ASSAM RIFLES
1. Context
Police in Manipur have registered an FIR accusing the Assam Rifles (AR) of preventing police from doing their duty, including blocking their way with armoured vehicles, which allegedly allowed Kuki militants suspected of killing Meiteis to escape.
A video purportedly of the incident earlier this month shows a heated exchange, with the Manipur Police accusing the AR of collusion with the suspects.
2. About Assam rifles and their significance
- The Assam Rifles are a central armed police force.
- The AR is one of the six central armed police forces (CAPFs) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
- The other five forces are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)
- The AR is tasked with maintaining law and order in the Northeast along with the Indian Army. It also guards the Indo-Myanmar border.
- The AR have a sanctioned strength of more than 63,000 personnel, organised in 46 battalions, apart from administrative and training staff
3. Uniqueness of AR from other CAPFs
- It is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure. While the administrative control of the force is with the MHA, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence (MoD)
- This means that salaries and infrastructure for the force is provided by the MHA, but the deployment, posting, transfers, and deputation of AR personnel is decided by the Army
- All its senior ranks, from DG to IG and sector headquarters are manned by officers from the Army. The force is commanded by a Lieutenant General of the Indian Army.
- The AR is in effect a central paramilitary force (CPMF) -its operational duties and regimentation are on the lines of the Indian Army
- However, being a CAPF under the MHA, the recruitment, perks, and promotion of AR personnel, and their retirement policies are governed according to rules framed for CAPFs by the MHA
4. Achievements of AR
Here are some of the notable achievements of the Assam Rifles:
- It was the first paramilitary force in India to be awarded the President's Colour.
- It has been awarded 11 gallantry awards, including 4 Ashoka Chakras, the highest peacetime gallantry award in India.
- It has played a key role in the counter-insurgency operations in the northeast.
- It has also been deployed in other parts of India, such as Jammu and Kashmir, and has played a role in counter-terrorism operations
5. History of Assam rifles
- The AR is India’s oldest paramilitary force it was raised in 1835 with just 750 men.
- It has since fought in the two World Wars and the Sino-Indian war of 1962, and has been used as an anti-insurgency force against militant groups in the Northeast.
- The AR was raised as the Cachar Levy, a militia that would protect tea estates and British settlements against raids by the tribal peoples of the Northeast
- The force was subsequently reorganised as the Assam Frontier Force, and its role was expanded to conduct punitive operations beyond the borders of Assam
- Given its contribution in opening the Northeastern region to administration and commerce, it came to be known as the “right arm of the civil and left arm of the military”
- In 1870, the elements of the force were merged into three Assam Military Police Battalions, named after the Lushai Hills, Lakhimpur, and the Naga Hills
- The ‘Darrang’ Battalion was raised just before the onset of World War I
- Since it was difficult to mobilise reservists at short notice, and soldiers of the Gurkha Battalion were on leave in Nepal, the Assam Military Police were tasked to take their place
- This force sent more than 3,000 men as part of the British Army to theatres of the War in Europe and the Middle East.
- In 1917, the name of the force was changed to Assam Rifles, recognising their work during the Great War, in which they fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Rifle Regiments of the regular British Army
- The force was awarded 76 gallantry medals including seven Indian Order of Merit awards and five Indian Distinguished Service Medals for its contribution in Europe and the Middle East during the War.
- In World War II, after the lightning Japanese advance in 1942, the Assam Rifles fought a number of independent actions behind enemy lines as the task of rear area defence and rear guard often fell to them as the Allies retreated into India
- They also organised a resistance group, the Victor Force, on the Indo-Burmese border to counter the Japanese forces and to harass the enemy line of communications. The force was awarded 48 gallantry medals during this War
- The AR took on a conventional combat role during the 1962 war, and travelled to Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1987
6. Conclusion
The Assam Rifles is a professional and dedicated force that is committed to the service of the nation. It is a force that can be relied upon to protect the borders of India and to uphold the law and order in the country.
It remains the most awarded paramilitary force in both pre- and post-Independence India, having won a very large number of Shaurya Chakras, Kirti Chakras, Vir Chakras, Ashok Chakras, and Sena Medals.
Source: indianexpress
