With AFSPA out, Assam takes Army help to train its new commandos

With the Army being moved out from most parts of Assam following the Centre's decision to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in March, Assam police are taking the help of the Army in order to provide military training to its new commando forces.

The state government recently started the process to raise five new commando battalions comprising 2,720 personnel, of which over 300 are women. The army is providing training to some of the new recruits as part of an understanding of the state police.

The 40-week training under the Indian Army commenced on November 21 at seven locations in Assam and Meghalaya. "The training will be conducted in two phases - the basic phase and the advanced phase. The focus of basic military training will be making trainees stronger both mentally and physically. In advance military training, trainees will be taught tactical combat skills as well as various policing aspects related to maintenance of law-and-order situations," Defence Spokesperson based at Guwahati, Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said on Thursday.

"This joint initiative will not only help in capacity building for the security architecture of the state, but it will also further enhance synergy and capability to undertake joint operations between the state and armed forces," Rawat said adding that the joint operations carried out by Army and Assam police in the past few years helped to fight insurgency and bring peace to the state.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that 60 per cent of areas of the state are now free from the AFSPA as the law and order situation improved in those places in the past few years.

A senior officer in Assam police told DH that a new approach was being adopted to train the new commando battalions in order to ensure that law and order remains under control even after the withdrawal of the AFSPA and the army. "Although the state is by and large peaceful now, insurgent groups are still active in some pockets and we can't deny the possibility of the birth of new groups. So we must improve the skills and training modules of our armed forces," he said.

Several insurgent groups in Assam have already laid down weapons and signed agreements with the government since 2016. But Ulfa (Independent) led by Paresh Baruah is still out of the peace process and has still remained a worry for both the security forces and the government.