No more bad eggs

THE Army’s general court martial (GCM) proceedings into the killing of civilians in Assam in 1994 seem to have gathered extra attention because of the senior ranks of the indicted officers. The life imprisonment awarded to a Major General and two Colonels for the fake encounter of three youths during the heydays of the ULFA militancy will also help dispel the impression that the present dispensation was allowing the Army extra leeway as exhibited in the Major Leetul Gogoi incident where a Kashmiri man was tied to the bonnet of a jeep as a human shield.

But GCMs of soldiers stepping out of line are not out of ordinary for an Army embroiled in anti-insurgency operations shortly after Independence. The procedure is clear-cut when it comes to operations in aid to civil power — a magistrate present on the spot gives written orders to open fire at a crowd, which has been rare. Problems arise when the Army is quartered for an extended period during counterinsurgency operations and has to operate under the discipline of AFSPA, a modification of the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance used to suppress the Quit India Movement.

The message that the Army will not tolerate any bad eggs will have ripple effects right across to Kashmir. Immunity from scrutiny, it is felt, contributes to the endless cycle of violence and unrest in troubled areas by permitting individual officers and soldiers to act with impunity. It also helps negate criticism that AFSPA is a structure meant to obstruct the normal course of law and impede accountability. Military justice does have its dark spots — Pathribal and Kunan Poshpora, to name two. But the justice served in the Assam and Macchil fake encounters will help send the message that there will be no free pass for human rights violations and also that the Indian state is capable of providing avenues of justice to the victims.