Confessions of an encounter specialist : A book by Kishalay B
Source: The Sangai Express / Ninglun Hanghal
New Delhi, September 24 2015:
An army officer splits open the anatomy of staged encounters in India's North East and Jammu & Kashmir, exposing the culture of killing with impunity in the new book, "Blood on My Hands- Confessions of Staged Encounters" by Kishalay Bhattacharjee, senior journalist and author of "Che in Paona Bazaar" .
The book is an essay on encounters in West Bengal, Punjab, Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram and a postscript � where bureaucrats and diplomats speak on record about the hidden policy of extrajudicial killings and how it threatens India's democracy.
A searing confession, the book is an explosive document on institutionalized human rights abuse.
A line in the book read "In Manipur, there was a GOC who found he was lagging behind by two kills.
He and I know this for a fact: he called up his juniors, telling them to get him three kills.
That night, three persons were killed".
Another line read " If you are part of the system, you can prosper.
If you are trying to do a good job, you may be ostracized" .
"Blood on My Hands" also explains, shockingly, how awards and citations are linked to a body count.
On the other side of the brutality, Kishalay Bhattacharjee also recounts in his book how the "confessor" speaks of the toll that this brutality has taken on him.
Speaking to The Sangai Express, Bhattacharjee , who has long experience of reporting conflict in North East India said, "It took around five months to write the book, though I had a lot of background information and materials from my long years of reporting such encounters" .
On being asked what has been his own feeling with the 'background information' and the chilling revelation, Bhattacharjee said, "It is a lonely exercise, to write this (book) has been disturbing and it did affect me" .
According to Bhattacharjee, the "confessor" wanted a "closure" and reposed faith in him.
Recounting his 'encounters' with his subject, Bhattacharjee, said "my interaction with him has been excellent and he cooperated all along" .
Manipur, Bhattacharjee observed is in a terrible shape in terms of governance.
He said "with the country's lowest conviction rate and a corrupt police administration, the civil-police relation is very unhealthy and that spikes the cases of such encounters" .
Further the journalist - author adds "Ethnic divides in Manipur are expected to deepen" .
Published by Harper Collins and priced at Rs 250, the book is scheduled to be released on Saturday in New Delhi.