Utpal Parashar

utpal.parashar@htlive.com

MATIA (ASSAM) : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim in a speech on December 22 that no detention camps existed in India whipped up a bit of a political storm in New Delhi, triggering allegations and counter-allegations by the ruling dispensation and the opposition.

Oblivious to the political back and forth, workers are trying to finish the construction of India’s biggest detention centre in Assam. Spread over 25 bighas, the detention centre, being constructed at a cost of ~46 crores, is located at Matia in Goalpara, 129 km from Guwahati, and will be able to house 3,000 inmates.

“We were to finish construction this month, but due to suspension of work during monsoon, we got delayed. My concern is to get the raw materials on time to finish construction soon,” said Mukesh Basumatary, one of the senior workers at the site.

Modi’s statement at a Delhi rally came in the context of the debate currently underway over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which seeks to fast-track grant of Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and Jains from the Muslim-majority countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Modi said “the Congress, its friends, and some urban Naxals are spreading rumours that all Muslims will be sent to detention centres”.

In Matia, Basumatary, who belongs to Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, and his team are erecting housing quarters at the detention centre, which will have 15 four-storey structures, each able to house 200 inmates.

Work on the detention centre started in December. Besides the housing quarters, the facility, which is surrounded by 20-22 feet high boundary walls, will contain a staff quarters, hospital, school, an office complex, kitchen and dining and community space.

In another part of the compound, Mohammed Rafiq and his team are busy giving finishing touches to a toilet complex. There are six toilet blocks, each has 15 toilets and an equal number of bathrooms.

To cater to the construction workers and the steady stream of visitors to the facility, a couple of makeshift tea shops have sprung up nearby. Local residents are hopeful that the facility will generate employment for them.

“Since the centre has been constructed close to our village, we expect that the fourth-grade jobs would go to our youth,” said Bipul Kalita, a local resident.

According to state government officials who didn’t want to be quoted, construction of most of the housing quarters would be over by March; inmates of other detention centres in the state would be shifted here initially.

Plans are underway to construct 10 such detention centres in Assam, where an exercise to update the National Register of Citizens this year excluded over 1.9 million people — 6% of the state’s population.

The Other Centres

Besides the one under construction, Assam has six other detention centres (at Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tezpur and Silchar), set up inside district jails between 2009 and 2015 on the direction of the Gauhati high court to house those declared foreigners by the 100 foreigners tribunals (FTs) in the state—till they are deported or released.

“Detention centres were set up under order of the Gauhati HC. The Prime Minister is correct when he says that the central government hasn’t constructed any detention centre,” said senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma earlier this week.

Congress leader and former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi agrees that the detention centres inside jails were set up under HC orders during his tenure, but says Modi lied about construction of new detention centres.

“In 2018, Narendra Modi government at Centre sanctioned ~46 crore for constructing the largest detention centre at Matia in Goalpara district. Suddenly he says there is no detention centre,” said Gogoi on Friday.

As per government records, from 1985 (when the Assam Accord was signed) till October 2019, nearly 129,000 people have been declared foreigners by FTs. Around 73,000 of them have gone missing and have not been deported or kept in detention.

According to Assam government records, until November 2019, a total of 988 people were lodged in the six detention centres. While 957 of them were declared foreigners, 31 were children lodged along with their mothers. Since 2016 until October 2019, 28 detainees have died.

Inmates of these centres are those who were marked D-voters (doubtful voters without proof of citizenship) in electoral rolls and those suspected to be foreigners by the state police. These people have to approach FTs to prove citizenship, failing which they are sent to detention centres.

Though 1.9 million people didn’t find their names in the final NRC, they are not being kept in detention centres. They would have to approach FTs to prove citizenship, and might be kept in detention centres if they fail. Assam is setting up 200 more FTs, in addition to the existing 100.

“At present there are 366 inmates in Goalpara district jail. Of them 184 are those who have been declared foreigners by FTs and are lodged in a different section. Since a Supreme Court order allowed conditional bail to ‘declared foreigners’ who have been lodged for over three years, we released 56 detainees,” said AR Phukan, jail superintendent.

Life inside a detention centre

Life in a detention camp isn’t easy. Mohammad Sanaullah, a retired Army veteran who spent 11 days inside one earlier this year before getting bail, agrees.

Sanaullah, who had served the Indian Army for 30 years before retiring in 2017, was declared a non-citizen by an FT on May 23 and sent to the detention camp five days later. The 52-year-old was released after he was granted interim bail by the Gauhati HC.

“Nearly 40-45 people are crammed inside one room. We had to sleep on the floor, the food was inedible and the toilets were dirty. Mornings started with one roti and stale tea without milk or sugar, for lunch there used to be stale rice, watery dal and one subzi and a similar routine was followed for dinner,” he said.

“When family members come to visit, we had to talk to them from inside an iron grill while they stayed 5-6 feet away behind a fence. It was my fate that I had to spend time in detention despite being an Indian,” he said.

In January, the Union home ministry issued a manual for detention centres stating that living standards inside should be in consonance with “human dignity”. It stipulated that rooms should be airy, well-lit and hygienic and equipped with water, electricity and communication facilities.

It called for open spaces for detainees to move around, detention of family members in one facility, and special attention to the needs of women, nursing mothers and transgenders.

“We have tried to improve facilities in our detention centre. Two months ago all inmates were moved to a newly constructed building. The quality of food has improved and we haven’t witnessed hunger strikes in recent months. The SC order to give conditional bail to those who have spent three years has also given hope to those lodged,” said Goalpara district jail superintendent Phukan.

While life is tough for those lodged inside detention centres, their family members also have to go through difficult times. Kabita Kalita Mondal who travelled all the way from Guwahati to Goalpara on Friday along with her 10-year-old daughter to meet her husband Mrinal, who was lodged inside, says “We have no idea how my husband ended up here. My life has been shattered.”

Hailing from West Bengal, Mondal, was running a grocery shop in Guwahati when his name figured as a D-voter. Following a trial, he was declared a foreigner and sent to Goalpara detention centre in August this year.

Surjit Singh

surjit.singh@htlive.com

AMRITSAR : In a noble gesture, Sikh organisations and gurdwara managements in Canada and Australia have started free packed langar service for students from India.

The service is underway at Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey, in Canada since October and students of all faiths are availing it. Special arrangements have been made to prepare food packets at the langar hall of the gurdwara so that students can carry them easily to their residence, school or place of work.

“Students, especially from Punjab, study overseas away from their families for bright future. They have to face a lot of hardships here. So, our committee has decided to help them, which is the mission of our faith,” said Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of the managing committee of the gurdwara.

He said: “Most of these students don’t know how to make roti. Readymade dishes such as pizza or burger prove costly for them. Secondly, they are short of time to prepare meal for themselves since they have to cover long distances to attend classes and also go for work for earning money. Sometimes, many of them sleep without food. Keeping these problems in view, free tiffins are being provided to the needy students as per their requirement.”

“These students are our future and it is our duty to help them,” said gurdwara secretary Bhupinder Singh.

The langar hall is open round the clock and students come here to collect food packets even at night after they get free from work. “We distribute around 100 food packets to students on a given day. Not only Punjab, students from other states across India are availing this facility,” said Charanjit Singh Sujjon, caretaker of the gurdwara, who also serves food in the langar hall. “Ever since the gurdwara started this service, sangat has increased contribution for the langar,” he added. Other gurdwaras in Canada are also planning to start this service.

This idea of serving the international students has now been adopted by Sikh bodies in Australia too, where this service will be started at Gurdwara Dal Baba Bidhi Chand Jee Khalsa Shaoni, Plumpton, in Melbourne on Sunday to commemorate the martyrdom of Chaar Sahibzaade (four sons of Guru Gobind Singh) and Mata Gujri (mother of Guru Gobind Singh). A Sikh organisation, Sikh Volunteers, will also join the humanitarian cause on January 5, the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh.

Gurdarshan Singh, a representative at Plumpton gurdwara, said: “Considering busy study and work schedule of international students, the service has been launched with the cooperation of sangat.”

The country got an unusual Christmas gift this year. The Prime Minister had announced on Independence Day that India will soon have a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). On Christmas eve, the cabinet committee on security, the apex security body in our country, approved the role and the charter of the CDS. After the PM announced the decision to create the post of the CDS, many called it a game changer. However, the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is set to be a bigger game changer than the CDS.

The PM had announced the CDS, against the widely-expected recommendations of a permanent chairman to the Chiefs of Staff Committee. In the recent announcement, the creation of the DMA has come as a big, and a welcome surprise. Both these steps strengthen the hands of this appointment and empower him to fulfil his mandate and charter in a meaningful manner. On the other hand, some things could be done differently, discussed, here, in the end.

The CDS will be a game changer. He will function at four different levels. He will create a better interface with the leadership and other elements of power; head the DMA; synergise and synchronise several aspects of the tri-services coordination as chairman, chiefs of staff committee, and lastly, as per the mandate, create more integration between armed forces as per given timelines, leading, eventually, up to Integrated Theatre Commands.

As the principal military adviser, he will provide single-point advice to the leadership on tri-services matters, be it in the National Security Council or the Nuclear Command Authority. This enables the leadership in taking informed decisions in security matters. He will also be able to contribute better in creating synergy with other elements of power under the ambit of the Defence Planning Committee.

DMA WILL CUT DOWN DELAYS

The three services, the Army, the Navy and the Air force have never been a part of the ministry of defence organisationally. They have been listed as attached offices of the ministry. India must be the only country where the armed forces are kept out of the apex structure. The DMA pulls them out of being attached offices in the defence ministry. This department, under the CDS will report directly to the defence minister, which will cut down delays and usher in the much-needed promptness in security affairs of the country. On the flip side, the services will now onwards be responsible for themselves. They will have no one else to blame, as indeed it should be. To fulfil its task, this department will be staffed by a mix of military and civilian officers.

His biggest, and arguably the trickiest, part (or level) will be to synergise the relevant aspects between the three services as chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee. This will involve taking uncomfortable decisions on contentious issues, especially in prioritising inter-services requirements for modernisation.

There is a requirement to obviate gaps and overlaps amongst the three services. As a developing country, India can ill-afford the duplication of facilities, as well as avoidable overlaps in equipping its forces. To this end, the CDS will exercise a capability over-watch over the services. The Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plan can be realistic now, as also incorporating inputs from other instruments of power viz. diplomacy, economy, power etc, through the aegis of Defence Planning Committee. A similar joint planning process has been included in his charter in doctrinal and training issues.

The CDS will assume command of all tri-services organisations, to include the Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC), the Strategic Forces Command, and the newly created cyber, space and special forces division/agency, besides the tri-services training establishments, not to mention the National Defence University, which is in the pipeline. While he will not have operations of land, sea or air under him, cyber and space will be his domain, as will be the ANC, and the specialised ones, like the Strategic Forces and the Special Forces.

HUGE RESOURCE OPTIMISATION

Interestingly, and significantly, he has been mandated to develop more jointness in operations, logistics, communications, support services, repair and maintenance, training and transport. This will result in huge resource optimisation, inter alia. This fourth level that he will have to work on will be futuristic. He has to create structures in given timelines to enhance jointness to a level that paves the way for the establishment of Theatre Commands, eventually.

What could have been done differently? While the creation of the DMA is a welcome step, it could have been based on HQ Integrated Defence Staff itself, which the CDS heads anyway. It is already staffed with officers from the ministry of external affairs (MEA), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS). It could be strengthened with a few more administrative officers. Secondly, as a secretary-level officer, the VCDS perhaps could be better suited to head this department, leaving the CDS free for higher responsibili-ties, as he will have his hands really full.

However, this is the first cut. The structure and the roles will evolve over time, as will our mindsets. The more important thing is that a bold step has been taken, which will be a game changer in the security paradigm of our country, and this will enable our country take her rightful place as an emerging regional power. Carving a place for the new set-up and this new institution will not be easy. It hasn’t been a smooth ride in any country. The first CDS, and the few that follow, will have to lay a good foundation; he will need all the help from his colleagues, the three chiefs, encouragement in the defence ministry and support from the leadership.

Best wishes for the New Year to all, and a little extra to the first CDS.

satishdua@gmail.com

The author, a former commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps and a counter-terrorism specialist, retired as chief of Integrated Defence Staff. Views expressed are personal.

Imtiaz Ahmad

letters@hindustantimes.com

Islamabad : Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Friday challenged an Islamabad special court’s verdict sentencing him to death in a high treason case. The petition was filed by Azhar Siddique on behalf of Musharraf in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The special court on December 17 had sentenced Musharraf to death for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007 and suspending the Constitution.

The petition stated that Musharraf was not given a chance to present his arguments and that the “special court quite abruptly and hurriedly wrapped up a trial that was far from its conclusion”.

“The hastily announced judgment is emanating from a prosecution case which suffers, for all intents and purposes from an admitted, noticeable and unexplained delay of over five years from the date of the alleged offence and initiation of proceeding,” the petition added.

The petition challenged paragraph 66 of the special court’s verdict, which read, “We direct law enforcement agencies to ensure that… his corpse be dragged to the D-Chowk, Islamabad and be hanged for three days”.

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