By TFL Mawlong
The recent killing by the army is yet another example of the horror of inhumanity. Regardless of the context, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has been responsible for the majority of the most inhumane episodes in modern Indian history. There’s a stark similarity between the inhumane activities of the Armed Forces under the AFSPA for decades now and those at the concentration camps of the Nazis in Germany. During World War II, 6 million Jews were persecuted and murdered in death factories, the most notorious of which were the Auschwitz concentration camps. Here, Jews were held captive, robbed of their dignity and lives by another group who thought themselves superior. This inhumane concentration camps incident stands as a testament to what happens when ‘human beings’ fail to be ‘humane beings.
Looking through the same lens, there have been numerous reports of rape, extortion, and molestation under the AFSPA in the N-E region, in addition to roughly 2000 brutal encounter killings by the Armed Forces since 1979. The regions under AFSPA are, in so far as ‘inhumaneness’ is a concern, the modern concentration camps, albeit with a new face, more subtle, for a new reason, new context and in a democratic country.
Despite mounting evidence of the AFSPA’s dangers, our leaders and governments have failed to devise an alternative solution. The Indian government continues to operate this colonial repressive machinery first promulgated by Lord Linlithgow in response to a massive scale of violence across the country during the Quit India Movement in 1942. This is callousness and an utter lack of imagination. While such draconian laws are not found only in India in modern times, but the horrendous activities in N-E and J & K under AFSPA beats even the US Patriot Law in the USA. Whether it is World War II-era or the 21st-century world if we are giving them a license to do anything how can we check the affinity of the Armed Forces towards perpetrating evil? We can’t!
History demonstrates that the most remarkable achievements of humans have occurred when humanness and humaneness combine in optimal proportion. Scientific achievements such as atom-splitting, space travel, landing on the moon, and deciphering the genetic code of life itself are desirable when they are restricted to ethical and humane use. We have physical laws that govern how electrons are transmitted through power lines and how much energy is released when a one-kilogram Uranium-235 burns. These fundamental laws bestow enormous but terrifying power on humans. The only thing that keeps humans from self destruction is the ‘humaneness’ factor.
This is what we need. As with everything else, AFSPA should be able to ensure humaneness, to some degree at least. The license to do anything under this repressive act, intended to be a cure for separatist tendencies and insurgencies, should no longer be overlooked. True, the government genuinely requires tools such as the AFSPA to combat insurgencies, but nothing is above humanism. We must do better, be more imaginative, and strive for humaneness as a matter of survival. If we are imaginative enough to check the killing spree of the invisible viruses, it should be easy to devise a humane version of AFSPA if we have the political will to do so. We can start by accepting that even under exceptional acts such as AFSPA, ethical behaviour should no longer be optional.
Solving the North-East’s problems requires unwavering ‘political will,’ as well as ‘statesmanship’ and pragmatism of the highest order from those in charge of the country’s affairs. However, we have been unlucky in this regard. North-East politics are devoid of a consistent political ideology and data-driven strategies. We define our political leaders by their ‘antics,’ rather than their ‘visions’ and ‘ideas.’ And our political parties have been crippled by defections, party-splits, shifting alliances, and a lack of class. Little wonder then, that, 75 years of independence did not give birth to modern and matured politics in N-E. Rather, the N-E region has birthed its mediocre and primordial politics. Will our political parties please redefine N-E politics!
Furthermore, far too many administrative and law enforcement officers and businessmen in India are unconcerned about tribal dynamics, ethos, and psyche. As a result, tribal areas and tribal states are experiencing more governance failure and backwardness. The N-E region requires more local IAS and IPS, and brilliant academicians and entrepreneurs. Perhaps this necessitates the implementation of progressive reforms in our schools and colleges, beginning with the examination system, and purging the rottenness out of our classroom teachings. It’s hard but where there’s a will, there’s a way!
A psychological divide between the people of the North-Eastern states and the rest of India should also be addressed. Generally speaking, there is a strong sense of neglect and alienation among N-E tribals. As a result, anti-national sentiment is rife throughout the region. Since the low Human Development Index (HDI) in N-E states is one of the key factors that creates a psychological divide, the key to subside this feeling of alienation lies in human-centered economic development, improving educational outcomes, and expanding economic opportunities. The central government’s ‘stay aloof policy,’ which is largely to blame for the region’s socio-economic stagnation, must end. Furthermore, the N-E states should reconsider their ill-conceived development strategy, which has failed to link resource mobilization and developmental investment policies to the region’s structural specificities.
If fundamentals are not strengthened, the continued imposition of draconian legislation such as AFSPA will only aggravate the disillusionment. As the AFSPA becomes more abusive, human rights violations increase, and it may draw more young people to militant organizations. The cycle of violence persists. After all, ‘to every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction’ (Newton’s third law of motion).
There is a strong case against the continuation of AFSPA. However, if repealing AFSPA in those regions is premature at this time, the government should be more imaginative and make necessary amendments to the act so as to prevent any excesses from occurring. After all, the legislation is not written in stone. If we want citizens to be humane and more law-abiding, the Act should at the very least ensure some level of humaneness.
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