If there were ever angels that came down and restored peace, it happened here. The army came down from its stations by road and air. Fully loaded as Hollywood would put it. Men wearing battle gear and weapons off their safety catches. They had been called to respond to the helplessness that was evident in burnt villages and infrastructure. People had been casualties and mobs (mostly criminals and people who had sinister intents) were still on the roads. Targeting each other even if their leaders had asked for peace. The answer when apprehended being, INTERNET NAHIN HAI, KUCH PATA NAHIN CHALA.
The army opened up the planning sheets, huddled together and identified main areas of disturbance. There was a huge dilemma, is this an internal security problem (IS) or a counter insurgency problem (CI). For people who have been in these situations they are aware that both are completely different. The rules of engagement, the deployment pattern and the modus operandi.
IS duty entails flag marches, rescue operations, prevention of criminal activity and destruction, preventive rules, opening of fire only as a last resort when the situation is critical and above all here there are no enemies just miscreants.
CI ops deals with consolidated operations, concentrated posturing and deployment, battle loads for contact, weaponised individuals to be brought down, collateral permitted and above all, no hesitation in opening of fire. Here we are clear who the enemy is and how we need to take them down.
All over the army is being hailed for their good work. The confidence the people have in us is motivating. In fact even the groups want only the army to negotiate. That’s sterling and this acceptance makes us even more humble to serve the people and immensely proud.
The army doesn’t play games, they come with a purpose when they have been requisitioned and the situation here had collapsed. Like the boss here says, "agar bulaya hai, toh be ready to accept our terms of engagement. "
Today Manipur has an uneasy quiet. Both sides are talking, the environment is conducive because the army has been visible. They have preempted being in locations before an act of arson, preventing these miscreants. The military leadership absolutely proactive, surprising everyone in space and time. They have still maintained humane values, talked, argued, debated with mobs making them see sense, instead of firing. They have used force with extreme restraint. Yes, in some cases there has been casualties, but then we are the army, our goodness ends when you show apathy to our kindness. You don’t F*$# with the men in green. Our tolerance ends if you ever misbehave with our officers.
People are heading to airports, shops are opening up. Refugees are requesting to go back to safe villages. Interstate evacuations are being planned and slowly we will ensure that the system gets back to shape and functioning.
The COAS, the Eastern Army Commander and the Corps Commander in Dimapur have absolute clarity on the process and the directions are always crisp and clear. The boss here completely in control of things. As for us we operate, rescue, plan, manifest and most of all engage (Love and empathy first for those who response or else, THE DEVIL IN US TAKES OVER!
(Views expressed are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial stance of Mission Victory India)
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