War on Terrorism: Address the North-Eastern Concerns
19 Sep, 2001 · 583
Bibhu Prasad Routray empahasis the need to adopt a comprehensive approach towards India's broader security issues in the Northeast
As the world prepares to launch a crusade against terrorism, a country like
India
has to ponder over a point or two before committing itself to the global war. A moment needs to be spared to take a fresh look at the multiple challenges terrorism poses to the various parts of the country, especially in the north-eastern region. The current global movement shows signs of focusing only on the Islamic aspect of terrorism and leaves untouched vast unhighlighted theatres of conflict which account for the loss of hundreds of lives and property.
India
’s northeast region, insurgent outfits such as the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and both factions of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), fighting for independent homelands, have received assistance from the neighbouring countries. The forms of assistance range from supply of arms and ammunition and other logistical support to provision of a safe haven, camping and training facilities. There have been on the record statements, in the Indian parliament, pointing accusing fingers at the role of foreign powers in fermenting trouble in the region.
Pakistan
, in the past, has been accused of promoting Islamic terrorism in the north-eastern States like
Assam
. Even the ULFA continues to have certain linkages with the ISI. Unconfirmed reports in December 2000 suggested that the ULFA commander-in-chief, Paresh Baruah enjoyed the hospitality of the ISI in
Pakistan
after the
Chittagong
shoot out incident earlier that month. The ULFA’s call to all Assamese soldiers fighting in the Kargil war to return home is a pointer towards the deeper understanding the outfit enjoys with the ISI.
Bangladesh
and
Bhutan
, away from the onslaught of the security forces. Cox Bazar in
Bangladesh
has emerged as a major port for supply of illegal arms and ammunition worth crores of rupees to the insurgent outfits of the region. Due to the tense terrain, even an
India
friendly country like
Bhutan
, finds it difficult to remove the camps of ULFA and NDFB from its territory. Thus, there emerges a scenario, where
India
is forced to confront just not a group of insurgent outfits but also of foreign assistance.
Assam
, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura accounted for 1578 lives in the year 2000, in spite of the Union Government’s ongoing peace talks with two prominent outfits such as the NSCN-IM and the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT). While the world’s current focus on ‘smoking the terrorists out of their holes’ genuinely accommodates the Indian concern in Kashmir, what remains unattended is a large area threatened by a conglomerate of divisive and destabilising interests.
India
needs to reorient its policy for a holistic fight that addresses its concerns including those in the north-eastern region. As we commit ourselves not just to address the specificity of the problem but to ‘reach its roots’, focusing only on
Kashmir
and the Islamic aspect of terrorism would only be a halfway approach. Our journey to the roots should take us not only to the terrorist camps of
Pakistan
and
Afghanistan
, but also to
Bangladesh
,
Bhutan
,
China
and
Myanmar
. The need is, thus, to enter into meaningful and durable dialogue with the power elites of the concerned countries for seeking their support for
India
’s integrity. As a follow up the country could plan to introduce legislation at the United Nations to cover all contingencies and threats. The ongoing wave against terrorism would then prevent the State actors from promoting terror.
India
with an opportunity to wipe out the evils of terrorism. While the world can afford to be partisan and to be mired in the anti-Taliban agenda,
India
needs to adopt a comprehensive approach that addresses its broader security concerns.
Brands of insurgency or terrorism, whether actively promoted by foreign powers or clandestinely assisted by the parties having a stake in the destabilisation of the country, have a tendency to cooperate and compliment each other. In
The Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of
The Chinese army has been named by the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, I D Swami to be providing arms to the insurgents of the NSCN-IM. ULFA along with other outfits such as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) operate from the comfort of the camps in
It also needs to be emphasised that the north-eastern states of
In the grand war against terrorism,
A combination of successive events has provided
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