Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita, former chief of Eastern Command who retired in December 2023, has confirmed that “numerous lives were saved” because the Army and Assam Rifles had put troops on standby before May 3, 2023, when violence broke out in Manipur. Former Director General of the Assam Rifles had earlier told the Hindu that “we saved nothing less than 2,000-3,000 lives between May 3 and 5”.
While General Kalita was reluctant to give an exact figure, he emphasised that the troops saved several lives. However, the Army and Assam Rifles’ role in Manipur has neither got the attention it deserves and certainly not the credit it merits.
In a 40-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, General Kalita was questioned about the Kuki belief that the Manipur police are biased in favour of the Meiteis and the Meitei belief that the Assam Rifles are biased in favour of the Kukis. In response he said, “the effectiveness of the Manipur police in Kuki areas is [questionable]…this has been the situation from the start”. However, he insisted that the Assam Rifles are “absolutely unbiased” and “extremely professional”.
In the interview, General Kalita said that the ineffectiveness of the Manipur police has adversely affected central forces in Manipur.
General Kalita was also questioned about reports that the resurgence of violence in September happened because Kuki insurgents breached the suspension of operations (SoO) agreement and are allegedly using rocket propelled grenades fired from high tech drones. In response, he made clear that insurgents from both communities have been involved “right from the start”.
