Dual Control Plagues Assam Rifles|| September 2022

Lt Gen. HJS Sachdev (retd)

The Assam Rifles was raised as Cachar Levy in 1835 to protect the tea estates and British establishments in Assam from the tribals of the hill areas. Gradually, more units were raised with additional posts in the interiors and later it acted as the strong arm of the civil administration in extending its authority over the mountainous and treacherous terrain.

Variously designated and reorganised from time to time as The Assam Frontier Police (1883), The Assam Military Police (1891) and the Eastern Bengal and Assam Military Police (1913), it came to be known by its present name only in 1917 in recognition of its contribution to the war efforts during World War I. The force has been officered by army officers since 1884 and the same continues to date.

At the time of Independence, the Assam Rifles had only five battalions, one each in today’s Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. This soon changed because of the breakout of insurgencies in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram in the mid-1950s. The Assam Rifles gradually expanded and more units were inducted along with the army to quell the violent separatist movements. The Assam Rifles played a major role in bringing down the threshold of the insurgent movements as they provided the foundation to the army on which the footprint of the security forces expanded to the interiors to regain control. Over the years, the Assam Rifles has gradually expanded to 47 battalions with a strength of approximately 67,000 personnel.

In February 2001, the Assam Rifles was mandated to guard the Indo-Myanmar border following a recommendation by the Group of Ministers on ‘Reforming the National Security System.’ Accordingly, its role was spelt out in the Assam Rifles Act and Assam Rules as under:

       Security of the borders (Indo-Myanmar) of India

       Counter insurgency operations in areas specified; and

       Aid to civil authorities for maintenance of law and order

Operational environment

Before analysing the dichotomies in execution of its designated roles, it is necessary to understand the ground realities in which the force has to effectively carry out its role/tasks.

Terrain: The terrain in all the border states is mountainous, full of thick jungles and interspersed with rivers and nullahs, which make operations extremely difficult. The precipitation levels are high, making it extremely exhaustive for a soldier, and the thick jungles reduce the visibility to a few yards. This demands a larger number of troops to cover an area equivalent to that in the plains of the Indo-Pak border. There is also a lack of roads and tracks closer to the border, making movement of troops and their maintenance difficult.

Indo-Myanmar Border: The Indo-Myanmar border (IMB) is 1,643 km in length. The whole border is demarcated except approximately 140 km in the north. In spite of a clear demarcation, there are a few places where there are disputes and they have to be constantly monitored. There is no fencing along the border except for a few kms, making the whole border porous and open to infiltration by inimical elements, smugglers, illegal migrants etc.

Militancy: Over the years militancy has seen a perceptible decline in terms of incidents because of the effectiveness of the Assam Rifles, the main force in the area. But the number of anti-India insurgent groups across the border has not reduced. Their forays into India and operations against the security forces still pose a threat to peace and tranquillity in these border states. The ceasefire with the Naga groups and the framework agreement with the NSCN-IM in 2015 are holding but it is very fragile and could blow up into a full-blown insurgency at a short notice, making it imperative for the Assam Rifles to be fully prepared at all times.

Free Movement Regime: This is a unique feature along the IMB wherein people living in the border areas can move freely to the other country, albeit through designated crossing points and with permits issued by the civil authorities (Nagaland does not have any authorised crossing point). The movement can take place up to 16 km into India and the period of stay is limited to three days. Myanmar permits stay up to only one day. While this measure allows people of the same ethnicity on either side of the border to interact and meet each other, it complicates the task of maintaining a check on cross border movement of insurgents and the smuggling of arms, ammunition or contraband goods, including narcotics.

Smuggling: Although this has been a feature along the IMB since decades because of the porous borders, the scale has increased of late, especially of narcotics in all its forms. Despite the seizures by the Assam Rifles to the tune of approximately Rs 1,000 crore and more, it may be just the tip of the iceberg.

Refugees: The recent influx of people from Myanmar has become a major problem. An estimated 20-25,000 may have crossed into Mizoram where the government has established camps for their shelter. More may be in the offing. The problem is not humanitarian alone but of national security as well. They need to be not only registered and confined to their camps, but prevented from spreading into the interiors, causing internal security issues.

Effective management

With the type of operating environment existing in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram along the IMB, the Assam Rifles has over the years done a tremendous job given the resources that are at its disposal. But even so there is scope for enhancing the effectiveness along the IMB. The main ingredients for effective border management are:

       Maintain sanctity of the border through regular checks of border pillars along the entire border and resolving issues if any with the other party through dialogue.

       Prevent illegal activities across the border to include the movement of insurgents, smuggling of arms, ammunition, contraband etc.

       Extending the reach of administrative authorities to interior areas in order to execute welfare schemes.

As a rule, for any force to be able to carry out its task effectively, the resources required must be commensurate with the challenges faced by it. The challenges faced by the Assam Rifles are as follows:

Manpower: The Assam Rifles has 46 battalions, excluding the National Disaster Relief Force battalions. Out of these, approximately one third are deployed along the border, which roughly means that each battalion has a frontage of 100 km. Compare this with approximately 40 km covered by a Border Security Force battalion on th