Referring to insurgency in the North-East, the Governor said the Unified Command system in Assam had proved to be successful and had cemented civil and military understanding while dealing with underground elements.

The Governor was addressing the audience after inaugurating the civil-military liaison conference in Itanagar.

Lt. Gen. (Retd) Sinha said in Arunachal Pradesh, having the largest geographical area in the region, and being strategically very important as it shares border with a major power, the relation between the civil population and armymen should be cordial even in solving problems like communications.

The Governor said that the insurgents sometimes tried to malign the Army to acquire sympathy from the people. On many occasions, he said, allegations particularly about uncivilised behaviours with women were found out to be handiworks of insurgents to give bad names to the Army.

However, genuine complaints were dealt with seriously and court marshals were conducted to punish the culprits, he said.

The Arunachal Pradesh Governor cited an Army project for protections of rhinos in Kaziranga National Park. The Army also came forward to ensure water supply in Kamakhya temple at Guwahati as an important venture to build up the civilians' confidence in the Army.

He urged the Army to do something needful to solve the State's problem of communication. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mukut Mithi, who was also present on the occasion, expressed concern over the activities of some insurgent groups in Tirap and Changlang districts of the State and urged the civil and military authorities to exchange information to curb their movement.

Mr. Mithi suggested establishment of a joint civil-military commission comprising Chief Secretary and Inspector General of Police of Arunachal Pradesh and Corps Commander and others for better civil-military relation. On the same line a forum could also be created at district level.

The Arunachal Chief Minister said members of a minor insurgent group, Arunachal Dragon Force has expressed willingness to surrender provided the Army issued them photo-identity cards as surrenderees to avoid re-arrest. He requested the Army authorities to look into the matter.

Mr. Mithi suggested involvement of the youth in safeguarding the international boundary by raising scouts on the patterns followed in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and UP. He paid homage to the personnel of the defence forces who were killed in the process of driving out Pakistani infiltrators in Kargil