Imphal/Guwahati/New Delhi:

The government faces fresh challenges in Manipur after the Centre decided to move out two Assam Rifles (AR) battalions from the state to Jammu and Kashmir. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will replace the two AR battalions.

Nearly two dozen tribes under the Kuki banner have started protesting against the Centre’s move, which they alleged would be destabilising as they considered the Assam Rifles a “neutral” force amid the ethnic tensions.

The protesters held a candlelight vigil in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts. They tried to stop AR soldiers from moving out of their locations.

“The Assam Rifles have been doing a good service for people living in sensitive areas without any bias. It is due to the AR’s presence that peace and normalcy are possible at least in some of these areas,” Kangvai Women Union secretary Vahneinieng said.

She alleged there is a trust deficit with the state police and other central forces like the CRPF. The village chiefs in Kangvai donated land for the AR only and not for other central forces, and if AR moves out, the village chiefs would take back the land, Vahneinieng said.

At Gothol, students of the only existing school protested against the plan to replace the AR with the CRPF in the area. Class 10 student Daniel said they have been able to pursue their studies only due to the presence of the AR, which ensured peace.

“The Kuki-Zo will never allow the passage or thoroughfare of the Chief Minister of Manipur, who has been the mastermind of mass genocide,” Ng Lun Kipgen, the media cell coordinator of the Commitee on Tribal Unity (CoTU), told reporters.

Home Ministry sources have said the two AR battalions will be moved to J&K for counter-terror operations. They said the move is routine as the military works to deploy forces including the AR in the most efficient manner for neutralising terrorists in the Union Territory.

The paramilitary CRPF which is under the Home Ministry will take over security duties in the locations in Manipur where the two AR battalions comprising approximately 1,500 soldiers were stationed, sources said.

The remaining AR battalions in Manipur will continue to stay on for the dual roles of counter-insurgency and border-guarding, sources said. Outside of J&K, the AR is among the most experienced counter-insurgency forces, sources said, adding the deployment of AR soldiers will help boost anti-terror ops in J&K.

The AR – ‘Sentinels of Northeast’ – is under the administrative control of the Home Ministry and operational control of the army. It guards the 1,600-km-long Indo-Myanmar border, of which nearly 400 km is in Manipur, where it also functions as the primary counter-insurgency force making its task a dual-role one.