While Assam Rifles has been accused of being partisan, an Indian Reserve Battalion has lost all its weapons in Manipur. The state government and the ‘mob’ have clearly declared no-confidence in the Ministry of Home Affairs since both institutions are budgeted by the Union ministry. Both incidents are unparalleled in modern India for their scale of impunity, and the sheer audacity of the statement made by the government of Manipur. The state police were of course involved in both unbelievable incidents. But at the receiving end was the authority of the home ministry, which has seen its writ clearly defied by Manipur.
The second India Reserve (IR) Battalion of Manipur Police in Naransena, Bishnupur district, was raided by a mob in the bright morning hours of 3 August. The loot included hundreds of sophisticated assault rifles, pistols and even mortars. When an incident of this nature and scale happens well into the third month of a complete breakdown in the state, the message sent out is stark and unequivocal. Agencies of the State are not willing, or interested, and maybe even incapable of functions for which they draw a salary on the basis of a constitutional oath.
No parallel to battalion’s defeat
In an operational sense, the second IR Battalion wasn’t simply raided; it was disarmed. This is as brutal a fact as there can be in the strange circumstances that seems to have befallen Manipur. And the security reality needs to be understood in its fullest context. This is the first time in independent India that an entire armoury has been cleaned out by an unarmed and unnamed mob that drove into the premises of a battalion and carried off with an arsenal weighing incalculable tonnes. Nagaland, Punjab, and Kashmir didn’t manage that.
The only, somewhat, parallel to this shameful incident is the tragic 2010 Dantewada massacre in which almost an entire company of the 82nd battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed. A sub-unit was wiped out from the operational area owing to an ambush. But in the case of Manipur, an entire unit has been neutralised without firing a shot. Armed troopers didn’t even bother to defend their armoury and their honour. They are a far cry from the brave CRPF troopers who fought against overwhelming odds. So, it is vital to understand the concept of IR Battalions to fathom the gravity of the setback.
Started in 1970-1971, there are now upwards of 155 IR Battalions in various states across the country. While the recruitment and training of the forces are undertaken by the respective state police, majority funding for these battalions comes from the MHA’s budget. North Block provides 75 per cent of the funds to raise an IR Battalion as grants-in-aid and also reimburses 50 per cent of the infrastructure costs. The state government, of course, provides the premises free of cost. The total cost of raising a single IR Battalion is estimated to be more than Rs 50 crore, explaining the availability of sophisticated weaponry.
The IR Battalions are deployed both within the state as well as anywhere in the country as per operational and administrative requirements. These deployments can range from election duties in home state, or outside, as well as law and order functions. So, it is not strange to see an IR Battalion from one end of the country deployed at the other side of the map, and sometimes with tragic results. This deployment is determined by the MHA, since—to employ modern corporate jargon—it is the majority shareholder in every IR Battalion around the country. Even if it’s a disarmed battalion.
Also read: Manipur sexual violence is political. Don’t deny accountability by calling it a ‘mindless mob’
Case against Assam Rifles
A sub-inspector from Phougakchao Ikhai police station in Manipur’s Bishnupur district filed an FIR against the personnel of the 9th Battalion Assam Rifles for ‘obstructing public servant’ along with two other charges. This followed a very public roadside spat between the Manipur police and Assam Rifles. The video of the incident has been widely shared on social media for the sheer brazenness with which the state police addressed the Assam Rifles personnel.
#ManipurViralVideo: Heated altercation erupts again between #ManipurPolice and #AssamRifles in Manipur. Manipur police on live video accuses AR of colluding with the #Kuki #militants.
The incident occurred after few casper bullet proof vehicles of the 9th Assam Rifles blocked… pic.twitter.com/F66oQHmiPF
— Ukhrul Times (@ukhrultimes) August 5, 2023
Similar to the rest of India, it is certain that the sub-inspector took permission from his seniors before filing the case, and they, in turn sought approval from the Manipur Home Department. If no permission was taken, the matter remains just as grave.
Assam Rifles is India’s oldest paramilitary force and nearing its bicentenary in the next decade. Despite the excesses it has been accused of, it remains India’s most experienced counter-insurgency force, rendering sterling service over the decades. Deployed in the Northeast but recruited from across India, Assam Rifles is financially and administratively under the MHA. The sole shareholder in Assam Rifles and majority stakeholder in IR Battalion, the home ministry has much to answer for the security and social disintegration in Manipur.
Over the last decades, the closest parallel to Manipur’s social disintegration can be drawn with the breakup of Yugoslavia, which was more matrimonially integrated than any federation.
It is worth reading the last US Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Warren Zimmermann’s account from before the times of social media and fake news: “The breakup of Yugoslavia is a classic example of nationalism from the top down-a manipulated nationalism…The manipulators condoned and even provoked local ethnic violence in order to engender animosities that could then be magnified by the press, leading to further violence…Nationalist “intellectuals,” wrapped in the mantle of august academies of sciences, expounded their pseudo-history of victimisation.”
Any resemblance to events in Manipur and those in Yugoslavia is purely manmade and not coincidental.
Manvendra Singh is a Congress leader, Editor-in-Chief of Defence & Security Alert and Chairman, Soldier Welfare Advisory Committee, Rajasthan. He tweets @ManvendraJasol. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)