HUSSAIN SAQIB
India is the only major country of the world facing a fiercest insurgency of such a scale that nearly half of the country has plunged into instability imperiling the security of the remaining half. As a matter of fact, destabilized India poses grave risks to the peace and security of not only the region, the world at large will be exposed to destabilization. The sheer size of the country, its nuclear arsenal and its uncontrolled ambition to reign in the world makes it even a bigger monster than Al Qaeda and other such entities.
Presently,
seven states of North East India, known as Seven Sisters, and an equal number
of states from North East to South West of the country, known as Red Corridor,
are up in arms against the Union of India. In the North Western State of Jammu
and Kashmir, the independence movement is in full swing considerably eroding
the writ of the government. The independence movements and insurgency in India have
created security problems, not only for India itself, but the entire region of
South Asia. In order to divert public and the world attention from internal
security issues, India has kept itself engaged in reckless arms race and raised
the bogey of external threat, most notably from Pakistan and China, both
nuclear states.
Encircling
Pakistan is a broader and medium-term strategic objective of India’s security
establishment. The long-term objective is to disintegrate Pakistan and annex it
in the Indian Union in line with India’s another strategic objective to
reformulate Akhand Bharat. This is
being achieved through efforts for extending its influence to Pakistan’s
neighboring countries of Iran and Afghanistan. Opening of needless consulates
along Pakistan-Afghanistan border to fund, fan and fuel Taliban and Baloch
insurgency in order to destabilize its archrival is a part of the bigger game
plan. Similarly, building of Chabahar port west of Pakistan’s deep sea port of
Gwadar is an attempt to encircle Pakistan and deny China an energy corridor.
Its extension of its sphere of influence to Indian Ocean and realigning itself
with the states against China to serve American interests on the issue of South
China Sea brings into conflict of a bigger proportion. In order to stop India
from treading this dangerous trajectory, its internal insurgency needs to be
brought under control.
There
are serious tensions between Seven Sisters
namely; Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland
and the Indian government. The movements are generally homegrown and are
separatist movements in character. Assam has been the hotbed of militancy for a
number of years due to its porous borders with Bangladesh
and Bhutan. The
insurgency status in Assam is classified as very active. Insurgent groups in Manipur
may be broadly classified into hill-based and valley based. While the former
demand for tribal state to preserve their tribal cultures from outside
influence, the latter based their demands for independence from historical
perspective claiming that Manipur a princely state with its geographical area
extending to as far as the Kabaw valley of modern Myanmar during the British
colonialism and was never a part of India and continues to remain so. The
situation is no different in other states.
The
Red Corridor is a term used to describe an impoverished region in the
east of India that
experiences considerable Naxalite communist insurgency. These are also areas
that suffer from the greatest illiteracy, poverty and overpopulation in modern
India, and span parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal states. Naxalites have been
declared as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act of India (1967). According to Govt. of India, as of July 2011, 83 districts
(figure includes proposed addition of 20 districts) across nine states are
affected by Left Wing Extremism down from 180 districts in 2009.
The
insurgency in Kashmir has existed in various forms since the
controversial accession of State to Indian Union. Thousands of lives have been
lost since 1989 due to the intensification of both the insurgency and the state
brutalities to curb it. According to official figures released in Jammu and
Kashmir assembly (Indian controlled), there were 3,400 disappearance cases and
the conflict has left more than 47,000 people dead as of July 2009.A widespread
armed insurgency started in Kashmir with the disputed 1987 election with some
elements from the State's assembly forming militant wings which acted as a
catalyst for the emergence of armed insurgency in the region. This region has
been a source of tension and reason for three wars between India and Pakistan
and, after both the states have become nuclear-armed states, it can become a
flashpoint of nuclear showdown.
India's
Northeast consisting of the Seven Sisters is one of South Asia's hottest
trouble spots, not simply because the region has as many as 30 armed insurgent
organizations operating and fighting the Indian state, but because trans-border
linkages that these groups have, and strategic alliances among them, have acted
as force multipliers and have made the conflict dynamics all the more
intricate. With demands of these insurgent groups ranging from secession to
autonomy and the right to self-determination, and a plethora of ethnic groups clamoring
for special rights and the protection of their distinct identity, the region is
bound to be a turbulent one.
Moreover,
the location of the eight northeastern Indian States itself is part of the
reason why it has always been a hotbed of militancy with trans-border
ramifications. This region of 263,000 square kilometers shares highly porous
and sensitive frontiers with China in the North, Myanmar in the East,
Bangladesh in the South West and Bhutan to the North West. The region's
strategic location is underlined by the fact that it shares a 4,500 km-long
international border with its four South Asian neighbors, but is connected to
the Indian mainland by a tenuous 22 km-long land corridor passing through
Siliguri in the eastern State of West Bengal, appropriately described as the
‘Chicken's Neck.'
The
situation in the Red Corridor is no less grave. The first 25 years of the
Naxalite insurgency were characterized by the communist principles on which the
movement was founded. Fighting for land reform, the rebels gained support from
the impoverished rural populations of eastern and central India. The Maoist
rebellion quickly adopted violence and terror as the core instruments of its
struggle against the Indian authority. Primary targets included railway tracks,
post offices, and other state infrastructure, demonstrating the Maoists’
commitment to undermining a central government that they believed exploited low
castes and rural populations. As states and the central government employed
uncoordinated and underfunded responses to the Naxalites, the threat expanded
beyond West Bengal and its neighboring states.
In
2004, the two predominant rebel groups, the Maoist Communist Center (MCC) and
the People’s War Group (PWG), merged together. The resulting Communist Party of
India (Maoist) emerged as a solidified base of power for the Naxalites, with a
stated goal of overthrowing the Indian government. It has developed in its
modern form as a rebellion that comprises up to 40,000 permanent armed cadres
and 100,000 additional militia members.
The
nascent stages of the movement reflected the stark contrast between urbanized
areas of India and the primarily rural, underdeveloped regions of Naxalite
influence. With the Maoist rebels firmly entrenched in geographically remote
areas, Indian government resources remained dedicated to urban security and
development concerns. As India looks increasingly to its east for vital
resources, the conflict continues to expand beyond the principles of its
origin. With a growing population and new development initiatives that require
additional coal-powered electricity sources, India’s urban centers have come
into direct contact with the states most affected by the Naxalite uprising:
West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
and Maharashtra. Containing 85 percent of India’s coal reserves, these states
have presented insurgents with an opportunity both to strike at the heart of
national interests and to seek economic profit of their own.
This
brief description of Indian insurgency shows that India has serious problems
with all its neighboring states who India wants to bully into submission in order
to quell the insurgency. Its problems having potential of triggering regional
wars of nuclear proportions are with Pakistan and China.
In
the interest of global peace, it is essential to break India into smaller
states to thwart the risk of global anarchy and regional wars. The
long-standing demand of Jammu and Kashmir for independence, already accepted by
the world community should be translated into reality. The states of the Red
Corridor may be given autonomy and the Seven Sisters should be accepted as
ethnic and cultural entity for statehood. If India gets rid of these warring
states, it can progress as a vibrant country, it neighbors will have a measure
of safety and security and the world at large will be immune to any disorder
which is staring it in the face at the moment.
what a load of baloney!!! you must have been smoking in your parents' garage for the past 60 years then!
ReplyDeleteHaha... I am from bihar (red corridor) and Bihar is growing 11% per annum since 2005.. haha...
ReplyDeletegood joke! you should write fantasy novels..!
ReplyDeleteVery funny and outdated analysis...Hope you had made some research before publishing such misleading facts about northeast india...am from the region and I can assure you that the region is as peaceful as any other place in the world.true that it has many insurgent groups but 99 per cent people here are proud of being INDIAN...you will never find COMMON people here holding rally against UNION of INDIA..plus most of the insurgent groups are holding ceasefire..leaving aside two or three states, all other have negligible insurgency activities...
ReplyDeleteHow about wiping out Pakistan? In my humble opinion that will also make the world a safer place.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Wake up from your sleep.....Seems like you have lost your head.
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious! Why would our long term objective be annexing Pakistan and absorbing it into the Indian Union when it is almost on the edge of becoming a failed state. Who would want to work so hard on acquiring Pakistan where the economy is in tatters, unemployment is growing, human development index is laughable not to mention the socio economic turmoil and the lack human rights. Your claim makes me laugh. We Indians already have problems of our own (though not as grave as yours), why in the world we be a party to yours by acquiring you and your problems.
ReplyDeleteI shared this with my friends and we all had a good laugh over it. If you would have been around we would have pointed at you and laughed, like the whole world does when it looks at Pakistan.
I now admit Pakistani bloggers are good at atleast something: Making us Laugh!!
India is the last standing state where apartheid is part of their society culture and the religion in majority.
ReplyDeleteOver 300 million Dallits are considered as untouchables.
The only country on earth who have lesser women than men which is causing sexual frustration and instability.
well the question is.. why is pakistan is so concerned for global peace when the whole peace killing terrorism is spread from there only. balkanization of india is seen as way of weakening it by the enemy counrties but in reality none gonna get true, neither balkanization nor the weakening of india.
ReplyDeletewallaa!!..wat a review dude..surely u have got your facts wrong here..and wat words u use.."getting rid of these states".."more dangerous than Al Queda".." india bullying the states" Stop doping and open your eyes..i belong to North East region n trust me there is no insurgency there...thing before you write dude!! u will mislead the future generation n make them even sour!...go back n read the Constitution of India ..understand the grounds on which our leaders have sacrificed their lifes... for making India ONE!!
ReplyDelete