Manipur: Operation Summer Storm

Bibhu Prasad Routray

South Asia Intelligence Review, vol. 7, no.42, April 27, 2009

http://satp.org/satporgtp/sair/Archives/7_42.htm#assessment2

On April 11, 2009, the 57 Mountain Division of the Indian Army based in Manipur, along with the para-military Assam Rifles and State Police, launched a counter insurgency operation, codenamed ‘Operation Summer Storm’ in the Loktak Lake area and adjoining Keibul Lamjao National Park of Bishnupur District, located south of State capital Imphal. This first major mobilisation of troops this year ended on April 21. As the troops began pulling out, the Army spokesperson described the operation as a success, disclosing that 12 militants, all belonging to the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) were killed. The Forces also claimed to have located and destroyed five militant camps during the Operation and seized 10 weapons, including six AK-series rifles, a rocket launcher, and an unspecified quantity of explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). No militant was arrested. No fatality among the Security Force (SF) personnel or civilians was reported.

Located at a distance of 40 kilometres from capital Imphal, Loktak Lake, with a catchment of 1,040 square kilometres, is the only ‘floating lake’ in the world, containing Phumdis – islets consisting of a heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil, and organic matters at various stages of decomposition – on its surface. These islets have traditionally served as ideal camouflage for several militant bunkers and hideouts. According to a 2004 survey, the Lake’s catchment area also included 5.86 square kilometres of dense forest, as well as 101 square kilometres of open forest, providing escape and concealment options to the militants. Incidentally, the largest phumdi in the lake is the Keibul Lamjao National Park, spread over an area of 45 square kilometres, in the Lake’s southern part. Not just PREPAK, but outfits like the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) as well as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have, in recent years, used the phumdis of Loktak to locate themselves in close proximity to the State capital.

Inherently linked to the objective of neutralising the disruptive potential of the militants before the two-phase elections to the Indian Parliament in the State on April 16 and 22, the Operation was meticulously planned. Led by the Army, it involved 500 SF personnel drawn from the 57 Mountain Division, the Assam Rifles and Manipur Police commandos. A month-long preparation, involving the survey of militant facilities using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), had preceded the mobilisation of troops. The Operation was confined mostly to the eastern part of the Lake, covering areas such as Chingmaipat, Nongmaikhong, Arong and Khordak.

As lightly equipped commandos, supported by helicopters, marched through the area, often wading through waist-deep water, much of the success of the Operation was achieved during the early April 12 to 14 phase, when the SFs managed to kill eleven militants and destroy four camps. The 12th militant was killed on April 16. Efforts during the remaining days consisted largely of a thorough scouring and mopping up operation, aimed at tracing out any militant remnants.

Describing the Operation, with significant exaggeration, as the ‘Second Kargil War’ – the Indian Air Force had played a significant part in neutralising the attempts of the Pakistan army regulars in the Kargil region of Jammu & Kashmir – PREPAK sources alleged that the SFs resorted to aerial bombing, using helicopter gunships. The Army spokesperson clarified, however, that the SFs in Manipur did not possess any helicopter gunships, that only ‘effective’ weapons were used by the SFs, and that every care was taken to avoid civilian fatalities.

The SFs had been explicitly advised to resist speculative fire in order to prevent casualties among the women and children members of the militant families living within the camps. Firing had, in fact, been temporarily suspended on April 13, after the SFs noticed a woman and child emerging from the area under Operation. The woman was later found to be the wife of a PREPAK ‘sergeant major’. The SFs were also advised to be restrained in order to avoid casualties among the Sangai (brow antlered deer) population – a protected specie in the Keibul Lamjao National Park. The 50 odd hamlets in and around Loktak Lake are home to almost 100,000 people, and only 2,500 people were temporarily displaced from their villages during the Operation. On April 21, the Army declared that the Loktak Lake has been cleared of militant presence.

In terms of the sheer number of militant cadres neutralised and weapons recovered, Operation Summer Storm may not go down as a significant anti-militancy initiative. However, the 10-day exercise did ensure an entirely peaceful election in the State. Almost 63 percent of the voters cast their ballot in the first phase on April 16 for the Outer Manipur constituency. Another 60 percent exercised their franchise during polls for the Inner Manipur constituency on April 22.

The neutralisation of 12 cadres does not inflict serious damage on the PREPAK, which, according to a 2005 Manipur Police estimate, has a cadre / overground workers strength of 500. PREPAK is a relatively less-significant outfit, compared to the UNLF and PLA, consequently, the Operation’s ‘success’ makes little difference to the overall scenario in Manipur. Notwithstanding the claims by the Army and the Police, moreover, the ‘clearance’ of Loktak is not expected to be anything but temporary, in the absence of a plan to secure the area through a permanent SF presence. Last year, in September, the Army and Police had carried out a week-long operation on the Loktak Lake, and had killed five PREPAK cadres. That did not deter the militants from re-establishing their facilities in the area in quick time, after the SFs withdrew.

The ‘success’ of Operation Summer Storm, however, comes in the wake of steady SF achievements since the beginning of the current year. According to Institute for Conflict Management data, as many as 86 per cent of the total of 160 militancy-related fatalities recorded this year (till April 24) were among the ranks of the militants. At least 22 of the militants killed belong to PREPAK. In terms of total fatalities, Manipur remains the most violent theatre of conflict in India’s Northeast in 2009, but has reported only 17 civilian and four SF fatalities. In comparison, the first four months of 2008 had witnessed 67 civilian, two SF and 95 militant deaths. During the current year, 105 militant deaths, out of a total 139, occurred in Valley areas, entirely consistent with the trend of militancy in Manipur, which has been much more concentrated and violently manifested in the four Valley District, as compared to the five Hill Districts.

Significantly, such steady gains have mostly been achieved in small encounters and minor operations against the militants. The SFs appear to have decided to put major operations, such as the two failed troop mobilisations in 2008 to take over the New Samtal area in Chandel District, on hold, and to concentrate on surgical strikes to neutralise active cadres of the outfits. Before the Operation Summer Storm, for instance, only five major encounters between the SFs and the militants, reporting three of more fatalities, had been reported.

The success of Operation Summer Storm demonstrated a new-found synergy between the Army, the central para-military forces and the State Police. Differences in perception and strategies to be adopted against the militants had sprung up between the Army and the Police, especially after the August 2003 Manorama Devi episode. The establishment of a Unified Command Structure under the leadership of the Chief Minister in 2004 had done little to bridge this divergence. Widening the divide, the State Police had continued carrying out operations against the Kuki militant outfits, with whom the Army had entered into a ‘suspension of operations’ agreement in 2005. Such discord appears to be a thing of the past, for the moment. Manipur Police commandos were equal partners, along with the Army and Assam Rifles, in Operation Summer Storm, and intelligence gathered by the Police prior to the Operation is reported to have been extremely valuable in terms of targeting militant facilities at Loktak Lake.

The gains made by the SFs and the peaceful elections certainly herald some hope for Manipur, teetering at the brink of collapse for a number of years. Whether these can be consolidated in the months to come, or would be allowed to be frittered away, as in the past, remains to be seen.