Calling Army was unwise, says panel

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31

Calling the Army for internal security is not a wise decision for any state government, observes the Prakash Singh Committee report.

“The deployment of the Army helped the Haryana Government bring the situation under control, but calling armed forces for matters of internal security should always be used as a last resort,” it said.

The report pointed out the Army was utilised in a big way in Haryana. There were a maximum of 74 columns on a particular day.

The presence of the Army did make an impact. The situation was thereafter gradually brought under control.

“However, there have been disturbing whispers that the rioters were not particularly scared of the Army. The Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the state had no hesitation in saying that the agitators were not daunted by the presence of the Army. This is not a happy situation and should cause us concern,” the report said.

The committee said that one reason could be that the Army is getting over-exposed.

“If this continues to happen, it will be good neither for the Army nor for the internal security of the country. Every force has a defined role and they should be able to perform that under normal circumstances. If there are any difficulties or constraints in the performance of the police, those difficulties need to be addressed and the constraints removed. The Army should be called as a last resort only when all other efforts have failed,” the report added.

The state government, as told by the then DGP, placed a demand for 100 companies of the Central Armed Polie Force and 200 columns of the Army.

It was a fantastic, if not absurd, demand, the report observed.