GUWAHATI: Operation Bajrang launched by the Indian Army on November 27, 1990 has been withdrawn and the Army was deducted four days ago exactly after seven months of its presence in Assam.
The Indian Army, some 35,000 of its men, entered the state as soon as President’s rule was clamped to counter the insurgency movement by the militants of the how outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), It came at a time when the rule of the gun was at its peak.
But in its seven months of operation what exactly did the Army achieve? Is it quitting in glory?
Operation Bajrang began under top secrecy. But, the secrecy was limited to the people and not to the militants against whom the operation was aimed at. Though the Army always refused to acknowledge any large scale deaths on its part during their early skirmishes with the militants. In Lakhipathar it slowly emerged later that the Army lost many more than they killed. Though, one may not agree with the ULFA claim that they had killed more than 300 Army personnel on the whole, some army officials later admitted that there were some unnecessary causalities with the hostile public refusing to cooper ate with it in any manner to trace the secessionists.
The operation itself sparked off a political controversy with the Congress (1) leaders charging the dethroned Asom Gana Parishad leaders with leaking information regarding the operation to the militants which was later proved right as the Army recovered enough material to establish the charge.
Though, the Army officials repeatedly claimed that they had alone a commendable job in arresting the militancy, the image of the Indian Army took a nosedive in the last seven months in Assam, There were charges of rapes, at least 52, compiled by a civil liberties organization based at Bombay. There were serious charges of torture during detention. The now familiar joke that “all Assamese speaking people are the ULFA has its genesis in the security personnel questioning.
The Army had been charged with not taking any interpreter while on house to house search or raids which led to confusion and sub sequent detentions of hundreds of people. Whenever the army people plainly ask do you speak Hindi? No? So you are the ULFA. This led to the remark from civil liberties organizations that they (the Army) were perpetrating language terrorism against the Assamese.
The unlimited power given to the Army under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 also led to many legal wrangles all of which placed the Army in poor light. The authorities were time and again ordered by the high court to produce the victims detained and arrested or hospitalized and repeatedly strictures were passed. The court has also asked the Army not to arrest any advocate without prior permission from it when an advocate was threatened with dire consequences for taking up the cases of militants.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 5, 1991
