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Blood on My Hands: Confessions of Staged Encounters
'You are here to catch militants, so you have to catch militants. This is your business. You can't say, I have a budget of only 30,000, so I can't catch them.'
This anonymous confession by an army officer splits wide open the anatomy of staged encounters in India's northeast, and explains how awards and citations are linked to a body count. Speaking to investigative journalist and conflict specialist Kishalay Bhattacharjee, the confessor tells of the toll this brutality has taken on him.An essay by Bhattacharjee and a postscript that analyses the hidden policy of extra-judicial killings and how it threatens India's democracy contextualize this searing confession. An explosive document on institutionalized human rights abuse.
This anonymous confession by an army officer splits wide open the anatomy of staged encounters in India's northeast, and explains how awards and citations are linked to a body count. Speaking to investigative journalist and conflict specialist Kishalay Bhattacharjee, the confessor tells of the toll this brutality has taken on him.An essay by Bhattacharjee and a postscript that analyses the hidden policy of extra-judicial killings and how it threatens India's democracy contextualize this searing confession. An explosive document on institutionalized human rights abuse.
- GenresNonfictionIndiaHistory
204 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2015
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278 people want to read
About the author
Kishalay Bhattacharjee
7 books8 followersProfessor Kishalay Bhattacharjee (born 1969) is an Indian, associate professor of journalism in O P Jindal Global University, senior journalist and author, executive director Reachout Foundation, Former resident editor NDTV, Chair internal security and senior fellow IDSA, Trainer, and documentary filmmaker.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 15, 2016
This is a devastating indictment of Indian state and it's complicity in an ongoing genocide that is happening in democratic India, since 1960s. On 11 July 1971, a column of Marathi regiment came to Yankeli, a village in Mokokchung district of Nagaland. After detaining all the women of the village, the captain of the 'op' selected four girls and took them to a nearby church. The eldest, 17, was tied to a pulpit and raped. The others, of age 15, 12 and 11 were raped in same way.
9 July 1987, Oinam massacre under Operation Blue Bird, 15 men were tortured to death by Assam Rifles. 6 died of starvation and being forced to stand on one leg. 6 infants died and two pregnant women had to deliver before soldiers. More than 120 houses were burnt, valuables stolen and crops destroyed.
On 5 and 6 March, 1966, IAF conducted aerial raids and destroyed Aizwal and nine other villages in Mizoram.
The pattern is same. Kill men, rape women, burn houses, destroy fields. Do. Rinse. Repeat.
Are you indignant?
Army and police in NorthEast India and in Kashmir, also run, among others, narcotics, women, arms trade. Army has a citation system, much like research papers. One kill is 5 point, surrender is 3 point and apprehension is 2 point. If a battalion wants to get recommendation and who would not - considering the dog-eat-dog competition among battalions - want to kill two beggars and earn 10 points?
In the army officer's words, "if you are unaccounted for ... you run the risk of being abducted and killed.'
Nowhere this is more prominent than in India-Bangladesh border area - one of the most populous international border area - and every kind of illegal trade happens here. Out of them, one particular trade is rather interesting. Cow smuggling. Indian government doesn't allow slaughter of cows, except in two states, and it doesn't allow export of cows either. So where do the cows go? In 1999, the first ever investigation, into this peculiar trade revealed that more than 15000 cattle cross over to Bangladesh every night. The trade is valued at 500 million dollars per year. Each cow fetches 30000 rupees in Bangladesh, which is one of the major beef exporters. While the last part of this smuggling journey ends in the international border, the rest are carried out in mainland India, as the cows are brought truckload from Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh. Till they reach the border, no less than eight sections of Indian Penal Code and legislation such as Indian Transport Act and numerous animal cruelty acts are violated. Each checkpoint in this route obtains their share of money. While the police and other agencies of law enforcement get one cut, Indian army and border police wait for the double whammy. It is at border where human smuggling cartels operate. The cartels maintain an umbilical relationship with army and police. To stage fake encounters, they need people. The demand of supplying people is met by the human traffickers. Poor Bangladeshis are lured for a better life in India or they willingly infiltrate into India. The army officer on whose confession larger part of this book is written, confirms that relatively new infiltrators are supplied to army to stage fake encounters. Since they are new in India without any valid papers, it is easy to target them. There will be no cry from the human rights activists and the tame media eats whatever is fed to them. In the process, everyone gets benefit. Smugglers get their money, army get their citations and points, police get their recommendations. This entire rotten power structure creates a self fulfilling prophecy where no one can step beyond the system. It is this system that is responsible for press releases like this: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelcontent... and http://archive.indianexpress.com/news.... The army officer also states that most of these encounter killings happen at border areas of two states, as the local police will try to dump jurisdiction of the crime onto other state's police. It is a neat, flawless circle, made of blood and hardened by impunity.
It is this impunity that leads to the murder of a 12 year old boy. 15 army commandos could not overpower the boy and he had to be shot. Official version: the boy fired and in retaliation the army fired. Post mortem and forensic revealed that the boy was shot from behind, from front and from sides. The bullets targeted his vital organs and were from close range.
Did anything happen to those army men? No.
Why?
AFSPA or Armed Forces Special Powers Act which gives arbitrary, discretionary power to law enforcement agencies to capture, apprehend, kill any person, who is deemed suspicious. The state of India is in a relentless conflict with it's own citizens for half a century.
Long live democracy.
Kishalay Bhattacharjee has done us a favor, because he has removed the democratic facade from India's face. It is the undying hatred of vengeance, serpentine road for retribution that breeds militants. Chaos breeds chaos and stability is anathema to it. This is the reason that AFSPA and similar emergency measures remain in perpetual effect in India's North East and Kashmir. Remember it is a foolproof system of crime, cover-up and impunity.
9 July 1987, Oinam massacre under Operation Blue Bird, 15 men were tortured to death by Assam Rifles. 6 died of starvation and being forced to stand on one leg. 6 infants died and two pregnant women had to deliver before soldiers. More than 120 houses were burnt, valuables stolen and crops destroyed.
On 5 and 6 March, 1966, IAF conducted aerial raids and destroyed Aizwal and nine other villages in Mizoram.
The pattern is same. Kill men, rape women, burn houses, destroy fields. Do. Rinse. Repeat.
Are you indignant?
Army and police in NorthEast India and in Kashmir, also run, among others, narcotics, women, arms trade. Army has a citation system, much like research papers. One kill is 5 point, surrender is 3 point and apprehension is 2 point. If a battalion wants to get recommendation and who would not - considering the dog-eat-dog competition among battalions - want to kill two beggars and earn 10 points?
In the army officer's words, "if you are unaccounted for ... you run the risk of being abducted and killed.'
Nowhere this is more prominent than in India-Bangladesh border area - one of the most populous international border area - and every kind of illegal trade happens here. Out of them, one particular trade is rather interesting. Cow smuggling. Indian government doesn't allow slaughter of cows, except in two states, and it doesn't allow export of cows either. So where do the cows go? In 1999, the first ever investigation, into this peculiar trade revealed that more than 15000 cattle cross over to Bangladesh every night. The trade is valued at 500 million dollars per year. Each cow fetches 30000 rupees in Bangladesh, which is one of the major beef exporters. While the last part of this smuggling journey ends in the international border, the rest are carried out in mainland India, as the cows are brought truckload from Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh. Till they reach the border, no less than eight sections of Indian Penal Code and legislation such as Indian Transport Act and numerous animal cruelty acts are violated. Each checkpoint in this route obtains their share of money. While the police and other agencies of law enforcement get one cut, Indian army and border police wait for the double whammy. It is at border where human smuggling cartels operate. The cartels maintain an umbilical relationship with army and police. To stage fake encounters, they need people. The demand of supplying people is met by the human traffickers. Poor Bangladeshis are lured for a better life in India or they willingly infiltrate into India. The army officer on whose confession larger part of this book is written, confirms that relatively new infiltrators are supplied to army to stage fake encounters. Since they are new in India without any valid papers, it is easy to target them. There will be no cry from the human rights activists and the tame media eats whatever is fed to them. In the process, everyone gets benefit. Smugglers get their money, army get their citations and points, police get their recommendations. This entire rotten power structure creates a self fulfilling prophecy where no one can step beyond the system. It is this system that is responsible for press releases like this: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelcontent... and http://archive.indianexpress.com/news.... The army officer also states that most of these encounter killings happen at border areas of two states, as the local police will try to dump jurisdiction of the crime onto other state's police. It is a neat, flawless circle, made of blood and hardened by impunity.
It is this impunity that leads to the murder of a 12 year old boy. 15 army commandos could not overpower the boy and he had to be shot. Official version: the boy fired and in retaliation the army fired. Post mortem and forensic revealed that the boy was shot from behind, from front and from sides. The bullets targeted his vital organs and were from close range.
Did anything happen to those army men? No.
Why?
AFSPA or Armed Forces Special Powers Act which gives arbitrary, discretionary power to law enforcement agencies to capture, apprehend, kill any person, who is deemed suspicious. The state of India is in a relentless conflict with it's own citizens for half a century.
Long live democracy.
Kishalay Bhattacharjee has done us a favor, because he has removed the democratic facade from India's face. It is the undying hatred of vengeance, serpentine road for retribution that breeds militants. Chaos breeds chaos and stability is anathema to it. This is the reason that AFSPA and similar emergency measures remain in perpetual effect in India's North East and Kashmir. Remember it is a foolproof system of crime, cover-up and impunity.
June 23, 2016
Every once in a while along comes a book which will completely turn your world upside down. For an ordinary Indian, this is one such book. The author, a long time reporter, gives a vivid and horrifying account of the fake encounter 'industry' which has cropped in the army in all the conflict areas of india, specially in North East. For promotion, for money, for bosses, for smuggling, for awards....Indian citizens (and poor immigrants) are being murdered most ingloriously by members of one of the most revered institutions in India: The Army!
Most of the book is a confessional: an anonymous army officer who confesses the army's 'illegal business' to the journalist: cases, units, dates, motives. For most Indians this is a horrible shock, incl for ppl like me who come from army families. We grew up with images of duty, sacrifice, patriotism...not murder. Many books have been written on fake encounters, but its an ode to Bhattacharjee's excellent writing that the reader suffers along with the Rehman and the Anant n all; shivering with fear at the poor sods who, like petrified animals, offer no resistance even as they know they are going to be slaughtered. It's the stuff of which nightmares are made. That the author is a superb journalist is evident from the fact that he doesnt adorn the narrative with too many frills or wordsmittery. He just lets the horrifying cases speak for themselves.
The army officer giving his blood chilling account dispassionately over tasty snacks and home made dinner is a fascinating figure. He doesnt seem to have many moral imperatives; so why is he telling a journalist all these horrific details? -- Guilt? revenge? ...Its never quite clear. His tone suggests its just another kind of office politics & systemic pressure...everyone has blood on their hands. He does say that he doesnt like pulling the trigger himself and that its the weak men who make the best volunteer killers..they have a point to prove.
Perhaps to protect his identity,he is never fleshed out much as a person. But one can't help but wish that the author had at least grabbed him by his lapels and shouted 'u b***, u ppl have created this mess; uve ruined the honour of the army...tell us how to clean this up!!" But alas, like the good journalist he is, the author suggests no solutions. He's just the proverbial mirror to our society...and what a monstrous image of Indian state the book shows. Must Read.
Most of the book is a confessional: an anonymous army officer who confesses the army's 'illegal business' to the journalist: cases, units, dates, motives. For most Indians this is a horrible shock, incl for ppl like me who come from army families. We grew up with images of duty, sacrifice, patriotism...not murder. Many books have been written on fake encounters, but its an ode to Bhattacharjee's excellent writing that the reader suffers along with the Rehman and the Anant n all; shivering with fear at the poor sods who, like petrified animals, offer no resistance even as they know they are going to be slaughtered. It's the stuff of which nightmares are made. That the author is a superb journalist is evident from the fact that he doesnt adorn the narrative with too many frills or wordsmittery. He just lets the horrifying cases speak for themselves.
The army officer giving his blood chilling account dispassionately over tasty snacks and home made dinner is a fascinating figure. He doesnt seem to have many moral imperatives; so why is he telling a journalist all these horrific details? -- Guilt? revenge? ...Its never quite clear. His tone suggests its just another kind of office politics & systemic pressure...everyone has blood on their hands. He does say that he doesnt like pulling the trigger himself and that its the weak men who make the best volunteer killers..they have a point to prove.
Perhaps to protect his identity,he is never fleshed out much as a person. But one can't help but wish that the author had at least grabbed him by his lapels and shouted 'u b***, u ppl have created this mess; uve ruined the honour of the army...tell us how to clean this up!!" But alas, like the good journalist he is, the author suggests no solutions. He's just the proverbial mirror to our society...and what a monstrous image of Indian state the book shows. Must Read.
October 10, 2015
A must read. One must read to know how AFSPA has been abused on civilians. This would make one ponder what is the real reason for insurgency in north east.
January 16, 2018
“…Lend him a live victim” Page 3
This was the first time my blood boiled while reading this heart wrenching, tragic tale of confessions.
So many contradictions in that statement. When did we start playing God, deciding the fates of innocent, ordinary men as per our whims and fancies? Are we now back to barter system, treating humans as nothing more than mere goods? Are we legalizing trading of humans, which by definition constitutes to human trafficking, a grave offense? And all this for what, a typographical error? So, that’s all a human life is worth now, a mere typo! And the worst, unimaginable contradiction comes from the fact that the person making this statement is one who has taken an oath to protect the very men he wants to victimize.
In a country which boasts itself of equality for all citizens under the law, why is murder distinguished based on who commits it. Killing in self-defence by an ordinary citizen requires immense proof, but this burden of proof is discharged in case of self-defence by a police officer or army personnel. Unfortunately, this liberty given to security and defence sectors has led to legitimizing encounter killings and murders, the repercussions of which are fatal to democracy and equality.
We as a society have developed such a numb attitude towards ‘justified violence’ that even after the 1970s in West Bengal, 1980s in Punjab and 1990s in Kashmir, we continue to watch the same scene right round the corner, without blinking an eyelid, without pausing to be affected by our conscience. Are we more deaf, dumb and blind than an actual disabled person? Have we lost our feelings and deprived ourselves of our virtues? What are we left with then?
Our country boasts of high class intellectuals, lawyers and judges. Then why is it that we have still not moved ahead from the archaic and draconian pre-independence era laws? Probably because we are in some still under the rule of an oppressive regime, with just new definitions and new faces. Can we truly say our country, every inch of it, is truly independent?
All we have done, since declaring our independence, and continue to do so is passing numerous acts and amendments. The Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 1967, Preventive Detention Act, 1950, Madras Suppression of Disturbances Act, 1948, Defence of India Act, 1967, Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1972, Disturbed Areas Act, 1976, National Security Act, 1980, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities act, 1985, Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002, and Unlawful activities Amendment Act, 2004. Situation today is the proof that these acts have made no place more peaceful than before, and are mainly used as a tool by the state to deprive an ordinary citizen of this country of his constitutional rights of freedom and equality, making him bound to the mercy of the state. This implies that we are not as free and independent as our constitution tells us, we are only as free and independent as our state wants us to be. Celebrating Independence Day is merely celebrating the liberation of India from the British rule. But surely this is not all that we had aimed for, was it? But, authoritarianism continues to reign in our democracy.
Have you ever wondered why these cases of illegal and brutal massacres keep repeating? Are we that incapable of learning lessons and improving our defence system? Are we really in a state of war as is suggested by the officials or are we purposefully being kept in this state of war?
A terrorist is kept in custody for months, taken care of well, and provided with an attorney, until a complete legal battle is fought to prove him guilty, even when the actual evidence for his persecution was seen live (on TV) by millions of citizens sitting in their homes. However, such is the irony of our judicial system that 100s of our own countrymen are being illegally abducted and murdered in the name of ‘militants’, without proper evidence or motive, and no one raises an objection.
Reading the confession of an army personnel, wherein he agrees to have worked with underground groups to catch the so-called militants, makes you wonder, who they were actually protecting. The roles of gangs and unaware citizens seems to have been strategically interchanged.
A high functioning system cannot work only with the one team. It most definitely requires involvement of all the stake holders. It is a disease worse than corruption and one which plagues our country even after 70 years of independence.
The issue starts when you start looking at everything as a business, even capturing terrorists. An act that is meant to be protecting and safeguarding the citizens, an honourable act, suddenly becomes a business deal. And the deal has to be profitable no matter what the cost.
So, basically, it is all about system protecting, nurturing, and emboldening the system. System that comprises of everyone except for the group it has been created for – we, the people.
And quite strangely, the award system for bringing about peace and stability in a conflict area is based on the number of kills rather than the number of peace efforts. It is no wonder then that the number of killings and shootings are always on the rise. Now, who wouldn’t want to get that next award, that next medal of honour!
At a point, you question what is it that makes an ordinary man treat his own kind with extreme cruelty and spite? What is it that forces him to display such indecency, which one would not even expect from lions and tigers? Why is man so eager to gain authority and control over another man’s life?
By the end of the book (if you do choose to believe what’s written in the book), you neither feel disgusted nor angry. Nothing surprises you anymore. Not all of the breaking news or the horrific incidents. And this is when humanity goes downhill – cruelty met with numbness.
However, the bitter aftertaste of reading the book lingers on for a long time, and you start to question every event, every article, every opinion and every news put forth before you. And at this point it is for the individual to decide which and how much of the data is to be believed. This is what the book achieves successfully. It makes you question, consider and analyse rather than blindly accept all as the ultimate truth.
This was the first time my blood boiled while reading this heart wrenching, tragic tale of confessions.
So many contradictions in that statement. When did we start playing God, deciding the fates of innocent, ordinary men as per our whims and fancies? Are we now back to barter system, treating humans as nothing more than mere goods? Are we legalizing trading of humans, which by definition constitutes to human trafficking, a grave offense? And all this for what, a typographical error? So, that’s all a human life is worth now, a mere typo! And the worst, unimaginable contradiction comes from the fact that the person making this statement is one who has taken an oath to protect the very men he wants to victimize.
In a country which boasts itself of equality for all citizens under the law, why is murder distinguished based on who commits it. Killing in self-defence by an ordinary citizen requires immense proof, but this burden of proof is discharged in case of self-defence by a police officer or army personnel. Unfortunately, this liberty given to security and defence sectors has led to legitimizing encounter killings and murders, the repercussions of which are fatal to democracy and equality.
We as a society have developed such a numb attitude towards ‘justified violence’ that even after the 1970s in West Bengal, 1980s in Punjab and 1990s in Kashmir, we continue to watch the same scene right round the corner, without blinking an eyelid, without pausing to be affected by our conscience. Are we more deaf, dumb and blind than an actual disabled person? Have we lost our feelings and deprived ourselves of our virtues? What are we left with then?
Our country boasts of high class intellectuals, lawyers and judges. Then why is it that we have still not moved ahead from the archaic and draconian pre-independence era laws? Probably because we are in some still under the rule of an oppressive regime, with just new definitions and new faces. Can we truly say our country, every inch of it, is truly independent?
All we have done, since declaring our independence, and continue to do so is passing numerous acts and amendments. The Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 1967, Preventive Detention Act, 1950, Madras Suppression of Disturbances Act, 1948, Defence of India Act, 1967, Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1972, Disturbed Areas Act, 1976, National Security Act, 1980, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities act, 1985, Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002, and Unlawful activities Amendment Act, 2004. Situation today is the proof that these acts have made no place more peaceful than before, and are mainly used as a tool by the state to deprive an ordinary citizen of this country of his constitutional rights of freedom and equality, making him bound to the mercy of the state. This implies that we are not as free and independent as our constitution tells us, we are only as free and independent as our state wants us to be. Celebrating Independence Day is merely celebrating the liberation of India from the British rule. But surely this is not all that we had aimed for, was it? But, authoritarianism continues to reign in our democracy.
Have you ever wondered why these cases of illegal and brutal massacres keep repeating? Are we that incapable of learning lessons and improving our defence system? Are we really in a state of war as is suggested by the officials or are we purposefully being kept in this state of war?
A terrorist is kept in custody for months, taken care of well, and provided with an attorney, until a complete legal battle is fought to prove him guilty, even when the actual evidence for his persecution was seen live (on TV) by millions of citizens sitting in their homes. However, such is the irony of our judicial system that 100s of our own countrymen are being illegally abducted and murdered in the name of ‘militants’, without proper evidence or motive, and no one raises an objection.
Reading the confession of an army personnel, wherein he agrees to have worked with underground groups to catch the so-called militants, makes you wonder, who they were actually protecting. The roles of gangs and unaware citizens seems to have been strategically interchanged.
A high functioning system cannot work only with the one team. It most definitely requires involvement of all the stake holders. It is a disease worse than corruption and one which plagues our country even after 70 years of independence.
The issue starts when you start looking at everything as a business, even capturing terrorists. An act that is meant to be protecting and safeguarding the citizens, an honourable act, suddenly becomes a business deal. And the deal has to be profitable no matter what the cost.
So, basically, it is all about system protecting, nurturing, and emboldening the system. System that comprises of everyone except for the group it has been created for – we, the people.
And quite strangely, the award system for bringing about peace and stability in a conflict area is based on the number of kills rather than the number of peace efforts. It is no wonder then that the number of killings and shootings are always on the rise. Now, who wouldn’t want to get that next award, that next medal of honour!
At a point, you question what is it that makes an ordinary man treat his own kind with extreme cruelty and spite? What is it that forces him to display such indecency, which one would not even expect from lions and tigers? Why is man so eager to gain authority and control over another man’s life?
By the end of the book (if you do choose to believe what’s written in the book), you neither feel disgusted nor angry. Nothing surprises you anymore. Not all of the breaking news or the horrific incidents. And this is when humanity goes downhill – cruelty met with numbness.
However, the bitter aftertaste of reading the book lingers on for a long time, and you start to question every event, every article, every opinion and every news put forth before you. And at this point it is for the individual to decide which and how much of the data is to be believed. This is what the book achieves successfully. It makes you question, consider and analyse rather than blindly accept all as the ultimate truth.
May 24, 2016
Death Squads and extrajudicial killings have been the reality in every country. Though conveniently forgotten by us citizens residing in major cities, such incidents frequent in the Kashmir valley and the North Eastern states particularly Assam and Manipur.
Blood on my hands by Kishalay Bhattacharjee is a gruesome reminder of the horrific atrocities conducted by the Indian army and the police force in Assam and Manipur. Under the pretense of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), officers in the army carry out fake encounters to qualify themselves for medals or to run illicit operations. Narrated to the author by an anonymous army officer the book provides incident after incident of various encounter stories and the modicum of how they were carried out. Migrants, militants, family members of militants, innocent bystanders, unaccounted citizens; no one is safe amidst this madness for glory that reeks of inhumanity and repugnance. Considering that the source of these revelations is anonymous, we rarely get to know the names of officers involved but one wish we had. Despite being just 210 pages the book is a hard read on a single sitting as at every few pages you feel putting the book down and taking a deep breath. The amount of human rights violations depicted over the book makes you wonder if public bodies like NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) should be given more powers as when it comes to fake encounters currently they can only offer recommendations.
Blood on my hands is a powerful case study of the practices carried out under the name of national security. One cannot wish but wonder of a day when children in these states could live under the same rights and freedom as we do.
Blood on my hands by Kishalay Bhattacharjee is a gruesome reminder of the horrific atrocities conducted by the Indian army and the police force in Assam and Manipur. Under the pretense of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), officers in the army carry out fake encounters to qualify themselves for medals or to run illicit operations. Narrated to the author by an anonymous army officer the book provides incident after incident of various encounter stories and the modicum of how they were carried out. Migrants, militants, family members of militants, innocent bystanders, unaccounted citizens; no one is safe amidst this madness for glory that reeks of inhumanity and repugnance. Considering that the source of these revelations is anonymous, we rarely get to know the names of officers involved but one wish we had. Despite being just 210 pages the book is a hard read on a single sitting as at every few pages you feel putting the book down and taking a deep breath. The amount of human rights violations depicted over the book makes you wonder if public bodies like NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) should be given more powers as when it comes to fake encounters currently they can only offer recommendations.
Blood on my hands is a powerful case study of the practices carried out under the name of national security. One cannot wish but wonder of a day when children in these states could live under the same rights and freedom as we do.
May 22, 2018
I found this book through a string of articles I was reading on the Kashmir issue and the Indian Army's role therein, which was in continuation to reading Behold, I Shine: Narratives of Kashmir's Women and Children a few months ago. While browsing these articles I came across one written by this author, detailing a disturbing confession by an unnamed army officer about staged encounters and extra-judicial killings by the Indian Army in disturbed areas like Kashmir and the North East.
Having grown up as an army kid myself, the details in the article were not only disturbing, but also unbelievable, and I certainly wanted to know more.
The book succeeds in making the reader understand the reality and existence of these staged encounters, and also explains why they take place. It describes how the "system" is wired to compel some individuals to resort to desperate measures to justify their existence or demonstrate their effectiveness. In shocking detail it relates how promotions, citations and awards are linked to body counts for those serving in these delicate areas, and how numerous innocent and unsuspecting lives have been lost in a bid to have the numbers add up.
Most do not succumb to this pressure, but some have and do, and this book is about those few...
The book also delivers perspective on the grey areas of military presence in Kashmir and the North East and why the conflict never seems to end. The army isn't the lone perpetrator here - there is a well oiled organised mafia involving the local police and militant groups that traffic human lives for money, creating win-win situations for everyone but the victim, who is declared to be a gunned down terrorist. This quote from the confession makes the situation chillingly clear -
Militancy at any cost must be kept alive, even if it is on life support. You see the entire architecture of corruption and promotion will collapse if there is peace.
It is a bitter and dismal realisation to arrive at, since the army has always been lauded to be the most honourable and upright institution in the country, and more so when one has been a part of the institution, even if in a small way.
While this book had a significant impact on me, I give it 2 stars because I felt it could have been better written and documented. The writing felt rushed and amateur, especially in the confession chapters which read like direct transcriptions of the conversations, and which I feel could have been more nuanced and better written. The confessional narrative sort of digresses into various anecdotes and incidents and the author could have structured those better instead of just putting them down like they were told. References to certain incidents are easily traceable online and it would have been good if those were substantiated with evidence that is publicly available, and also lend credibility to the officer's claims.
In any case, it is still a book worth reading once, to be mindful of some of the bitter realities of one of the most celebrated institutions of the country.
Having grown up as an army kid myself, the details in the article were not only disturbing, but also unbelievable, and I certainly wanted to know more.
The book succeeds in making the reader understand the reality and existence of these staged encounters, and also explains why they take place. It describes how the "system" is wired to compel some individuals to resort to desperate measures to justify their existence or demonstrate their effectiveness. In shocking detail it relates how promotions, citations and awards are linked to body counts for those serving in these delicate areas, and how numerous innocent and unsuspecting lives have been lost in a bid to have the numbers add up.
Most do not succumb to this pressure, but some have and do, and this book is about those few...
The book also delivers perspective on the grey areas of military presence in Kashmir and the North East and why the conflict never seems to end. The army isn't the lone perpetrator here - there is a well oiled organised mafia involving the local police and militant groups that traffic human lives for money, creating win-win situations for everyone but the victim, who is declared to be a gunned down terrorist. This quote from the confession makes the situation chillingly clear -
Militancy at any cost must be kept alive, even if it is on life support. You see the entire architecture of corruption and promotion will collapse if there is peace.
It is a bitter and dismal realisation to arrive at, since the army has always been lauded to be the most honourable and upright institution in the country, and more so when one has been a part of the institution, even if in a small way.
While this book had a significant impact on me, I give it 2 stars because I felt it could have been better written and documented. The writing felt rushed and amateur, especially in the confession chapters which read like direct transcriptions of the conversations, and which I feel could have been more nuanced and better written. The confessional narrative sort of digresses into various anecdotes and incidents and the author could have structured those better instead of just putting them down like they were told. References to certain incidents are easily traceable online and it would have been good if those were substantiated with evidence that is publicly available, and also lend credibility to the officer's claims.
In any case, it is still a book worth reading once, to be mindful of some of the bitter realities of one of the most celebrated institutions of the country.
November 1, 2016
This, unfortunately, coincides with another false encounter of 8 undertrial persons from Students Islamic Movement of India. They were winning the case in court, and they were dragged out and shot point blank in cold blood. In a country where an undertrial is a convict and a convict is a terrorist, we can all be terrorists.
What if I told you that more than half of the Indian army officers who served as CO in the Assam, Manipur and Nagaland have killed innocents in cold blood?
Confessions Of A Staged Encounter is exactly that – confessions of a former colonel in the Indian Army who served in Manipur and Assam. It is a terribly written book – not for a skeptic, at times preachy, often inconsiderate and sometimes revolting in tone, but backed by hard attested facts wherever possible without disclosure, and otherwise written in faith – good or bad, no one can really know.
It is also the most terrifying book I have read in my life – even though it told me nothing new. When I finished reading it, I wept for fifteen minutes. Making a regular Kissinger consumer weep must requires some rather special evil, I dared think.
But no. In the end, every act of killing was performed with indifference, by people who went back to their army/police/paramilitary quarters and maybe played with their children or cuddled with their spouse or petted their dogs before retiring to bed.
Evil is banal. We are much closer to monstrosity than I once believed. It could have been me pulling a trigger of a gun pointed at an innocent. And it would not have bothered me the least bit. Why would it, when it did not bother men and women who swore to protect the citizens of this country and uphold their rights?
The uniformed bunch like to complain, ironically, about how much the new-gen millennial complains, and how she/he is somehow deficient in character, or has no idea about the real world.
That last part I agree with. Us in our hip clothes with our pointlessly expensive coffees and concert memorabilia and existential memes think we know nihilism.
We think we know how to not giving a fuck.
We are wrong. Thank God we are wrong.
For the first time ever, I abhor nihilism.
In the north-east, the red belts and Kashmir, there are literal killing fields.
But why would a commanding officer kill a civilian?
Because if he/she does not, he/she is a FUDDU. He’s holding back not just his own career, but the career of every single soldier in the battalion. It’s not greed - It’s pressure.
In the army, everything is recorded. Your apprehensions. Your kills. That’s how one gets citations. And in a zone where insurgency is dealt with sporadic uncoordinated action instead of careful long term strategy, there should ideally be plenty of dangerous fish to hunt.
Except there really is no strong mechanism to hunt that fish. And thus, a much more convenient and much more horrific system of creating the fish to be hunted yourself.
Every ‘pick’ needs something to incriminate the killed. An AK costs anything between Rs. 70000 and 3 lakh. Where would the CO get the money?
The most secret document in the Indian army is the MI Fund – Military Intelligence Fund.
The second most secret document is the Annual Confidential Report.
The reward for a single kill is only Rs. 30000. So where else would the army find money?
By the time ‘salani maas’ (fishery fish) is carried from Andhra to Assam, a single truck pays more or less Rs. 20000 across several checkgates. More than half the checkgates are in Assam, stretching from Barpeta to Sibsagar. Many such gates are controlled by mafias. And many such gates are within AFSPA jurisdiction – under Assam Rifles and the Indian Army.
From timber, ivory and rhino-horn smuggling in Assam, coal smuggling in Meghalaya and drugs and gunrunning in Manipur, members of the Indian army have their hands deep in black pockets. And when the time comes, they go ‘shopping’ for illegal guns and bombs.
And fish.
If you have no immediate family, if you were ever convicted of a crime, if you are a surrendered militant, if you were supposed to be in jail but were let go early for good behaviour, if you are an illegal Bangladeshi with no one to recognize you in India, you are in their books.
And when the watchmen are one victim short, each officer bids on you, then they pick you up and kill you, just in time for points to be added to the battalion in the ACR before submission.
They actually use the word “shopping”.
These are stories of Major D Sreeram Kumar, an officer decorated with an Ashok Chakra and a tally of more than 50 extra-judicial picks – of a certain brigadier Gulati, who ended up having such good relations with timber smugglers in Assam that he extended their network to Kashmiri smugglers when he was posted there – another officer who was so deeply involved that he was refused a US visa because FBI knew about his deeds – another who made more than Rs 500 crore as an MGO – a sikh police officer in Rangiya who picked up ragpickers to be sold to bidders – SP Dutta of Assam Police and his failed attempt to kill Ananta Kalita – of another officer Kumar who used to be offered wives of JCOs and NCOs to connect them to ‘service providers’- and numerous other respected and decorated uniformed officers whose conspicuous ‘joint operations’ of police, army and paramilitary are responsible for further perpetuating the cycle of oppression and murderous retaliation in India’s contested territories.
These are also the stories of the SPOs and Ikhwans in Kashmir, the Koya commandos in Bastar, the Greyhounds in Chhattisgarh, the Salwa Judum in Jharkhand, the KLP in Manipur, the SULFA in Assam and the NSCN in Nagaland whose staged surrenders are captured gloriously in our morning newspapers again and again without question, and whose double agents are interfaces for the army to the criminal world.
These are yet again stories of Indira Gandhi, Dev Kanta Baruah, S S Ray, K P S Gill, T Muivah, Ibobi Singh, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, and other powerplayers whose politics waded the waters of Indian defense and public order into a whirlpool of corruption, indifference and impunity.
Lastly, these are the stories of Chongkham Sanjit, Abdul Rasheed Wagay, Thongjam Manorama, Ananta Kalita, Shaukat Khan, the Ganderbal victims, the Malom victims, the Machil victims, the Kunan Poshpora victims, the Kangla victims, Khumbongmajum Orsonjit, Elangbam Kiranjit, Chongtham Umakanta, Akoijam Priyobata, Nameirakpam Nobo, Lalnghaisan, Anupam Nath, Khagen Barman, and more than 50,000 others in India who were either killed or disappeared by the armed forces.
What if I told you that more than half of the Indian army officers who served as CO in the Assam, Manipur and Nagaland have killed innocents in cold blood?
Confessions Of A Staged Encounter is exactly that – confessions of a former colonel in the Indian Army who served in Manipur and Assam. It is a terribly written book – not for a skeptic, at times preachy, often inconsiderate and sometimes revolting in tone, but backed by hard attested facts wherever possible without disclosure, and otherwise written in faith – good or bad, no one can really know.
It is also the most terrifying book I have read in my life – even though it told me nothing new. When I finished reading it, I wept for fifteen minutes. Making a regular Kissinger consumer weep must requires some rather special evil, I dared think.
But no. In the end, every act of killing was performed with indifference, by people who went back to their army/police/paramilitary quarters and maybe played with their children or cuddled with their spouse or petted their dogs before retiring to bed.
Evil is banal. We are much closer to monstrosity than I once believed. It could have been me pulling a trigger of a gun pointed at an innocent. And it would not have bothered me the least bit. Why would it, when it did not bother men and women who swore to protect the citizens of this country and uphold their rights?
The uniformed bunch like to complain, ironically, about how much the new-gen millennial complains, and how she/he is somehow deficient in character, or has no idea about the real world.
That last part I agree with. Us in our hip clothes with our pointlessly expensive coffees and concert memorabilia and existential memes think we know nihilism.
We think we know how to not giving a fuck.
We are wrong. Thank God we are wrong.
For the first time ever, I abhor nihilism.
In the north-east, the red belts and Kashmir, there are literal killing fields.
But why would a commanding officer kill a civilian?
Because if he/she does not, he/she is a FUDDU. He’s holding back not just his own career, but the career of every single soldier in the battalion. It’s not greed - It’s pressure.
In the army, everything is recorded. Your apprehensions. Your kills. That’s how one gets citations. And in a zone where insurgency is dealt with sporadic uncoordinated action instead of careful long term strategy, there should ideally be plenty of dangerous fish to hunt.
Except there really is no strong mechanism to hunt that fish. And thus, a much more convenient and much more horrific system of creating the fish to be hunted yourself.
Every ‘pick’ needs something to incriminate the killed. An AK costs anything between Rs. 70000 and 3 lakh. Where would the CO get the money?
The most secret document in the Indian army is the MI Fund – Military Intelligence Fund.
The second most secret document is the Annual Confidential Report.
The reward for a single kill is only Rs. 30000. So where else would the army find money?
By the time ‘salani maas’ (fishery fish) is carried from Andhra to Assam, a single truck pays more or less Rs. 20000 across several checkgates. More than half the checkgates are in Assam, stretching from Barpeta to Sibsagar. Many such gates are controlled by mafias. And many such gates are within AFSPA jurisdiction – under Assam Rifles and the Indian Army.
From timber, ivory and rhino-horn smuggling in Assam, coal smuggling in Meghalaya and drugs and gunrunning in Manipur, members of the Indian army have their hands deep in black pockets. And when the time comes, they go ‘shopping’ for illegal guns and bombs.
And fish.
If you have no immediate family, if you were ever convicted of a crime, if you are a surrendered militant, if you were supposed to be in jail but were let go early for good behaviour, if you are an illegal Bangladeshi with no one to recognize you in India, you are in their books.
And when the watchmen are one victim short, each officer bids on you, then they pick you up and kill you, just in time for points to be added to the battalion in the ACR before submission.
They actually use the word “shopping”.
These are stories of Major D Sreeram Kumar, an officer decorated with an Ashok Chakra and a tally of more than 50 extra-judicial picks – of a certain brigadier Gulati, who ended up having such good relations with timber smugglers in Assam that he extended their network to Kashmiri smugglers when he was posted there – another officer who was so deeply involved that he was refused a US visa because FBI knew about his deeds – another who made more than Rs 500 crore as an MGO – a sikh police officer in Rangiya who picked up ragpickers to be sold to bidders – SP Dutta of Assam Police and his failed attempt to kill Ananta Kalita – of another officer Kumar who used to be offered wives of JCOs and NCOs to connect them to ‘service providers’- and numerous other respected and decorated uniformed officers whose conspicuous ‘joint operations’ of police, army and paramilitary are responsible for further perpetuating the cycle of oppression and murderous retaliation in India’s contested territories.
These are also the stories of the SPOs and Ikhwans in Kashmir, the Koya commandos in Bastar, the Greyhounds in Chhattisgarh, the Salwa Judum in Jharkhand, the KLP in Manipur, the SULFA in Assam and the NSCN in Nagaland whose staged surrenders are captured gloriously in our morning newspapers again and again without question, and whose double agents are interfaces for the army to the criminal world.
These are yet again stories of Indira Gandhi, Dev Kanta Baruah, S S Ray, K P S Gill, T Muivah, Ibobi Singh, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, and other powerplayers whose politics waded the waters of Indian defense and public order into a whirlpool of corruption, indifference and impunity.
Lastly, these are the stories of Chongkham Sanjit, Abdul Rasheed Wagay, Thongjam Manorama, Ananta Kalita, Shaukat Khan, the Ganderbal victims, the Malom victims, the Machil victims, the Kunan Poshpora victims, the Kangla victims, Khumbongmajum Orsonjit, Elangbam Kiranjit, Chongtham Umakanta, Akoijam Priyobata, Nameirakpam Nobo, Lalnghaisan, Anupam Nath, Khagen Barman, and more than 50,000 others in India who were either killed or disappeared by the armed forces.
November 23, 2020
Brilliant book . Insider account of 'encounter industry' in 'unstable' areas of our country. This book is short (~200 pages), crisp and to the point , picks up the pace from chapter 4 and it's difficult to put down from there .
A large part of the book is based on confessions of a senior army officer ( Huge respect for him because he has taken huge risk by educating/informing us) . Book explains in devilish detail the nitty-gritty of staged encounters . Who the victims generally are , how are they supplied , who supplies them , why army officers stage encounters , the funds , the scale etc . Invaluable information gold-mine.
The central take-away of the book , it's not the individuals but the demand of fluid-situations or case of mistaken identity that encounters are staged , it's also how the institution wants one to behave . It awards the conformist , protects the guilty when caught and harasses those who don't follow the status-quo.
A large part of the book is based on confessions of a senior army officer ( Huge respect for him because he has taken huge risk by educating/informing us) . Book explains in devilish detail the nitty-gritty of staged encounters . Who the victims generally are , how are they supplied , who supplies them , why army officers stage encounters , the funds , the scale etc . Invaluable information gold-mine.
The central take-away of the book , it's not the individuals but the demand of fluid-situations or case of mistaken identity that encounters are staged , it's also how the institution wants one to behave . It awards the conformist , protects the guilty when caught and harasses those who don't follow the status-quo.
December 4, 2021
The book elaborates the pathology of fake and staged encounters ,the circumstances under which these killings take place and the complicity of the state machinery. It narrates the reality of an Indian democratic state whose agents arbitrarily kidnap ,torture, rape and kill for personal benefit or gratification and are given immunity for doing so under laws like AFSPA. The sheer volume and horror of the stories is numbing and terrifying in every detail nonetheless.
April 19, 2016
This book is an eye opener on the rut that is the Indian armed forces, AFSPA and the internal strife with different groups. As revered as the Indian army is, they are not immune to the corruption and apathy that is so prevalent in the rest of polity and bureaucracy. Without taking any names or pointing fingers, the book does a good job at making the reader aware of the true picture and the compulsions behind them.
Regarding the book, it seemed like a one person narrative most of the time and could do well to have few other narratives. But it does well in not being too judgmental about the topic.
Regarding the book, it seemed like a one person narrative most of the time and could do well to have few other narratives. But it does well in not being too judgmental about the topic.
December 1, 2015
A disturbing account of excesses committed by the Indian army in the conflict area of North East. An eye opening book which will shake you to your core.
Great effort and courage by the writer to undertake such a project. I could've given 5* but something bothers me. Maybe its authenticity (though I believe the book to be true in many places), being one side of the story...
Still its a brilliant work and worth spending time and energy upon.
Great effort and courage by the writer to undertake such a project. I could've given 5* but something bothers me. Maybe its authenticity (though I believe the book to be true in many places), being one side of the story...
Still its a brilliant work and worth spending time and energy upon.
June 13, 2020
After reading Many Faces of Kashmiri Nationalism, by Nandita Haksar, I’ve grown interested in the insurgency and Militancy. While browsing amazon books section, I found a perfect catchy title for my hunger for knowledge.
Being an army enthusiast, this book had put me in a state where I can’t digest some of the information put by the author. The book cover itself puts a disturbing image which takes you the level where you certainly want to start reading it. The author succeeded in differentiating the reality and the image put up by people on encounters. This book explains the reality and the existence of an inhumane way of encounters and secret killings, and also why they happen and how.
Some of the lines in this book make readers question the integrity of the institution which is considered as the holy. Like this one,
Militancy at any cost must be kept alive, even if it is on life support. You see the entire architecture of corruption and promotion will collapse if there is peace.
This book delivers the perspective on the dark side of the force and presence of the army in Kashmir and the North East. The army is not the only perpetrator, the police and the ex-militants; where everyone is a winner except for the poor innocent lives which are being sold like livestock.
…Lend him a live victim. (page 3)
Overall, this book is an eye-opener and it surely changes the way you look at things when comes to the reports on deaths of militants. One should read it to dampen his/her overly irrational nationalist ego and the unquestionable army-police thou-saviours pride. The book doesn't generalize or speak against the entire army/state police - but rather it speaks for the innocent lives lost when certain state protectors create havoc and institutionalize the sustenance of menace in Northeast.
Being an army enthusiast, this book had put me in a state where I can’t digest some of the information put by the author. The book cover itself puts a disturbing image which takes you the level where you certainly want to start reading it. The author succeeded in differentiating the reality and the image put up by people on encounters. This book explains the reality and the existence of an inhumane way of encounters and secret killings, and also why they happen and how.
Some of the lines in this book make readers question the integrity of the institution which is considered as the holy. Like this one,
Militancy at any cost must be kept alive, even if it is on life support. You see the entire architecture of corruption and promotion will collapse if there is peace.
This book delivers the perspective on the dark side of the force and presence of the army in Kashmir and the North East. The army is not the only perpetrator, the police and the ex-militants; where everyone is a winner except for the poor innocent lives which are being sold like livestock.
…Lend him a live victim. (page 3)
Overall, this book is an eye-opener and it surely changes the way you look at things when comes to the reports on deaths of militants. One should read it to dampen his/her overly irrational nationalist ego and the unquestionable army-police thou-saviours pride. The book doesn't generalize or speak against the entire army/state police - but rather it speaks for the innocent lives lost when certain state protectors create havoc and institutionalize the sustenance of menace in Northeast.
August 16, 2017
A must read for those having critical opinion on J&K & NER
The book presents a chilling account of various state sponsored atrocities conducted in different conflict areas of India. However the flow could have been better structured. Still a very good read for those who have a critical opinion on activities (including but not limiting to human rights abuses, drug/arms smuggling, human trafficking etc.) being performed in conflict areas in the name of National interest.
The book presents a chilling account of various state sponsored atrocities conducted in different conflict areas of India. However the flow could have been better structured. Still a very good read for those who have a critical opinion on activities (including but not limiting to human rights abuses, drug/arms smuggling, human trafficking etc.) being performed in conflict areas in the name of National interest.
Want to read
December 8, 2019This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2016
If this book is true then I have lost lot of respect for our Army who are getting involved in such acts. I dont think 99% of the people outside Northeast would even know or understand what the people in those states are going through. This book is a definte read for everyone to know and understand the atrocities that are going on in Northeast.
May 28, 2017
Every page i turned, I was literally praying to make all this fictious. Nerve chilling account made by a brave journalist. Many a times, I literally closed the book for few moments to let it sync in. Must read. It will indeed turn your world upside down.
Read
October 12, 2020I would recommend this book, particularly for those who write about (or want to write about) or have opinions about internal security matters.
November 18, 2020
Ready to enter into a thrilling world of nerve wracking politics? Don't waste your time & go for this book. And Indians, you should know what your administration always kept hidden.
July 16, 2022
Armies serving the nation ? Come out of this slumber and read this book based on real incidents about armed forces.
Must read for every Indian.
Must read for every Indian.
February 14, 2016
We live in times where in the name of maintaining territorial integrity the worst kind of crimes have been committed shrouded under a veil of patriotism. This Book is a devastating critique of what happens when the law is suspended in order to maintain order, quoting extensively right from the emergency to the MISA to the AFSPA, this book takes us through a meandering journey of India's gory past and the enormous abuses of power that have been committed by the police, para military and army. It is often taught to us that the army is the most disciplined force that we have, but that is a version that would be demolished once you are done with this book. The fact that presence of the army has worsened situations across the north eastern region in India and has become a posting for self enrichment and corruption is not only worrying, it is terrifying as there is no recourse to justice for those who have been wronged. As Hannah Arendt says, violence is the opposite of power and is never legitimate and acts like AFSPA prolong the illegitimacy of these rabid state agencies.
January 22, 2016
Must read! The reality of North Eastern states which is under the draconian law of AFSPA is not portrayed truthfully in Indian cinema and media. All the stories heard about NE states was sugar coated about the so called heroism of so called army. But guys the ground reality is far far different.
I am sure the so called "mainstream" wont be ready to discuss this book because, so many "holy cows" will be shattered. So i am recommending this books to those truth seeking people who have the courage to swim against the stream.
Literally, i felt afraid after reading this book to live in such a country!
I am sure the so called "mainstream" wont be ready to discuss this book because, so many "holy cows" will be shattered. So i am recommending this books to those truth seeking people who have the courage to swim against the stream.
Literally, i felt afraid after reading this book to live in such a country!
January 24, 2016
This is an important book. Atrocities committed against innocent civilians must be accounted for. Deeply disturbing that there is no repercussions for committing such crimes.
I would have liked to see the newspaper report of the encounters being added to the narrative along with the army officers account of the events.
I would have liked to see the newspaper report of the encounters being added to the narrative along with the army officers account of the events.
July 22, 2016
Absolutely chilling!
One should read it to dampen his/her overly irrational nationalist ego and the unquestionable army-police thou-saviors pride. The book doesn't generalize or speak against the entire army/state police - but rather it speaks for the innocent lives lost when certain state protectors create an havoc and institutionalize the sustenance of menace in North east.
One should read it to dampen his/her overly irrational nationalist ego and the unquestionable army-police thou-saviors pride. The book doesn't generalize or speak against the entire army/state police - but rather it speaks for the innocent lives lost when certain state protectors create an havoc and institutionalize the sustenance of menace in North east.
August 7, 2016
Actually, this book scared the shit out of me. A revelation on how the (corrupted) army works.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews