*Incredible India*
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070418&fname=rajinderpuri&sid=1&pn=2
*Consider the state of the nation. Then consider the political response to
issues that confront it. India does not need miracles. India itself is a
miracle: it survives.*
Rajinder Puri<http://www.outlookindia.com/author.asp?name=Rajinder+Puri>
Consider the state of the nation. Then consider the political response to
issues that confront it. Begin with the north-east. The entire region is
bleeding from separatist insurgencies that started decades ago.
The National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) was founded in 1986. NDFB
seeks a sovereign Bodoland. Within India it has links with the United
Liberation Front (ULFA) which seeks a sovereign Assam. Outside India, NDFB
has links with groups in Myanmar. Among other things, it propagates ethnic
cleansing of Bodo areas.
ULFA was founded in April 1979. It has grown so strong that recently it
could extract obedience from the Assam government over the issue of the
National Games in Guwahati. It is most active in the wealthy tea-growing and
oil-producing areas of Assam. Since 1990 ULFA has been linked to Pakistan's
ISI which has given it arms and training. ULFA leaders receive sanctuary in
Bangladesh. This year, 172 persons have already died in terrorist-related
violence in Assam.
Nagaland has the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) which demands
Naga sovereignty. It was formed in 1980. It is split in two -- NSCN (IM) and
NSCN (K). Both outfits have governments in exile, receive foreign arms, and
raise funds from drugs. In 2007 an estimated 46 people were killed in
Nagaland's terrorism-related violence.
Manipur has two major separatist insurgent groups. The United National
Liberation Front (UNLF) was founded in 1964 and the People's Liberation Army
(PLA) in 1978. Both seek independence for Manipur. The Manipur PLA seeks to
unite the entire north-east under one revolutionary front. This year 99
people were killed in terrorism-related violence in Manipur.
In Meghalaya and Mizoram there are insurgent groups seeking separate
statehood or autonomy. This year insurgent violence resulted in 24 people
killed in both states.
Tripura has two main insurgent groups. The All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)
seeks autonomy for tribals and expulsion of Bengalis from the state. But the
other group, the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), formed in
1989, seeks independent Tripura by armed struggle for liberation from
�Indian neo-colonialism and imperialism�. This year, 14 lives were lost to
terrorism-related violence in Tripura.
To retain the fiction of normalcy in insurgent areas the government for
decades has allowed the army to operate alongside the normal civilian
democratic process. This unnatural arrangement leads inevitably to army
excesses. It alienates the army from citizens. Meanwhile the government's
sporadic negotiations with insurgent groups make no headway. The government
has no clear idea about the least it can accept, or the most it might
concede. This abnormal normalcy has led to political parties colluding with
insurgents for votes. Consequently, extortion and crime have spread.
Insurgent groups have penetrated the government. Last week
*Outlook*reported how Maoists obtained the minutes of a top
secret
meeting<http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070423&fname=Naxal+%28F%29&sid=1>chaired
by the PM.
However, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni announced last week that tourism will
be promoted in the north-east by lifting curbs in restricted areas for
tourists. Will the insurgent groups show restraint in dealing with them? Did
Ms Soni discuss these measures with Home Minister Shivraj Patil before
announcing them? Is Mr Patil in touch with the army and our intelligence
agencies? Is anybody really in charge?
The various Maoist groups have created a Red Corridor across one third of
the districts in India's heartland: their writ runs in the Corridor.
(2 of 2)
This year 178 people have been killed in Maoist-related violence. There is
endemic insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. This year 184 people were killed in
terrorist-related violence in J&K. That is, an estimated 693 people have
already been killed in India�s terrorist-related violence in 2007. All these
figures are taken from the South Asian Terrorism Review, headed by Mr KPS
Gill.
Most insurgent groups, regardless of ideology or stated objectives,
cooperate with each other and with the LTTE of Sri Lanka. Most are known to
have received arms and expertise from Pakistan, sanctuary in Bangladesh and
Myanmar. Authentic official sources have confirmed that in the mid-1990s
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) was aiding and directing Pakistan to
provide arms and training to insurgent groups in India's north-east. Has
China's use of Pakistan as its proxy for destabilizing India ended?
One cannot say. What one can say is that this month the Indian police,
quoting warnings by America's CIA, tightened security for the Dalai Lama.
According to the police, the CIA had warned of an attack by the
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) against the Dalai Lama, directed by a foreign
organization. LeT's links with Al Qaeda, and the latter's links with China's
PLA, have been confirmed in the past. In light of this, one must ask: what
interest can Al Qaeda have in eliminating Dalai Lama unless a Chinese angle
is involved?
And, what is the government doing about Kashmir? It continues discussion
with Pakistan without any idea about its final objective. Simultaneously, it
promotes SAARC in a manner that effectively kills the prospect of an EU-like
South Asian Union ever emerging. It may be recalled that in Europe the NATO
security treaty preceded the European Common Market. In South Asia, Pakistan
and Bangladesh have defence treaties with China which are obviously directed
against India. By allowing China and other powers to enter SAARC as
observers, the government has succeeded merely in consolidating a
billion-plus population market for them to exploit, while India wrestles
with security problems created through SAARC neighbours.
Indian politicians are themselves busy dividing society. The government is
obsessed with caste-based reservation in higher education while it ignores
primary education. On April 10 HRD Minister Arjun Singh conceded that India
was "still quite some distance away" from providing eight years of education
to every child. For votes the government is tearing castes and communities
apart: consider the government's poll-inspired gestures appeasing Muslims,
compounded by the BJP's hate-Muslim policies. This, while the government is
lifting curbs on Special Economic Zones without addressing the concerns of
farmers: they continue to commit suicide.
Governance has collapsed. Law and order have disappeared. Corruption is
rampant. A discredited CBI is wrestling with the Volcker case, the Bofors
case, the Naval War Room case, and the Scorpene Submarine case. All these
cases involve the government itself. And it is happening under a government
with questionable legality. If the flawed Office of Profit Law* *is struck
down by Supreme Court when Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi's petition
challenging it comes up, 50 to 100 MPs could be unseated. The UPA government
could lose its majority. The judgment is expected before the presidential
election in late July. It could rock the system.
India does not need miracles. India itself is a miracle: it survives.
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