40. Akhila Raman´s definition of ´renegade´

Let us go back to Sean Macbride the Irish nationalist, who distanced himself from the IRA of which he was an important member, and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. If we were to judge Sean Macbride by Akhila´s opinion of those who give up terrorism, then Sean Macbride qualifies to be called a ´renegade´.

         The phenomenon of renegade militants has been extensively documented by Human Rights Watch. Renegades are former militants who have surrendered and changed sides to the Indian forces. Since the 1989 insurgency in Kashmir, renegades have been used for extrajudicial executions of militants (besides human right activists, journalists and other civilians) and later conveniently dismissed as ´inter-group rivalries´. Many of these groups have been responsible for grave human rights abuses, including summary executions, torture, and illegal detention as well as election-related intimidation of voters. They are never arrested or prosecuted and go scot-free.

         In 1 9 9 7 , an estimated 5 , 0 0 0 renegades were reportedly ´rehabilitated´ as Special Police Officers (SPOs) in the State Police and many others were absorbed in the security forces. The present number of renegade militants continues to be significant and the estimates vary. In 1999, Gurbachan Jagat acknowledged that there were 1,200 renegades in the payroll of New Delhi; According to a renegade representative Javed Shah, the number of renegades exceeded 2,000; Renegades remain a dreaded group.