‘No retribution’, assures Assam Rifles; social initiatives to continue

Indian army will always care for the people, says Rangapahar 

EMN
Dimapur, June 11

The Assam Rifles authorities have assured the public that there will be no “retribution” against civilians as being feared by the population following a series of bloody carnage involving the paramilitary and underground groups in and around Nagaland.
As a commitment to friendship and mitigation of the hardships the innocent locals been facing due to the actions of insurgents, the Assam Rifles will be undertaking various social initiatives such as health camps too, the paramilitary has stated.The 3rd Corps stationed at Rangapahar in Dimapur issued a press release on Thursday, June 11, stating that the Indian forces will always remain a “people’s army” working for the safety and security of the people. The “fears about retribution are unfounded and unnecessary”, the paramilitary force said in the press release.
The paramilitary said that the ambush near Paralon village in Chandel district on June 4 by heavily armed insurgents led to the death of 18 soldiers of the 6th DOGRA while some other soldiers were also injured.
“The ambush was violently countered by the personnel of 6 DOGRA, killing at least two militants and injuring others. The escaping militants were pursued and reserve columns rushed in to block their routes of exfiltration, towards the Indo Myanmar border,” the statement said.
“There have been concerns expressed by various segments of the civilian society advising the Indian army against retributive violence. There have also been reports that the locals had vacated the area fearing reprisals from the Assam Rifles,” Rangapahar authorities said.
Illustrating the fears of the local population, the Assam Rifles said four villagers who had gone hunting unaware of the ambush were reported by the media as having gone missing and blamed it on the security forces’ operations in the area.
“This is far from true because there has been no retribution of any kind and these persons have finally returned safely. Hence, fears about retribution are unfounded and unnecessary. The security forces are aware of their responsibilities towards the civilian population and contemplating such a course of action is against the ethos of the armed forces,” the statement said.
Villagers told to return
“The Indian Army is, and will always remain, a people’s army, working ceaselessly for the safety and security of the people. All counter insurgency operations of the army are intelligence based surgical operations causing minimal inconvenience to the people,” Rangapahar stated.
The authorities said that in spite of ‘severe provocation and highly agitated emotive state’ of the soldiers, care was taken ‘not to round up or otherwise trouble the villagers’. “The operation was focussed only on pursuit of the fleeing terrorists without exposing civilians to danger. The villagers are advised to return and live peacefully.
To reinforce the spirit of friendship and to provide necessary immediate support, Assam Rifles will be organising medical camps, Rangapahar stated. They will also be taking other measures to help ‘ameliorate the hardships’ that the innocent civilians were exposed to due to acts of the insurgents operating from Myanmar.