'Maximum extortion' where AFSPA is withdrawn, says Assam Rifles DG
"Perpetrators of Churachandpur ambush in Manipur can't go scot-free"
New Delhi
At a time when the demand for repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) is maximum, a senior serving military officer says "maximum extortion" takes place in the northeast where AFSPA has been withdrawn.
"Extortion by the Naga groups started in 1947. Then the Naga National Council (NNC) needed funding and thus voluntary contributions started. It became a matter of pride for every family to pay donations for the ‘Naga cause’," DG Assam Rifles Lt Gen. Pradeep Chandran Nair told the magazine 'The Week' in an interview.
But he says, "Over the years, the purpose of collection and utilisation of that money changed. It created millionaires from the unabated extortion, which is termed by the Naga groups as ‘Taxation’".
He claims, "Almost every day, Assam Rifles is arresting such people (extortionists). But the common man continues to pay and suffer".
He said the state government(s) and police "have to be more visible".
"....The same thing applies in Manipur. Maximum extortion takes places where AFSPA has been withdrawn (the 33 sq km in Imphal valley), which is also called the de-notified area. Realisation has to dawn on the common people. We cannot always protect them from intimidation. That is the job of the police".
On December 30 last year the centre set up an AFSPA review panel and that includes among others, DG Assam Rifles Lt Gen Nair too.
Headed by census chief Dr Vivek Joshi, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home, Piyush Goyal is the member secretary of the panel, other members of the committee are J Alam, Chief Secretary, Nagaland, T. John Longkumer, DGP, Nagaland, Dr M S Tuli, Joint Director Intelligence Bureau.
Lt Gen B S Raju, DG Military Operations in the army headquarters is a special invitee.
On the AFSPA repeal issue, Lt Gen says, "It is for the government to decide, but I do hope you understand the compulsions that we face in a counterinsurgency environment".
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New Delhi:
(The split in Congress and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh floating his new party, Punjab Lok Congress has been a major development. Mr Modi will visit Ferozepur on Wednesday and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth over Rs 42,750 crore)
The beginning of circa 2022, Punjab politics is at a crossroads.
Here lies the essential significance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi'svisit to the crucial northern India border state that is also to go to pollswithin the next few weeks.
Unlike in the past and unlike elsewhere, Mr Modi's visit to Ferozepur on Wednesday,Jan 5, is more than the normal routine political and developmental works-related exercise.
It will be a path-finder in itself as in the last few months, things have been quite different and extra ordinary for Punjab politics.
The repeal of three contentious farm laws only shows the importance of the state and its farmersand other stakeholders.
In the words of former Punjab CM, Capt Amarinder Singh, the Prime Minister has been personally alwaysconcerned about Punjab and the Punjabis.
The Prime Minister will visit Ferozepur on Wednesday and lay the foundation stone of multiple
development projects worth over Rs 42,750 crore.
Mr Modi had last visited Punjab on November 9, 2019 to inaugurate the Kartarpur Corridor.
The split in Congress and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh floating his new party, PunjabLok Congress has been a major development.The new outfit has also agreed for an alliance with the BJP. Thus, Punjab is set for an exciting fourcornered contest this time between BJP-Lok Congress alliance, Akali Dal, AAP and the state's rulingparty Congress.
Just hours before Prime Minister's visit, former chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said the BJP is the only party that can take care of Punjab's security and economic challenges
The projects to be launched and inaugurated on Wednesday by the Prime Minister include the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway; four laning of Amritsar - Una section; Mukerian - Talwara New Broad Gauge railway line; PGI Satellite Centre at Ferozepur and two new medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur.
The PMO has stated that the consistent endeavour of the Prime Minister has resulted in more than doubling the total length of National Highways in the state from about 1700 kilometres in 2014 to more than 4100 kilometres in 2021.
Notably, Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged the Prime Minister to announce an economic, political, agricultural and territorial package for Punjab.
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