Mnp security

 

New Manipur security strategy: One force, one area

Agency
UKHRUL,2 Juky'23: GIVEN the frequency of violence in these troughs where the Valley meets the hills, the Manipur security establishment had decided to create buffer zones in these areas so that Valley people could be prevented from going towards the hills and vice versa.

Currently, there are close to 40,000 central force personnel in Manipur. These include the Assam Rifles, the Indian Army, the BSF, the CRPF, the SSB and the ITBP. In any fringe area in a district, currently, a mix of all these forces is deployed. ANI

Following Thursday’s violence in Manipur, which had seen two weeks of relative peace in between, the security establishment is restrategising the deployment of forces in the fringe areas of the Imphal valley. It has now been decided to give responsibility of certain districts to one single force rather than deploying columns of various forces at different places in a district.

Given the frequency of violence in these troughs where the Valley meets the hills, the Manipur security establishment had decided to create buffer zones in these areas so that Valley people could be prevented from going towards the hills and vice versa. However, Thursday’s incident on the Imphal West-Kangpokpi boundary that led to deaths of at least two civilians and some incidents of arson in the preceding days has exposed the inadequacy of the security arrangement.

Among the reasons analysed by the security establishment is lack of proper coordination among various forces and the vastness of the topography to be covered. While the latter has little solution until more forces are pumped in, to resolve the issue of coordination, it has been decided to hand over responsibility of an entire district or more, depending upon the size of that force present in Manipur, to one force.

“This will strengthen the command and control structure as well as facilitate smooth logistics management. Say, if Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts are given to the BSF, it will alone be held responsible for lapses and thus will remain prompt. At the same time, it will be easier for the commanders to place and manage the forces on the ground as there will be a single command structure for the entire area. Right now a lot of energy is going into coordinating alone,” said a senior official.

Currently, there are close to 40,000 central force personnel in Manipur. These include the Assam Rifles, the Indian Army, the BSF, the CRPF, the SSB and the ITBP. In any fringe area in a district, currently, a mix of all these forces is deployed. For example, if the Army is manning a fringe area in Moirang, just a few kilometres ahead at Torbung, it is the Assam Rifles. In between both BSF and CRPF deployment can be seen.

“Killings are happening only when one side is going to the other with the intention of arson. The Hraothel incident where two Meitei civilians died on Thursday happened when Kukis retaliated to a Meitei mob trying to burn their houses. The Meitei action itself is a result of some Kukis trying to burn Meitei houses in another area. It is a spiralling cycle which we are trying to break by maintaining a robust buffer zone,” said another officer