“Sahab, yaha abhi sab kuch badal gaya hai. Jaiye apko bazaar khula milega”, Bhupendir, the chowkidaar of the guest house said as one of us asked him if any shop could be found open at that time.

My friends were not sure enough and initially hesitated to walk down to the market area which was barely half a kilometer from our stay. However, after some time all of us agreed. So we went out in search of our items. After walking some distance and as we approached the market we were surprised to witness that the market was totally open. Youth in motorbikes and other vehicles were moving around and popular Hindi numbers like the Salman-Sonakshi starrer ‘Munni badnam hui, darling tere liye ………..’ were played in full blast.

Welcome to Jairampur! Well then this is the changing face of Jairampur and as a whole of most parts of the eastern tip of Arunachal Pradesh which basically comprises of the twin districts of Changlang and Tirap. Unlike most of the Northeastern states insurgency does not have a long history in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, Arunachal Pradesh is one of the very rare states in the region which does not have any homegrown terror outfit. Of course, there were some organizations like the Arunachal Dragon Force (ADF) or the Eastern India Liberation Front (EILF) which tried to make their presence felt basically with the help of Naga insurgent groups, but due to prompt and timely action taken by the security forces, these organizations failed to make much impact and do not exist today.

Both the factions of NSCN, namely the Issac-Muivah and Khaplang faction ‘infiltrated’ into the two districts of Arunachal Pradesh namely Tirap and Changlang in the last part of the 1990’s and early 2000. Initially, both the terror outfits which are under ‘so-called’ ceasefire agreements with the Centre tried to widen their base for creation of a so-called ‘Greater Nagaland’, by including the two districts in their map. Killings, factional clashes, kidnappings, extortion etc became the order of the day in the two districts as the cadre of both the organizations operated almost at will in the two districts. Government employees including senior officials of the district administration were ‘taxed’ (read extortion) two percent of their annual salary. Youths were forced to join the outfit and the poor villagers were tortured if they denied shelter, food and money to the Naga insurgents. In one word life had become hellish for the simple and peace loving villagers in the hill state.

Taking advantage of lack of development, the insurgents managed to establish some hold in these villages like Wintong by the use of force.

At this juncture, the Assam Rifles, which is rightly coined as ‘The Sentinels of the North East’ stepped in to bail out the two districts from the ‘captivity’ of the Naga insurgents. After several meticulously planned operations carried out by the Assam Rifles with assistance from the local police and other security forces, peace is gradually returning to the twin districts. In a series of operations several cadre from the two factions were NSCN were killed, many were arrested and hundreds of them surrendered. Huge caches of arms and ammunition has been recovered from these cadres and their hideouts.

“Our objective is to ensure peace in the two districts. As far as we are concerned there is no ceasefire in the two districts. Therefore, anybody who moves around with an unauthorized weapon will be arrested and prosecuted as per the law,” said Brig. Paritosh Pant, the Commander of 25 Sector Assam Rifles. The 25 Sector Assam Rifles with its brigade headquarters in Lekhapani in Assam is responsible for carrying out counter insurgency operations in the two districts. For several years now the Assam Rifles have been carrying out numerous civic action programmes to win the hearts and mind of the local population.

One such programme was carried out by the Jairampur based unit of Assam Rifles recently at Wintong village, 12 kms from another small and nondescript town – Nampong. Wintong is a small hilly village with a population of just 60 people, mostly from the Tikhak community. The villagers then described the untold suffering they had to bear from the cadre of both faction of the NSCN earlier. “The main issue is development. These villages have never seen the light of development. Taking advantage of lack of development, the insurgents managed to establish some hold in these villages like Wintong by the use of force. But now with extensive operations and regular patrol being carried by the Assam Rifles men things have improved many fold”, a local villager said. Realizing the fact that the villagers at Wintong were in desperate need of electricity, the Assam Rifles provided them with re-chargeable solar lanterns. “Assam Rifles have not only provided us with light for the nights by providing us with these solar lanterns, Assam Rifles have in one way lit up our lives. We are very thankful to the Assam Rifles,” Anitang Tikhak, a village youth from Wintong said. Besides, the solar lanterns, the Assam Rifles men had also organized medical camps and distributed free medicines among the villagers. Moreover, in order to encourage villagers to get involved in constructive and healthy activities, villagers are given footballs, volleyballs, nets etc. “We also conduct counseling and motivating sessions whenever we find time. We are also seeing results. Two youths from the village recently got recruited in the security forces”, an Assam Rifles officer said. The Assam Rifles is also planning to put in a 15 lakh project for solar electrification of the entire village by putting up a 5 kw solar captive plant. “We also need good roads, schools for our children, proper sanitation, a health centre etc. We have requested the Assam Rifles for all these things,” Nong Tam, the Gaon Burah (village head) of Wintong village said.

“We are not sure what more we will be able to give and what not. But, it gives us immense satisfaction that the perception of the local villagers towards the security forces is changing fast due to the civic action programme. Now they (the villagers) identify themselves with us. We do hope that this bonhomie will finally bring in permanent peace in the area,” the officer said.

Ripunjoy Das