A mission mired in controversy

Most Indian troops are concentrated in South and North Kivu districts and are placed near Congo’s border with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Their mandate is to enforce the ceasefire agreement and initiate a “disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration process”.

Almost all Indian soldiers are placed under the Eastern Division of the UN peacekeeping force. Till last month, an Indian Officer, Major General Bikram Singh, was commanding the Eastern Division.

Apart from being India’s largest peacekeeping mission, Congo has also been the most controversial one. India’s peacekeeping record has been impeccable across the world, but in the last two-three years, there have been murmurs that all is not well with Congo.

These allegations were put up to the UN by non-government organisations working in the region on issues like child and human rights. The UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was last year asked to look into the charges and conduct a ground investigation in Congo. The office took up dozens of charges levelled against Indian and Pakistani troops in the regions. This was the first indication that India’s untarnished UN record was under threat.

While some evidences were found indicating Pakistani troops’ involvement in trading ammunition for gold, the Indian troops were absolved of most charges. However, three peacekeepers were indicted for illegally detaining, assaulting and sexually propositioning a local gold dealer.

The OIOS urged India to independently investigate the other charges as they were of a serious nature and could tarnish the image of the country. No action seems to have been taken by India in the direction yet.

Last month, another case came to light where an Indian Colonel was facing a probe for making statements in support of an armed group. The OIOS started investigations against Colonel Chand Saroha, commanding a unit near Goma, for “expressing sympathy” with...