Centre evolving policy to demilitarise NE

DIMAPUR, July 29: In a move that may have far-reaching consequences in combating militancy, policymakers in North Block are evolving a new policy of streamlining state police forces to tackle insurgency in the Northeast while diminishing the overwhelming presence of the Army. This is in line with the defence ministry's initiative to relieve the Army of the job of maintaining internal security in the insurgency-prone region and hand over the task to paramilitary forces, particularly Assam Rifles. The hierarchy in the defence ministry are of the view that excess employment of Army for militancy operations has enervated it and diverted its focus from the real task of ensuring security from external threats. However, the move was not initiated because of the recent conflict in Kargil. "The militancy problem in the Northeast is of a political nature unlike Kashmir and the Army is not a remedy to the problem," highly-placed sources said, adding that the process of demilitarisation of the Northeast had been initiated long before the Kargil conflict started. As part of the demilitarisation policy, the defence ministry is seriously contemplating to shift the 3 Corps headquarters based at Rangapahar near Dimapur in Nagaland to Pattan in Baramula district of Jammu and Kashmir. 3 Crops is actively involved in counter-insurgency operations in Manipur, Tripura and North Cachar Hills district of Assam. Besides, 3 Corps is also aiding the civil administration and paramilitary forces in maintaining peace in Nagaland and Mizoram. "You can say the chance of shifting the corps headquarters from Rangapahar is 80 per cent," a senior official in the ministry said. 3 Corps is likely to be replaced by the directorate-general of Assam Rifles based in Shillong. The 57 Mountain Division based at Leimakhong in Manipur has already been shifted to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, in 1991, 8th Mountain Brigade headquarters at Zakhama near Kohima had been moved to Sharifabad in Jammu and Kashmir.