Insurgency on the rise in Arunachal Pradesh

ITANAGAR, April 2 ? Insurgency is on the upward arc in Arunachal Pradesh, once known as the ?oasis of peace?, with the administration being jolted by the brutal slaying of a circle officer at Namtok in Changlang district bordering Myanmar by suspected NSCN(IM) cadres as recently as March 26, reports PTI. Law-and-order problems are also on the rise affecting peace in the tribal State, particularly in Changland and Tirap, two districts with 340 km ? 270 km and 70 km respectively ? long border with Myanmar, official sources said. Insurgents made inroads into Arunachal Pradesh in early 90?s through this long porous border.

From 1995 to 2001, there were 15, nine and 21 cases of murder, kidnapping and extortion respectively recorded in these districts. Other underground activities included dacoity, drug smuggling, intimidation, and attempt to recruit local youths. The situation deteriorated after early 2001 with the entry of NSCN(IM) ultras in Tirap due to their ?war of supremacy? with rival NSCN(K). Chief Minister Mukut Mithi, who had urged the Centre to take steps to contain the menance, has gone on record saying that government servants and rich leaders were shelling out 10 per cent of their income to insurgents as ?protection tax?.

Most extortion cases went unreported though they involved lakhs of rupees. ?Living under the shadow of fear, people are buying their security,? the sources said. The spate of violence in the State had prompted the then Gegong Apang government to recommend imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act to the Union Home Ministry and Tirap and Changlan districts were declared ?disturbed? in September 17, 1991. The order was in force up to 1997 till the intervention of the Supreme Court directing the government to review the situation in the areas every six months. On March 23 this year, the Act was extended facilitating Army operations in those districts. The State Cabinet, in a departure from tradition, held its sitting at Tirap district headquarters, Khonsa, on June 15 last year and urged underground groups to come forward for negotiations in the interest of peace. The Cabinet also urged them to shun violence and create a conducive atmosphere for talks. Besides Tirap, Changlang and East Kameng districts, people of Itanagar were also yielding to extortion demands, Minister of State for Home Rima Taipodia informed the Assembly on March 22. Ransom of lakhs of rupees changed hands to free those held captive without the police being informed.