North East News Agency

Justifying that ‘’extraordinary’’ situations called for ‘’extraordinary’’ laws, BSF Director General A K Mitra has said the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, was indeed needed to tackle the worsening situation in the North East.

Speaking to mediapersons after a function to inaugurate ‘Tarang’ Auditorium constructed at BSF Signal Training School at Yelahanka on the outskirts of Bangalore, Mr. Mitra said special laws were drafted when ordinary laws do not work.

‘’This Act actually doesn’t apply to us as we operate in Manipur under natural laws. However, I feel that there should be checks and balances to ensure that such acts are not abused. This act is not dramatically bad. But may be some three or four amendments can be thought of,’’ the BSF Director General opined.

Mr. Mitra said the Jeevan Reddy Commission, constituted to study the relevance of the Act, was in the process of making its recommendations and the Act was also under the active consideration of the Union Government.

Stating that the situation in Manipur was bad, the BSF DG said that there were so many militant groups that one had lost count of it. ‘’BSF has five battalions in the State to counter insurgency. We are also providing security to the mega hydro electric project coming up at Loktak lake. Despite adversities, we are holding on,” he said.

In Tripura, we are protecting the border and fighting insurgency, though not on a big scale. Situation in Assam is much better compared to Manipur,’’ the BSF Director General claimed.

Expressing happiness at the change of attitude by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) over ULFA and infiltration issues, Mr Mitra said the 2nd March meeting between him and BDR chief Shakeel Ahmed was cordial and BDR had really shown some commitment to solve the nagging problem of cross border militancy and infiltration.

‘’There is a change in attitude and we are happy. Infiltration is coming down. Last year, we captured 7,700 people, while it was 10,000 and 12,000 during the previous two years. This is due to the fencing of the border taken up by India and the changed attitude of BDR,’’ he said.

The BSF Director General said BDR was now agreeing that lot of anti-social elements were active on both sides of the border.

About 120 such infiltrators were killed last year, of whom 60 per cent belonged to India.

‘’They are now asking us not to kill infiltrators, but to capture them alive. Economic problems like appalling poverty among the Bangladeshis is the main reason for infiltration. They are discouraging people from crossing the border. Thankfully, the petty squabbles between BDR and BSF are ending. The two sides are allowing each other to take up development works near the border,’’ he said.

Stating that BSF men were not trigger happy, Mitra said they were forced to shoot at infiltrators when they tried to cut the fence despite warning, or due to self defence.

The situation on the Nagaland border was much better now mainly due to talks between the insurgent groups and the Union Government. Solutions were not yet in sight due to some ‘’difficult’’ demands put forth by the Naga militants.

On the stir launched by Manipur activist Irom Sharmila, he said she was entitled to her democratic rights. ‘’She has been fasting for a very long time,’’ he observed.

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