India’s North East and Jammu and Kashmir are not the only militancy afflicted zones. Central India has its share of disaffected people who go by the moniker of “Maoists” and who are fighting for a cause they believe in which is that development has bypassed them just because they are tribals, Dalits and Scheduled Castes. Development in this country has never been uniform. Some states by virtue of their privileged positions, better governance and better resource management have succeeded where others have failed. But while internal rebellions are dealt with by the police in the Left Wing insurgency areas, in North East India and Jammu & Kashmir the army has always been deployed to deal with militancy.
Retired Gen VK Singh currently a parliamentarian and minister stated to the media while he was in uniform that the army would never be used against, “our own people.” Hence even the army which is an important wing of the state views the situation in the North East and J&K from two separate lenses. It would imply that the people in these two frontiers are not “our own people.” Hence different sets of laws need to be applied against them. While there is a case for army deployment in some areas under dispute between India and Pakistan in Kashmir, where the latter uses Indian space for its anti-India offensives, there is no such activity in the North East from powers inimical to India. There cannot be two yardsticks while viewing militancy/insurgency/terrorism. India needs to come clear on these terms too instead of using them to confuse. The army refuses to operate in militancy afflicted areas unless it can make use of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which gives it a blanket cover from ordinary laws. The army says, going into an insurgency affected area without AFSPA is like being sent to war with their hands tied.
AFSPA has turned the North East into one of the most heavily militarised zones of India. At last count there were 627 policemen for every 100,000 citizens in Manipur making it the state with the highest police to citizen ratio and yet in such turmoil. Over and above the police there are about 55,000 army and paramilitary personnel. Hence for every 35 civilians there is one security personnel but militancy and extortion continue to thrive with at least 30 odd insurgent outfits operating in that state. If militarisation of the region has not resulted in any results over three decades in Manipur and seven decades in Nagaland, isn’t it time for the state to think differently? It’s time for draconian laws like AFSPA to be revoked and allow citizens a breathing space.
