9 May 2002
NO PUNJAB CRACK COMMANDOS FOR GILL
OPERATIONS IN GUJARAT
From Jal Khambata
NEW
DELHI: Supercop KPS Gill, the security advisor to the Gujarat Chief
Minister, did not get Punjab's crack commandos he had used to tackle
the Sikh militancy and then communalism in Assam for his operations
in Gujarat to stir confidence among the minorities shaken by the
communal bias of the state police.
The Centre is reluctant to
send these commandos to Gujarat in view of several human right
violation cases during the days of militancy in Punjab were pending
against them and the Home Ministry view is that these commandos are
trained only to deal with terrorists and as such they are not needed
to hunt for terrorists in Gujarat.
Neither Punjab Chief
Minister Amarinder Singh nor his Chief Secretary and Home Secretary
who are all in Delhi know anything about the reported Gill's request
to provide him a battalion of 1000 commandos to handle the communal
violence in Gujarat. They expressed surprise at reports that the
Punjab Government had agreed to send the commandos. At least they
should know if any such consent is granted.
Only Punjab
Director-General of Police M S Bhullar in Chandigarh said he had been
"sounded" by Gill for the need but he said the request
should come from the Centre as Gill is nobody to requisition forces
from the Punjab Police he once headed during the tumultuous days of
militancy in Punjab.
Union Minister of State for Home I D
Swami also denied any request coming from the Gujarat Government to
provide the Punjab commandos. He said Gill had sought more central
para-military forces from Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani during
their meeting on Tuesday and as such about 2000 Central Reservce
Police Force (CRPF) personnel, including about 200 commandos, to
assist the state police in combating communal violence.
The
Punjab Government decided on Thursday to make ti known officially
through a Press note that it cannot spare its crack commandos for
Gujarat. The Press note said: "Chief Minister Amarinder Singh
has regretfully decided that no police force could be spared."
It said the Punjab Police had just one battalion available in reserve
while the rest were on duty in the areas adjoining Jammu and Kashmir
and cannot be spared.
The Press note puts an end to the
specualtion that Gill is taking to Gujarat the crack commandos of the
India Reserve Battalion (IRB) raised during his tenure as the Punjab
Police chief to fight the Punjab militants.
The Punjab crack
commandos constitute the Indian Reserve Battalions headquarters in
Patiala. There are five battalions of these commandos. The Centre
bears half the expenditure of these commandos.
Inquiries with
the IRP headquarters in Patiala also showed that no orders have been
received to get these commandos ready for moving into Gujarat
whenever requisitioned at a short notice. In fact, its personnel are
getting vacation leave as usual which is otherwise suspended in the
event of any demand to deploy them at any place. The IRB personnel
are, however, always ready to get into action within four hours and
have their own aircraft for movement.
Union Minister I D Swami
affirms that the Centre has no information as of today about any
demand for the Punjab commandos coming from the Gujarat Government.
Moreover, he says the commandos are needed to fight against
terrorists and not against the citizens provoked to indulge in riots.
He said the Army and para-military troops are already positioned in
Gujarat and hence he does not know what the commandos will do. There
are no terrorists hiding in Gujarat that the commandos are
requisitioned to hunt for them, he remarked.
Pointing out that
even the demand for the para-military forces was made by Gill on
behalf of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Swami said Gill cannot
approach the Punjab Government directly to requisition the commandos
overriding the powers of the State Government. Gill is occupying an
advisory post and cannot issue orders on his own, Swami added. END