Rejoinder to PRO IGAR(South) statement

20th November 2018:

Rejoinder to the statement of PRO IGAR(South) published in various newspapers on 20th November, 2018

After coming across the media statement of Public Relations Officer (PRO), Inspector General of Assam Rifles, South (IGAR(S)) in various newspapers on November 20, 2018 regarding the incident of assault on me by personnel of 12 Assam Rifles at Sita Lamkhai, Tengnoupal check post on November 12, I feel constrained to refute the media statement as it was a false statement probably with an intent to fool the public. I see it also as defamation of me and the organisation I serve, that is, Thadou Students' Association (TSA).

1. On the day of the incident on November 12, I was travelling with my uncle, an ex-serviceman, towards Imphal after a trip to Moreh. I was the driver of the vehicle.

2. PRO, IGAR(S) has been ill-informed and manipulated. Sitting at Imphal, whoever did the statement did not know the facts of the incident. Fact finding and proper cross checking of reports should have been done before publishing such a flawed media statement.

3. As a matter of fact, I never argued with the Assam Rifles soldiers on duty to give me a priority. Also, I never mentioned that I am a powerful person or secretary general of TSA.

4. With due respect I drove slowly towards the queue while my uncle was giving back the token at the counter. While maintaining queue, the AR personnel on my left pointed me to go front and accordingly I moved towards the front because it caused discomfort as it was in between the two barricade . As soon as I reached the front skipping two commercial vehicles causing no plight for the locals and tourists waiting for their turns to get checked, it was the whistle blower on my right who came towards me shouting like anything and ordered me to go back. Thereafter, I went back to the previous stop i.e, between the two barricades. My uncle came back by then and while we were inside the car, another personnel who was on the front sentry post came and squeezed on my neck without any apparent reason. At this time, my uncle blocked the hands of the soldier from hitting me and I started the car and moved away away from them, rushing towards Imphal for safety reasons.

5. The soldiers never communicated to me about queue and wait. They showed no politeness or respect but all they showed was arrogance as they spoke randomly in Hindi. Despite the high provocation by the soldier, I remained silent and calm, wondering what was his problem. Feeling helpless anyway, I just let the soldier shout whatever he wanted as I thought he would be okay when he got exhausted from shouting. At no point of time did I display arrogance or ego or disrespect as falsely alleged in the statement of PRO, IGAR(S). I was just myself as I walked and talked as a law abiding ordinary citizen.

6. On the 13th of November, which was the next day, along with two of my friends I went to lodge a complaint at Tengnoupal Police Station. Upon the request of the SP, we met the Commanding Officer (CO), 12 AR. We cross checked the CCTV footage wherein it was visibly clear that three soldiers were involved in the harassment and assault against me. Though not quite clear about the squeezing of neck due to far view from CCTV footage, it was identified that a soldier from Nagaland was the one who committed the assault. The CO of 12 AR assured that he would do something about it, and believing his words we came back.

7. But even after three days, no action taken report was received by me and the same incident was coincidentally reported in various newspaper on November 16. TSA General Headquarters has not made any claims, but several branches of TSA like Sadar Hills, Jiribam & Tamenglong and Thadou Inpi, General Headquarters have condemned the incident.

8. The claims and clarification made by the PRO, IGAR(S) are purely baseless and unexpected from a security force that is called 'Friends of the Hill People'.

Lastly, if I may be allowed to give a piece of advice, all Assam Rifles should strive to remain to be true friends of the hill people at all times and at all places, and some within its own force should not be allowed to turn it as foe of the hill people to the disrepute of the entire Assam Rifles.

Sd/-
(Michael Lamjathang Haokip)
michaeltellang(AT)gmail(DOT)com