Agartala: The security situation in the northeastern states has improved substantially since 2014 and the year 2020 recorded the lowest insurgency incidents and casualties among the civilians and security forces during the last two decades, said a report of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
According to the MHA report, there has been a 74% reduction in insurgency incidents in 2021 as compared to 2014.
The northeast region is culturally and ethnically diverse having more than 200 ethnic groups, which have distinct languages, dialects, and sociocultural identities. The region covers 7.97% of the country’s geographical area and 3.78% of its population and has 5,484 kilometres of international border with Bangladesh (1,880 km), Myanmar (1,643 km), China (1,346 km), Bhutan (516 km) and Nepal (99 km).
The terrain, socio-economic development, and historical factors, such as language, ethnicity, tribal rivalry, migration, control over local resources, and long and porous international borders, have resulted in a fragile security situation in the northeastern states. This has resulted in violence, extortion, and diverse demands by various Indian insurgent groups (IIGs), which maintain safe havens and camps in the neighbouring countries.
As per the report in 2014, around 824 incidents took place, while in 2021 the number of incidents is 209. Starting from 2014 till 2021, while around 5,319 extremists surrendered, 580 were killed and 9, 103 were arrested.
“Though Law & Order is a State subject, the Central Government is supplementing efforts of the State Governments for curbing the illegal and unlawful activities of insurgent groups of North Eastern States through various measures. These include deployment of Central Armed Police Forces, reimbursement of Security Related Expenditure (SRE) to the State Governments under SRE Scheme, Central assistance to the State Governments for modernization of State police forces, sanction of India Reserve Battalions, banning the Unlawful Associations operating in NE Region under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) and declaring specific areas/States as ‘Disturbed Areas’ under The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,1958 (AFSPA)”, the reporter said.
It also claimed that due to significant improvement in the security situation in North Eastern States, The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) has been removed from 23 districts and partially from 1 other district of Assam, 15 Police station areas in 6 districts of Manipur and 15 Police Station areas in 7 districts of Nagaland from 1st April of 2022.
“To curb the illegal and unlawful activities by insurgent groups of northeastern states, a total of 16 insurgent organizations of NE states are declared “unlawful associations” and/or “terrorist organizations” under The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. The Central Government has deployed Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to aid the state authorities in carrying out counter-insurgency operations and providing security to vulnerable institutions and installations. 498 companies of CAPFs are deployed for border guarding duties along the international borders of Nepal, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar with NE states and 405 companies of CAPFs are deployed in the northeastern states for internal security and counter-insurgency operations. Towards this end, 61 India Reserve Battalions have been sanctioned for the NE states. These include 11 battalions each for Assam, Manipur and Tripura; 7 each for Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; 6 for Meghalaya, 5 for Mizoram, and 3 for Sikkim,” the report reads.
The report claimed, “The security situation in the northeastern states has improved substantially since 2014. The year 2020 recorded the lowest insurgency incidents and casualties among civilians and security forces during the last two decades.
The report also stated that during 2021, security forces casualties have come down by 60% and civilian deaths by 89%.
“In 2021, a total of 209 insurgency-related incidents were registered in the NE region in which 23 civilians and 8 security forces personnel lost their lives. Counter-insurgency operations led to the neutralization of 40 insurgents, arrest of 686 insurgents, and recovery of 367 weapons in the region. A total of 1,473 cadres of insurgent outfits of NE states surrendered with 471 arms and joined the mainstream of the society,” the report of MHA said.
It further said that Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura remained by and large peaceful and there is a marked improvement in the security situation in other states of the region.
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