J&K hogs headlines, but here lies the real rub
STATE CRAFT BY HAPPYMON JACOB
The conflict in and on Kashmir tends to dominate the security discourse in India. Many Indians, Pakistanis, Kashmiris and people around the world tend to think that if Kashmir is resolved, then there will be no more issues in India (some even suggest that the Indian state doesn’t want to resolve the Kashmir issue so that it can continue to keep the Indian army engaged; an absurd argument at that). My recent visit to Manipur and Nagaland has dispelled this long-held conviction in me.
Northeast India is to the rest of India what Africa is to the World – far away and forgotten. Both in the cases of Africa and the Northeast, mainlanders witness these peripheral regions sliding into underdevelopment, uncertainty and anarchy. Since nothing much can be done to save them, safeguard the status quo, they believe, so that things do not go out of control. While it may be comparing the incomparable, the message is loud and clear that parts of Northeast India is close to near total collapse – from the points of view of governance, law and order, and development - and still the government policies have not gone beyond mere ad hoc measures aimed at maintaining the status-quo. Even as the governability of the state and governance therein are severely damaged, the parties - the governments both at the Centre and in the states, local politicians, the many Underground Organisations and the narcotics mafia – all seem safe in their comfort zones. The governance and development in these two states have been severely affected by a host of problems: narcotics, insurgency, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. Manipur and Nagaland lie physically next to what is referred to as the “Golden Triangle” comprising Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and the Yunnan Province of China which is World’s most prominent source of illicit heroin and opium. Burmese heroin is transported to Manipur through the border zone of Moreh (an Indian town in Manipur) from the Burmese town Thamu. Alternatively, narcotics also transits through Nagaland. Transit of drugs through these states leads to a) increase in drug addiction (Manipur is estimated to have around has around 50,000 drug addicts), b) local officials make their share of the profit from drug trade and 3) separatists in the two states aid, run or permit drug trade in order to make quick money. Reports suggest that the NSCN (IM), a prominent militant group in the region, controls most of the ganja trade in Manipur and Nagaland. They make sure that the consignment reaches the Assam-Nagaland border. It is interesting to observe that sometimes clashes among various insurgent groups take place not due to any ideological or political reasons, but for the control of routes and areas known for narcotics trade. While on the one hand this means general breakdown of law and order, this also means increased instances of HIV/AIDS in these two states. With hardly any development in the form of industries or other enterprises in these states, drug trade is today a booming business in the Northeast. Along with drug abuse, alcoholism is also becoming a social problem in the northeast. Alcohol is widely available in every nook and corner of the two states despite the fact that both of them are officially declared “dry” states (some call them the “wettest dry” states of the country!).
Insurgency has become the mainstay of politics and all other aspects of life in the Northeast except perhaps in the case of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Not a single day passes without an incident related to insurgency in either Nagaland or Manipur nor are the general population free from the dictates of the insurgents who claim to fight for their liberation. While on the one the one hand, there is functional cooperation among many of these organisations, there are also feuds among many of them. Some of them even maintain links with Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Chinese intelligence agencies, and have bases in Mynamar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Bhutan. Manipur alone has around 15 active insurgent organizations. Over the years, the insurgents have managed to infiltrate into the governing systems of the two states. Locals say that the insurgents not only take a share of their salaries/income from them, they do so directly from the concerned government department. Government servants at all levels are forced to give ‘tax‘ to the underground organizations. The insurgents impose their wishes in the local elections, police recruitment and development initiatives. Local politicians take the help of the insurgents to win elections and the insurgents make sure that their sympathizers are recruited in to the police service. Most industrialists run away from the two states when the insurgents demand a monthly share from them. There is hardly any industry in the state, nor is the state of basic infrastructure like roads and electricity any good. While the government of India is pumping a lot of money into the two states, most of it goes into the pockets of the politicians or local bureaucrats (corruption is so rampant in the two states) and the insurgent groups ask for a “cut” in whatever is left. Hardly anything is left for the actual development of the region.
The government of India thinks that the situation is not yet out of control and that it is too complicated to get into to find a resolution to the issues there; the insurgent organisations have a free hand in the affairs of the two states, and the people are too tired of expecting anything better and so they unwillingly listen to the insurgent groups. The result is a parallel government in Nagaland and Manipur, something not even heard of even in places like Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir may have captured the headlines across the world, but the real Achilles Heel of India is the Northeast.
(Happymon Jacob is Assistant Professor Department of Strategic and Regional Studies, University of Jammu)
STATE CRAFT BY HAPPYMON JACOB
The conflict in and on Kashmir tends to dominate the security discourse in India. Many Indians, Pakistanis, Kashmiris and people around the world tend to think that if Kashmir is resolved, then there will be no more issues in India (some even suggest that the Indian state doesn’t want to resolve the Kashmir issue so that it can continue to keep the Indian army engaged; an absurd argument at that). My recent visit to Manipur and Nagaland has dispelled this long-held conviction in me.
Northeast India is to the rest of India what Africa is to the World – far away and forgotten. Both in the cases of Africa and the Northeast, mainlanders witness these peripheral regions sliding into underdevelopment, uncertainty and anarchy. Since nothing much can be done to save them, safeguard the status quo, they believe, so that things do not go out of control. While it may be comparing the incomparable, the message is loud and clear that parts of Northeast India is close to near total collapse – from the points of view of governance, law and order, and development - and still the government policies have not gone beyond mere ad hoc measures aimed at maintaining the status-quo. Even as the governability of the state and governance therein are severely damaged, the parties - the governments both at the Centre and in the states, local politicians, the many Underground Organisations and the narcotics mafia – all seem safe in their comfort zones. The governance and development in these two states have been severely affected by a host of problems: narcotics, insurgency, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. Manipur and Nagaland lie physically next to what is referred to as the “Golden Triangle” comprising Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and the Yunnan Province of China which is World’s most prominent source of illicit heroin and opium. Burmese heroin is transported to Manipur through the border zone of Moreh (an Indian town in Manipur) from the Burmese town Thamu. Alternatively, narcotics also transits through Nagaland. Transit of drugs through these states leads to a) increase in drug addiction (Manipur is estimated to have around has around 50,000 drug addicts), b) local officials make their share of the profit from drug trade and 3) separatists in the two states aid, run or permit drug trade in order to make quick money. Reports suggest that the NSCN (IM), a prominent militant group in the region, controls most of the ganja trade in Manipur and Nagaland. They make sure that the consignment reaches the Assam-Nagaland border. It is interesting to observe that sometimes clashes among various insurgent groups take place not due to any ideological or political reasons, but for the control of routes and areas known for narcotics trade. While on the one hand this means general breakdown of law and order, this also means increased instances of HIV/AIDS in these two states. With hardly any development in the form of industries or other enterprises in these states, drug trade is today a booming business in the Northeast. Along with drug abuse, alcoholism is also becoming a social problem in the northeast. Alcohol is widely available in every nook and corner of the two states despite the fact that both of them are officially declared “dry” states (some call them the “wettest dry” states of the country!).
Insurgency has become the mainstay of politics and all other aspects of life in the Northeast except perhaps in the case of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. Not a single day passes without an incident related to insurgency in either Nagaland or Manipur nor are the general population free from the dictates of the insurgents who claim to fight for their liberation. While on the one the one hand, there is functional cooperation among many of these organisations, there are also feuds among many of them. Some of them even maintain links with Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Chinese intelligence agencies, and have bases in Mynamar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Bhutan. Manipur alone has around 15 active insurgent organizations. Over the years, the insurgents have managed to infiltrate into the governing systems of the two states. Locals say that the insurgents not only take a share of their salaries/income from them, they do so directly from the concerned government department. Government servants at all levels are forced to give ‘tax‘ to the underground organizations. The insurgents impose their wishes in the local elections, police recruitment and development initiatives. Local politicians take the help of the insurgents to win elections and the insurgents make sure that their sympathizers are recruited in to the police service. Most industrialists run away from the two states when the insurgents demand a monthly share from them. There is hardly any industry in the state, nor is the state of basic infrastructure like roads and electricity any good. While the government of India is pumping a lot of money into the two states, most of it goes into the pockets of the politicians or local bureaucrats (corruption is so rampant in the two states) and the insurgent groups ask for a “cut” in whatever is left. Hardly anything is left for the actual development of the region.
The government of India thinks that the situation is not yet out of control and that it is too complicated to get into to find a resolution to the issues there; the insurgent organisations have a free hand in the affairs of the two states, and the people are too tired of expecting anything better and so they unwillingly listen to the insurgent groups. The result is a parallel government in Nagaland and Manipur, something not even heard of even in places like Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir may have captured the headlines across the world, but the real Achilles Heel of India is the Northeast.
(Happymon Jacob is Assistant Professor Department of Strategic and Regional Studies, University of Jammu)
