CHANDIGARHGA: controversy arisen over the proposed “withdrawal of the army from Punjab in a phased manner. While Sources in the army maintain that the force is being pulled out gradually from the middle of next month the Punjab Chief Minister and the state Director General of Police (DGP) insist that the army will continue to be deployed in Punjab for assisting the civil administration.
The decision about the withdrawal of the army troops from Punjab was taken at the Ministry and! Defence Ministry level last month and the Punjab Government and Army Commanders in the state were informed accordingly. In a briefing the 11 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. B.N.Chhiler had told some journalists that the pulling out of the army would start by the middle of July and be completed by the end of August this year.
Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh had however denied at a news conference at Gurdaspur that the Army was to suspend its civil duties He had said that the Army would continue to remain in Punjab as long as the situation required and as long as his Government wanted it to stay. Director General of Police K.P.S.Gill had also ruled out shifting out of the Amy from the trouble-torn state either in phases or in one go.
In fact he went a step ahead and attributed motives to scribes when he said that “some newspapers have misquoted Lt. Gen.Chhiber. What he had actually said was that the army would stay put in Punjab for as long as it was required”
However this correspondent was present at Lt.Gen.Chibbers briefing and what he said was that “the Army deployed for internal security duty would be withdrawn from Punjab in a phased manner and the troops would be back at their formations by the end of August next. Before the withdrawal of each and every deployment the security set-up and this Jaw-and-order situation in the area would be reviewed and the status quo maintained if the situation so required.”
He had further said that the Central Government has asked army commanders to make a contingency plan on these lines but the final orders to implement the decision is yet to come. “We would not like to be here for a very long time but we have to get orders from Delhi” Lt Gen Chhiber had told newspersons who had been taken to Jalandhar to witness a mock exercise on how the army conducts its operations in curbing terrorism in the State.
The General made himself very clear when he said that “since we cannot remain here forever we are training 25000 Punjab Police personnel so that they can handle the situation once we left. But if the situation requires I am sure we will be asked to stay on further. However the army permanently deployed in Punjab would continue with its civic action since the army has adopted some villages and would like to continue to improve the living conditions and infrastructure there.”
One wonders whom to believe the army commander or the state Chief Minister and the DGP. Sources at Chandimandir which houses the Western Command claimed ignorance of any changed plans about the army withdrawal.
“The army will be withdrawn in a phased manner as per instructions from the Center. At least I am not aware of any change in plans. The army Jawans would continue to help the civil administration to curb militancy” was the sources reply. Though senior officials feel that the specialized training of Jawans is suffering due to their continuous deployment to aid the _ civil administration they admit that the security forces have achieved major successes.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 26, 1992
