (and of the Bleeding Hearts’ – self proclaimed NGOs & HR Activists’) understanding of torture is flawed. They consider acts of beating up, electric shocks etc as torture and ignore many more ways by which even hardcore criminals can be broken. Most are not even aware of vareity of ways and means used by the so called most developed societies who claim to be HR champions and who fund most of the Bleeding Hearts, for breaking hardcore criminals and terrorists. The ways and means used by the so called HR Champions fall in the category of ‘Emotional Atyachar’. One can use vareity of indirect emotional blackmail means, chemicals etc. The proposed Act focusses on typical routine indiscretions resorted to uniformly by untrained local state police to extract confessions from law breakers ranging from pick-pockets to murderers to terrorists. The proposed law is too narrow in its scope and seeks to derive accolades from neo-HR groups who neither have understanding of the ‘crime system’ nor sophisticated ways and means of torture.