Mizoram IR battalion certain for Chhatisgarh

Aizawl, Apr 30 (UNI) Despite the protest call by the students' body against sending troops to fight naxalites in Chhatisgarh, the Mizoram government today made it clear that it does not have any option but to send the troops as per the Centre's instructions.

Talking to the mediapersons here today, State Home secretary C Ropianga said the state has very little choice in sending the 2nd Indian Reserve (IR) Police battalion to Chhatisgarh as not sending them would be a breach of an agreement between the state and the Centre.

Mr Ropianga said the Centre has the first right to call any Indian Reserve police force since it funded these battalions.

''When we agreed to create IR battalions, we signed an agreement with the Centre whereby the Centre reserves the right to first call.

According to this agreement, the Centre can direct any of the Indian Reserve police battalions in the country to any state if it chooses to do so. Since the Centre has insisted that we send an IR battalion to Chhatisgarh to fight naxalism, we have no choice but to send them'', he said.

He said Nagaland had also sent IR police to another state, where some lives had been lost. If Nagaland could do it, why not us, he questioned.

''The state government had done its best to fight the order from the Centre, but the insistence was too strong. Moreover, it would not be right on our part to disobey the Centre since it had agreed to create one more IR battalion in the state'', Mr Ropianga said, adding that the Centre had already sanctioned Rs 25 crores to create the third IR police battalion in the state.

Protests has cropped up recently from the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), the largest student body in the state and the Former Underground Welfare Society (FUWS) against sending inexperienced and inadequately trained police force to fight Naxalites.

UNI SNR KK AKP1115