29-03-2012, 11:55 AM
India’s Internal Security Challenges
SECURITY CONCERN.pdf (Size: 98.51 KB / Downloads: 68)
The management of internal security, therefore, assumes great
importance. If the internal security issues are tackled effectively, subversion
by the external forces to that extent becomes more difficult. Unfortunately,
the rise of contentious politics based on sectarian, ethnic, linguistic or other
divisive criteria, is primarily responsible for the many communal and
secessionist movements flourishing in India. The presence of hostile
neighbours enables the internal conflicts to get external support, which
includes money, arms and sanctuaries. The vested interests exploit these
conditions to pursue their own agenda.
In a well-established political system and a developed economy, conflicts
between the various group identities are kept under check as in due course
they get assimilated into the national identity. But that has not happened
in India as yet, where the wounds of the partition and the colonial rule
have still not fully healed. Moreover, the dependence on the government
by a large section of our people for their very survival sharpens these
conflicts among them. The democratic institutions and the state structures
are still not strong enough to fully harmonise these conflicts in a peaceful
manner. Violence erupts when conflicting interests cannot be consensually
reconciled. The hostile external forces, taking advantage of this situation
through subversive propaganda, further accentuate these conflicts. They
give material and ideological support to aggravate this sense of grievance
to such an extent that a small minority are willing to become tools in their
hands to subvert the stability and security of the country.
In addition, a number of secessionist and the so-called revolutionary
movements are operating in India today. Their goal could be to overthrow
the government and bring about revolutionary changes in the structure
and functioning of the state, or even secession from the Indian Union.
Ever since independence, India has been facing all types of violent conflicts
based on religion, caste, language, ethnicity and regional loyalties. Political
insecurity further compounds the problem. Preoccupied with the problem
of survival, the governments in some of the most affected states are not
looking at the problem from a long-term perspective. They have bought
temporary peace by compromising with the subversive forces. Such
shortsighted policies can have disastrous consequences in the long run.
Instead of effectively dealing with them in the initial stages when the
problem is manageable, they have allowed these anti-national forces to
take roots and spread their tentacles far and wide.
North-East
The Naga leadership under Z.A. Phizo had challenged their integration
into the Indian Union even before India became independent in 1947. The
Naga insurgency started way back in the early 1950s. Since then the
insurgencies in this region have multiplied and spread to many new areas.
In this extremely diverse and strategically sensitive region, there are different
reasons for the ethnic upsurges and insurgencies in different states. Some
seek secession from the Indian Union, some others seek separate states and
yet others greater autonomy within the existing state. The number of such
insurgent groups could reach three-digit figures. In Manipur alone, more
than twenty-five groups are operating. Thousands have died in the
insurgency-related violence. Insurgencies have seriously affected the
economic life of the region. The whole developmental process is seriously
hampered because of this unending violence. One can imagine the plight
of the people who are already living on the margin. What to talk of getting
a share of the fruits of development, they are deprived even of the most
basic services. Unfortunately, unlike Jammu & Kashmir, these violent
movements do not stir much response in national consciousness. Even
serious incidents of violence hardly find any mention in the so-called
mainstream media. The geo-strategic importance of the North-East is not
sufficiently appreciated even in the security establishment.
Left Extremism
Making a beginning in Naxalbari in West Bengal and Telengana in
Andhra Pradesh in the 1970s, the movement has since spread to many
states: Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The
root cause for the rise in Left extremism is the inability of the states to
address the many genuine grievances of the people. The gap between the
unrealistic expectations, fuelled by populist rhetoric, and their actual
fulfilment has increased and not decreased over the years. The younger
generation is no longer willing to put up passively with injustice and
humiliation without a fight. The bitterness of the angry young man against
the prevailing unjust socio-economic system is spilling over. The older
generation is not unsympathetic to them.