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Archive for category SECESSIONIST MOVEMENTS IN INDIA

India’s Brutal Tactics in Suppressing Separatist Movements By Sajjad Shaukat

India’s Brutal Tactics in Suppressing Separatist Movements

By Sajjad Shaukat

 

A large number of separatist movements in different parts of India are posing a serious threat to Indian federation, as Indian security forces have badly failed in suppressing these movements through brutal tactics.

 

In this respect, Naxalites or Maoists is second major freedom movement after that of the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). Maoists inhabit an area known as the ‘Red Corridor’ that stretches from West Bengal to Karnataka state in the southwest. Indian former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called Maoist insurrection, “the single biggest internal-security challenge”, whereas, Home Secretary G.K Pillai reiterated the magnitude of this threat, saying that the Maoists want to completely overthrow the Indian state by 2050. Tamil Nadu is another area where separatist movements are haunting the Federation of India. However, in many regions of India, separatist movements or wars of liberation continue unabated.

 

In this regard, the seven states of Northeastern India, which are called the ‘Seven Sisters’ are ethnically and linguistically different from rest of the country. These states are rocked by a large number of armed and violent rebellions, some seeking separate states, some fighting for autonomy and others demanding complete independence while keeping the entire region in a state of turmoil. These states include Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. These states accuse New Delhi of apathy towards their issues. Illiteracy, poverty and lack of economic opportunities have fueled the natives’ demand for autonomy and independence.

 

Owing to the political, economic and social injustices, tensions existed between these Northeastern states and the central government as well as amongst their native people and migrants from other parts of India. In late 2013, Indian state governments tried to ease tensions making by promising to raise the living standards of people in these regions. But, in late 2014, tensions again rose, as the Indian rulers launched an atrocious offensive which led to a retaliatory attack on civilians by tribal guerrillas.

 

Since the secessionist movements started in these states, Indian security forces have used various brutal tactics which brought about untold miseries on the people. In one way or the other, these atrocities still continue in these areas of North East India.

 

Undoubtedly, these states have witnessed various forms of India’s state terrorism like crackdowns, illegal detentions, massacre, targeted killings, sieges, burning the houses, torture, disappearances, rapes, breaking the legs, molestation of women and killing of persons through fake encounters.

 

It is notable that in 2015, the then Indian Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh had highlighted his focus to build the capacity of security forces, engaged in fighting uprising and separatism. Indian Central Government finalized the raising of Indian Reserve Police Battalions (IRBPs) in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and Naxal/Maoist hit states or Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Out of the total 25 IRBPs proposed, five were for IOK and 12 for LWE affected states whereas rest of 8, IRBPs for other states. Online reports suggested that IRBPs also include Northeastern states of India.

 

Now, IRBPs have totally failed in suppressing insurgency and separatist movements in various regions of India, including those of the North East.

 

It is mentionable that one of the important causes of the disintegration of the former Soviet Union was that its greater defence expenditure exceeded to the maximum, resulting in economic crises inside the country. In this connection, about a prolonged war in Afghanistan, the former President Gorbachev had declared it as the “bleeding wound.” However, the militarization of the Soviet Union failed in controlling the movements of liberation, launched by various ethnic nationalities which were kept under control through the ruthless force.  While, learning no lesson from New Delhi’s previous close friend, Indian fundamentalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP extremist party is acting upon the similar policies.

 

Instead of redressing the grievances of the people by eliminating injustices against them, Indian Government is depending upon ruthless force to crush these secessionist movements through security forces. Therefore, India’s unrealistic counterinsurgency strategy has badly failed.

 

Nevertheless, poor economic policies, heavy defence spending, neglected social development, growing serpent of radical Hinduism, ancient caste system and divisive/pressure politics are just few triggers of these secessionist movements.

 

India, instead of addressing actual domestic problems and peoples’ genuine grievances also resorts to blaming its neighbours for fueling these movements. In the pretext, New Delhi is also acting upon war-mongering policy against Pakistan and China.

 

It is also speculated that Indian government under the pretext of escalation of tension with China in Doklom region, will increase the number of armed forces in ‘Seven Sister’ regions, as an attempt to neutralize the uprisings there.

 

Again, it is noteworthy that the escalation of centrifugal tendencies, fostering insurgency and separatist movements in India is mainly due to complete failure of the Indian Government to address the root causes. This situation has a potential to lead to a domino effect in the South Asian region, which will be detrimental to regional security and peace.

 

It is of particular attention that Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh who served the BJP for 30 years was expelled from the party for praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) and echoing the pain of the Indian Muslims in his book, “Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence.”

 

While pointing out the BJP’s attitude towards the minorities, Singh wrote: “Every Muslim that lives in India is a loyal Indian…look into the eyes of Indian Muslims and see the pain.” He warned in his book, if such a policy continued, “India could have the third partition.”

In fact, taking cognizance of the separatist movements in India and New Delhi’s use of brutal force through the military in suppressing them, in one way or the other, Jaswant Singh has shown realistic approach in his book.

 

Nonetheless, we can conclude that under the mask of democracy and secularism, Indian subsequent regimes dominated by politicians from the Hindi heartland—Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) have used brutal tactics mercilessly in suppressing the separatist movements in various regions, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Under Modi’s extremist regime, these tactics have openly been employed by the Indian security forces. But, like the former Soviet Union, separatist movements which pose a serious threat to Indian federation, will culminate in the disintegration of the Indian union.

 

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is the author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

 

Email: [email protected]

Additional Readings

  • Khalistan Freedom Movement.

  • Assam Separatist Movements.

  • Dravida Nadu.

  • Indian Occupied Kashmir Liberation Movement

  • Naxalite–Maoist insurgency.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON SECESSIONIST MOVEMENTS IN INDIA

by

Sardar Zafar Mahmud Khan

HERE IS A LIST OF JUST SOME OF THESE SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS;

1. National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)

2. United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS)

3. Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO)

4. Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF)

5. Dima Halim Daogah (DHD)

6. Karbi National Volunteers (KNV)

7. Rabha National Security Force (RNSF)

8. Koch-Rajbongshi Liberation Organisation (KRLO)

9. Hmar People’s Convention- Democracy (HPC-D)

10. Karbi People’s Front (KPF)

11. Tiwa National Revolutionary Force (TNRF)

12. Bircha Commando Force (BCF)

13. Bengali Tiger Force (BTF)
Banner of the UNLF

Banner of the UNLF (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

14. Adivasi Security Force (ASF)

15. All Assam Adivasi Suraksha Samiti (AAASS)

16. Gorkha Tiger Force (GTF)

17. Barak Valley Youth Liberation Front (BVYLF)

18. United Liberation Front of Barak Valley

19. United National Liberation Front (UNLF)

20. People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

21. People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK)

22. The above mentioned three groups now operate from a unified platform,
india kerala boat people

india kerala boat people (Photo credit: FriskoDude)

23. the Manipur People’s Liberation Front (MPLF)

24. Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP)

25. Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL)

26. Manipur Liberation Tiger Army (MLTA)

27. Iripak Kanba Lup (IKL)

28. People’s Republican Army (PRA)

29. Kangleipak Kanba Kanglup (KKK)

30. Kangleipak Liberation Organisation (KLO)

 

31. Revolutionary Joint Committee (RJC)

32. National Socialist Council of Nagaland — Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM)

33. People’s United Liberation Front (PULF)

34. Kuki National Army (KNA)

35. Kuki Revolutionary Army (KRA)

36. Kuki National Organisation (KNO)

37. Kuki Independent Army (KIA)
English: Location of Jammu and Kashmir in India

Kashmiris dont think of themselves as Indians.English: Location of Jammu and Kashmir in India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

38. Kuki Defence Force (KDF)

39. Kuki International Force (KIF)

40. Kuki National Volunteers (KNV)

41. Kuki Liberation Front (KLF)

42. Kuki Security Force (KSF)

43. Kuki Liberation Army (KLA)

44. Kuki Revolutionary Front (KRF)

45. United Kuki Liberation Front (UKLF)

46. Hmar People’s Convention (HPC)

47. Hmar People’s Convention- Democracy (HPC-D)

48. Hmar Revolutionary Front (HRF)

49. Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA)

50. Zomi Revolutionary Volunteers (ZRV)

51. Indigenous People’s Revolutionary Alliance(IRPA)

52. Kom Rem People’s Convention (KRPC)

53. Chin Kuki Revolutionary Front (CKRF)

54. Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC)

55. Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC)

56. People’s Liberation Front of Meghalaya (PLF-M)

57. Hajong United Liberation Army (HULA)

58. National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) – NSCN(IM)

59. National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) – NSCN (K)

60. Naga National Council (Adino) – NNC (Adino)

61. Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)

62. Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF)

63. International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)

64. Khalistan Commando Force (KCF)

65. All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF)

66. Bhindrawala Tigers Force of Khalistan (BTFK)

67. Khalistan Liberation Army (KLA)

68. Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF)

69. Khalistan Armed Force (KAF)

70. Dashmesh Regiment

71. Khalistan Liberation Organisation (KLO)

72. Khalistan National Army (KNA)

73. National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)

74. All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF)

75. Tripura Liberation Organisation Front (TLOF)

76. United Bengali Liberation Front (UBLF)

77. Tripura Tribal Volunteer Force (TTVF)

78. Tripura Armed Tribal Commando Force (TATCF)

79. Tripura Tribal Democratic Force (TTDF)

80. Tripura Tribal Youth Force (TTYF)

81. Tripura Liberation Force (TLF)

82. Tripura Defence Force (TDF)

83. All Tripura Volunteer Force (ATVF)

84. Tribal Commando Force (TCF)

85. Tripura Tribal Youth Force (TTYF)

86. All Tripura Bharat Suraksha Force (ATBSF)

87. Tripura Tribal Action Committee Force (TTACF) Socialist Democratic

88. Front of Tripura (SDFT)

89. All Tripura National Force (ATNF)

90. Tripura Tribal Sengkrak Force (TTSF)

91. Tiger Commando Force (TCF)

92. Tripura Mukti Police (TMP)

93. Tripura Rajya Raksha Bahini (TRRB)

94. Tripura State Volunteers (TSV)

95. Tripura National Democratic Tribal Force (TNDTF)

96. National Militia of Tripura (NMT)

97. All Tripura Bengali Regiment (ATBR)

98. Bangla Mukti Sena (BMS)

99. All Tripura Liberation Organisation (ATLO)

100. Tripura National Army (TNA)

101. Tripura State Volunteers (TSV)

102. Borok National Council of Tripura (BNCT)

103. Mizoram

104. Bru National Liberation Front

105. Hmar People’s Convention- Democracy (HPC-D)

106. Arunachal Pradesh

107. Arunachal Dragon Force (ADF)

108. Left-wing Extremist groups

109. People’s Guerrilla Army

110. People’s War Group

111. Maoist Communist Centre

112. Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)

113. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Janashakti Other Extremist Groups

114. Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT)

 

 

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The velvet rocket : Bodoland And The Separatist Movements Of Northeast India

 Bodoland And The Separatist Movements Of Northeast India

by

JUSTIN AMES 
National Democratic Front of Bodoland

I knew there were a number of separatist movements in India before we arrived. However, it wasn’t until after we’d been there that I realized how intense some of these conflicts are and simply how many of them there are. One estimate we were given indicated that there are over 300 different separatist movements in India, with the overwhelming majority being in the Northeast.

What makes things sporty is that trouble can flare up suddenly and unpredictably. For example, multiple bombings have hit the normally safe cities of Guwahati (2008), Agartala (2008) and Dimapur (2004) and in 2008 communal violence surged in northern Assam between the Bodo people and Bangladeshi immigrants.

It’s interesting because despite all of the killing and bombs going off, the outside world hears relatively little to nothing of these conflicts. For example, just before the Mumbai attack in 2008, a massive bomb was set off in the Northeastern city of Guwahati that killed over 50 people. However, this story never made it beyond the Indian news media, while the Mumbai attack was a huge story since it involved Westerners. Interesting, isn’t it? That state of affairs creates an illusion of calm for the outside world that does not reflect reality.

Now, some of these “separatists” in places like Arunachal Pradesh are really just thugs extorting money from Indians in the area. And as I alluded to above, some of the violence blamed on the separatist groups is, in fact, ethnic violence. Hey, it’s a tribal society and the tribes fight a lot – they always have and probably always will…

Many groups, however, are quite legitimate separatist movements and are quite active. They often set up shadow governments within their spheres of influence that impose taxes, resolve disputes, act as a police force and provide (impose?) many of the other functions of an official government.

It is alleged that China, for larger geopolitical reasons, provides arms and training to the separatist groups as well. I’m not going to burn any sources because I don’t want to get them in trouble, but these allegations about Chinese involvement came from a variety of different individuals – some of whom have firsthand knowledge of this activity. China plays for keeps and there are few cheaper and more effective ways to throw your competitor off their game than by stirring up insurgencies to keep them distracted. This policy of supporting and arming the separatists is consistent with China’s more public policy of supporting and arming the governments of many of its neighbors such as Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Many of the training camps of the separatists are based in Myanmar. Aside from serving as a safe haven, the Chinese are able to provide weapons and training to the groups without actually needing to enter India as it would be rather awkward for Chinese agents to be caught bringing weapons and cash into India.

The various separatist groups go by an alphabet soup of acronyms such as ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) or ANVC (Achik National Volunteer Council) or MULTA (Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam) or NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland) or NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura) or… Well, you get the idea. I’m not going to go through all 300+ names.

One particularly serious group are the Nagas. Nagas live in several states besides their own, Nagaland, and they have fought a six-decade insurgency for an autonomous “Greater Nagaland” including chunks of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. An estimated 100,000 people have died in the violence of that conflict. A ceasefire with the government has largely held since 1997, but successive rounds of peace talks have gotten nowhere.

As an example of how a separatist movement can become entwined with ethnic conflict, non-Naga Manipuris, who have their own violent secessionist movement, are alarmed by Naga ambitions and are now taking up arms against the Nagas. I think The Economist summed things up well in a recent article by stating,

“Life in Manipur and Nagaland, wracked by insurgency and under a draconian act giving special powers to the armed forces, is never easy.”

To provide you another example of the complexity of some of these conflicts, allow me to focus on an area

have placed additional information here).

I placed “settled” in quotation marks above because the matter is anything but. The Bodo still want complete independence. Just a month before our passage through Bodoland, an Indian government official was abducted and killed by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, also known as NDFB or the Bodo Security Force. And the NDFB are still engaged in blowing up railroad lines and other such activities.

I should mention another group that was operating in Bodoland – the BLTF (Bodo Liberation Tigers Force). They have now joined the political mainstream, but nevertheless, many people continue to confuse the two groups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some views of Bodoland to give you a sense of what one of these zones of conflict looks like:

 

That’s rice growing in the fields around the homes:

 

Doesn’t really look like a war zone, does it? That’s the thing about an insurgency – The insurgents blend in with the local population and wage a covert rather than an overt war:

 

Those dark shapes in the road are monkeys:

we traveled through known as Bodoland. Or, to be technical, the Bodoland Territorial Areas District. Bodoland is part of Assam. However, the Bodo people resent the Assamese while the Assamese resent the Bodo, Bangladeshi immigrants, and greater India. The result was a major Bodo insurgency that was only “settled” in 2004-05 with the creation of an autonomous “Bodoland” in northwestern Assam (For more information on the insurgency specifically in Assam, 

Bodoland

The Indian Army would make short work of any of the separatist that tried to do battle with them on the open plains. In the jungles, however, it is the local tribesmen that often have the upper hand. Aside from their incomparable knowledge of the local terrain, many of the separatist groups provide serious military training of six months to a year at the training camps in Myanmar before sending a fighter into battle:

 

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

The Bodo people are, naturally, quite sympathetic to the various Bodo separatist groups and if they are not actively supporting groups such as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, they are at least looking the other way in regard to any actions the groups may be carrying out:

National Democratic Front of Bodoland

With so many Indian Army convoys heading out from Tezpur into the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian military has suffered many attacks on their convoys passing through Bodoland.

It’s a classic scenario (and headache) for conventional forces when contending with an insurgency… For example, a construction worker such as this one breaking up rocks alongside the road below, can easily pull out a mobile phone and alert the National Democratic Front of Bodoland of any military activity before returning to innocently breaking up rocks seconds later:

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

As such, there are a staggering number of Indian Army troops patrolling the road through Bodoland. In many places, the patrols are as close as fifty meters apart:

NDFB

These conflicts flare up frequently… Sometimes the spark for a gun battle or a bombing can be tension between different tribes or ethnic groups. Sometimes the tension can be with the Indian government. And other times it can be all of the above.

And then, of course, there are the Naxalites… STRATFOR recently published a good breakdown of the Naxalites (and the secessionist movements I have discussed) and so I’ll let them handle the analysis of the Naxalites. I will place one disclaimer on the STRATFOR piece, though – One section of the passage below mentions a possible link between Pakistan’s ISI and the various insurgencies in India. However, our researchers at The Velvet Rocket encountered not a single individual that indicated Pakistan was in any way involved in supporting such groups (And we met with a number of people, including some close to the separatist movements). Everyone, however, pointed a finger at China. So, that said, carry on…

There are numerous reports in open-source media in India and elsewhere that link Naxalites to a number of militant and criminal groups throughout South Asia. These groups interact with Maoists from Nepal, secessionists in India’s restive northeast, ISI-backed Islamists from Bangladesh, criminals from Myanmar and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka. Weapons flow among these groups in a region that have historically been a rich environment for secessionist movements.

STRATFOR sources in India claim that Pakistani intelligence has established business relationships with Naxalites to sell arms and ammunition and lately has tried to use Naxal bases for anti-Indian activities. There is evidence that the ISI is providing weapons and ammunition to the Naxalites in exchange for money or services, mostly through third parties like the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) or the ostensible Bangladeshi militant leader Shailen Sarkar (both are described in more detail below). Naxalite leaders in India deny cooperating with Pakistan but have very publicly pledged their support for separatist movements in India. STRATFOR sources (Stratfor dubious background as a Mossad-RAW supported site) in the Indian army say they are investigating but still lack the evidence to prove a direct link between the Naxalites and the ISI since the Pakistanis continue to play a peripheral role.

The groups below are reported to have had contact with the Naxalites and to have provided various levels of support. Some of these groups have established links to the ISI, which makes them possible conduits of contact and support between Pakistan and the Naxalites.

* ULFA, one of the largest, most violent secessionist movements in India’s northeast, is accused of working with ISI Islamist assets along the Indian-Bangladeshi border, where it controls smuggling routes through the Siliguri corridor. The Indian government accuses the Naxalites of working with ULFA to smuggle drugs and counterfeit money through Siliguri on behalf of the ISI in exchange for weapons and explosives.

* The People’s Liberation Army of Manipur (PLAM) is a secessionist group in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. According to Indian security officials, the respective political wings of the PLAM and the Naxalites signed a document in October 2010 pledging to “overthrow the … Indian reactionary and oppressive regime.” However, there are no documented instances of PLAM providing material support to the Naxalites. Indian intelligence agencies report that a militant from Manipur who was arrested in 2007 revealed that the PLAM leadership was in frequent contact with the LeT leadership in 2006 as directed by the ISI.

* The National Social Council of Nagaland-Issac Muviah branch (NSCN-IM) is a secessionist movement in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland. Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said in June that the leader of NSCN-IM helped members of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) smuggle weapons through Myanmar and Bangladesh. Indian officials in the state of Tripura accused the NSCN-IM of working jointly with the ISI in assisting militant cadres.

* The People’s War Group (PWG) was a militant faction of the Communist Party of India-Marxist/Leninist until 2004 when it left and helped form the CPI-M, which is the political arm of the Naxalite movement. In 2004, the PWG received bomb-making materials and training from groups like ULFA and NSCN-IM in Bangladesh in exchange for smuggling drugs into India, an effort organized by the ISI between 2000 and 2004, when the PWG was not under the Naxalite umbrella.

* LTTE is an ethnic secessionist movement in northern Sri Lanka that was defeated by Sri Lanka’s military in 2009 after 26 years of fighting. According to a surrendering Naxalite commander, LTTE militants taught Naxalites how to handle mines and grenades at a camp in Bastar, Chhattisgarh state. LTTE fighters have fled Sri Lanka since their 2009 defeat, and Indian authorities suspect that Tamil fighters are providing training for Naxalites in exchange for a safe haven.

* Nepalese Maoists comprise the militant wing of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal. They have exchanged training and weapons with Indian Naxalites, and there are also reports of Nepalese Maoists receiving medical care at Naxalite camps in India.

* Shailen Sarkar is a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh. The Indian Home Ministry accuses Sarkar’s group of training Naxalites at ISI-funded camps in Bangladesh. The ministry also claims that Sarkar has met with Naxal leaders in India.

Here is a map, courtesy of STRATFOR, that outlines the weapons smuggling routes that supply the Naxalites and the various separatist groups:

Here are some views of Bodoland to give you a sense of what one of these zones of conflict looks like:

bodoland

That’s rice growing in the fields around the homes:

bodoland

bodoland

Doesn’t really look like a war zone, does it? That’s the thing about an insurgency – The insurgents blend in with the local population and wage a covert rather than an overt war:

bodo security force

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

Those dark shapes in the road are monkeys:

bodoland

bodoland

The Indian Army would make short work of any of the separatist that tried to do battle with them on the open plains. In the jungles, however, it is the local tribesmen that often have the upper hand. Aside from their incomparable knowledge of the local terrain, many of the separatist groups provide serious military training of six months to a year at the training camps in Myanmar before sending a fighter into battle:

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

The Bodo people are, naturally, quite sympathetic to the various Bodo separatist groups and if they are not actively supporting groups such as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, they are at least looking the other way in regard to any actions the groups may be carrying out:

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

National Democratic Front of Bodoland

With so many Indian Army convoys heading out from Tezpur into the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian military has suffered many attacks on their convoys passing through Bodoland.

It’s a classic scenario (and headache) for conventional forces when contending with an insurgency… For example, a construction worker such as this one breaking up rocks alongside the road below, can easily pull out a mobile phone and alert the National Democratic Front of Bodoland of any military activity before returning to innocently breaking up rocks seconds later:

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

As such, there are a staggering number of Indian Army troops patrolling the road through Bodoland. In many places, the patrols are as close as fifty meters apart:

Bodo Liberation Tigers Force

NDFB

These conflicts flare up frequently… Sometimes the spark for a gun battle or a bombing can be tension between different tribes or ethnic groups. Sometimes the tension can be with the Indian government. And other times it can be all of the above.

And then, of course, there are the Naxalites… STRATFOR recently published a good breakdown of the Naxalites (and the secessionist movements I have discussed) and so I’ll let them handle the analysis of the Naxalites. I will place one disclaimer on the STRATFOR piece, though – One section of the passage below mentions a possible link between Pakistan’s ISI and the various insurgencies in India. However, our researchers at The Velvet Rocket encountered not a single individual that indicated Pakistan was in any way involved in supporting such groups (And we met with a number of people, including some close to the separatist movements). Everyone, however, pointed a finger at China. So, that said, carry on…

There are numerous reports in open-source media in India and elsewhere that link Naxalites to a number of militant and criminal groups throughout South Asia. These groups interact with Maoists from Nepal, secessionists in India’s restive northeast, ISI-backed Islamists from Bangladesh, criminals from Myanmar and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka. Weapons flow among these groups in a region that has historically been a rich environment for secessionist movements.

STRATFOR(is a Jewish and Hindu run Islamophobe Group) sources in India claim that Pakistani intelligence has established business relationships with Naxalites to sell arms and ammunition and lately has tried to use Naxal bases for anti-Indian activities. There is evidence that the ISI is providing weapons and ammunition to the Naxalites in exchange for money or services, mostly through third parties like the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) or the ostensible Bangladeshi militant leader Shailen Sarkar (both are described in more detail below). Naxalite leaders in India deny cooperating with Pakistan but have very publicly pledged their support for separatist movements in India. STRATFOR sources in the Indian army say they are investigating but still lack the evidence to prove a direct link between the Naxalites and the ISI, since the Pakistanis continue to play a peripheral role.

The groups below are reported to have had contact with the Naxalites and to have provided various levels of support. Some of these groups have established links to the ISI, which makes them possible conduits of contact and support between Pakistan and the Naxalites.

* ULFA, one of the largest, most violent secessionist movements in India’s northeast, is accused of working with ISI Islamist assets along the Indian-Bangladeshi border, where it controls smuggling routes through the Siliguri corridor. The Indian government accuses the Naxalites of working with ULFA to smuggle drugs and counterfeit money through Siliguri on behalf of the ISI in exchange for weapons and explosives.

* The People’s Liberation Army of Manipur (PLAM) is a secessionist group in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. According to Indian security officials, the respective political wings of the PLAM and the Naxalites signed a document in October 2010 pledging to “overthrow the … Indian reactionary and oppressive regime.” However, there are no documented instances of PLAM providing material support to the Naxalites. Indian intelligence agencies report that a militant from Manipur who was arrested in 2007 revealed that the PLAM leadership was in frequent contact with the LeT leadership in 2006 as directed by the ISI.

* The National Social Council of Nagaland-Issac Muviah branch (NSCN-IM) is a secessionist movement in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland. Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said in June that the leader of NSCN-IM helped members of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) smuggle weapons through Myanmar and Bangladesh. Indian officials in the state of Tripura accused the NSCN-IM of working jointly with the ISI in assisting militant cadres.

* The People’s War Group (PWG) was a militant faction of the Communist Party of India-Marxist/Leninist until 2004, when it left and helped form the CPI-M, which is the political arm of the Naxalite movement. In 2004, the PWG received bomb-making materials and training from groups like ULFA and NSCN-IM in Bangladesh in exchange for smuggling drugs into India, an effort organized by the ISI between 2000 and 2004, when the PWG was not under the Naxalite umbrella.

* LTTE is an ethnic secessionist movement in northern Sri Lanka that was defeated by Sri Lanka’s military in 2009 after 26 years of fighting. According to a surrendering Naxalite commander, LTTE militants taught Naxalites how to handle mines and grenades at a camp in Bastar, Chhattisgarh state. LTTE fighters have fled Sri Lanka since their 2009 defeat, and Indian authorities suspect that Tamil fighters are providing training for Naxalites in exchange for safe haven.

* Nepalese Maoists comprise the militant wing of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal. They have exchanged training and weapons with Indian Naxalites, and there are also reports of Nepalese Maoists receiving medical care at Naxalite camps in India.

* Shailen Sarkar is a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh. The Indian Home Ministry accuses Sarkar’s group of training Naxalites at ISI-funded 

(Indian Propaganda) camps in Bangladesh. The ministry also claims that Sarkar has met with Naxal leaders in India.

 

Reference

   Date of Original Publication December 12, 2011 

 

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Axis of Logic : Critical Analysis Insurgency Movements in India. Failure of the Indian Government to address the root causes could lead to a domino effect in South Asia

Critical Analysis

Insurgency Movements in India. Failure of the Indian Government to address the root causes could lead to a domino effect in South Asia

By Shahid R. Siddiqi. Axis of Logic.
Axis of Logic
Sunday, Dec 26, 2010

 

Insurgencies do not emerge in a vacuum. Their underlying root causes are invariably to be found in political, socio-economic or religious domains, their nature, and scope depending upon the nature of the grievances, motivations, and demands of the people.

India has had its share of insurgencies. In all, an estimated 30 armed insurgency movements are sweeping across the country, reflecting an acute sense of alienation on the part of the people involved. Broadly, these can be divided into movements for political rights – e.g. Assam, Kashmir and Khalistan (Punjab), movements for social and economic justice – e.g. Maoist (Naxalite) and north-eastern states, and religious grounds – e.g. Ladakh. These causes overlap at times.

Wikipedia lists 16 belligerent groups and 68 major organization as terrorist groups in India, which include: nine in the northeast (Seven Sisters), four in center & the east (including Maoist/Naxalites), seventeen in the west (Sikh separatist groups), and thirty-eight in the northwest (Kashmir).

 

 

Political Causes

By the very nature of its population mix, one that began evolving thousands of years ago with waves of migrants pouring in from adjoining lands at different periods in history, South Asia has never been a homogenous society. The multiplicity of races, ethnicities, tribes, religions, and languages led to the creation of hundreds of sovereign entities all over the subcontinent ruled by tribal and religious leaders and conquerors of all sorts. Like Europe over the centuries, the map of South Asia also kept changing owing to internecine warfare.  

One must remember that India in its entire history until colonized by the British and united at gunpoint, was never a single nation, nor a united country. The numerous entities were in many cases territorially and population-wise much larger than several European countries, were independently ruled and qualified for nationhood by any modern standards.

During and after the colonial rule, such territorial entities were lumped together to form new administrative and political units – or states, without, in many cases, taking into account the preferences and aspirations of the people. For the people of these territories, which ranged from small fiefdoms to large princely states, and who had for centuries enjoyed independent existence, this administrative and political amalgam amounted to a loss of identity and freedom and being ruled by aliens. The new dispensation – democracy, in many cases brought no political or economic advantage. 

To complicate matters, hundreds of religious and ethnic groups, some of which are fiercely sectarian and independent in nature, found themselves passionately defending their religions, ethnicities, languages and cultures, at times clashing fiercely with rival groups, challenging even the writ of the state in the process. As the time passes, it is becoming clear that keeping a conglomerate of nationalities and sub-nationalities together as one nation would be an impossibility, given the absence of a common thread that could weave them together.   

Thus the artificial nature of the modern state created by the British colonialists and adopted by post-colonial India also triggers violent reactions in different hotspots.

Caste Based Social Discrimination

India’s caste system, which tears apart its social fabric and divides people into potential warring groups, is unique to that country and has no place in the modern world. This sinister game has historically been played by the Brahmans in collaboration with the ruling class to their mutual benefit. The issue assumes more horrific dimensions when those who practice it among the Hindus insist that it is a divinely sanctioned concept and cannot be abrogated by humans. Even the anti-caste activist – Dr. Ambedkar, acknowledges that ‘to destroy caste, all the Hindu Shastras would have to be done away with’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The system confers on the ‘higher’ castes the absolute right to plunder the wealth of those belonging to the ‘lower’ caste or Dalits (or the ‘untouchables’). For over four thousand years, the system has been driven by the intense hatred and by the yearning of the ‘higher’ castes to accept nothing less than abject subservience from the ‘lower’ castes. Ironically, its defenders have argued that it has kept a sense of order and peace among the people and has prevented society from disintegrating into chaos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although Dalits make up for the most part of the Indian population, they have remained deprived of the benefits of the current economic boom. This is because of the barricades that bar them from having access to education, job opportunities, and even state provided healthcare and food. They are forced into menial jobs, denied entry to temples, cremation grounds, and river bathing points and cannot even share a barber with the upper caste Hindu. Punishments are severe when these boundaries are transgressed. In Tamil Nadu, for instance, 45 special types of ‘untouchability’ practices are common.      

Despite the fact that the Indian Constitution has abolished it, this caste based discrimination continues because it has infiltrated into the Indian polity, serves the vested interests of a powerful minority and gives it a hold over a helpless majority in the name of religion and ancient social customs. It has even been glorified by M.K. Gandhi who is reported to have said that ‘caste is an integral part of Hinduism and cannot be eradicated if Hinduism is to be preserved’.
 
The mentality of hate this creates in the lower castes in an age when the concepts of socialism, awareness about human rights and equality and dignity of man are spreading fast, this ‘helpless majority’ has begun to resort to violence to overthrow this yoke. The Maoist/ Naxalite uprising in eastern India is just one case in point.

Economic Disparity

Of India’s population of 1.1 billion, about 800 million – more than 60% – are poor, many living on the margins of life, lacking some or all of the basic necessities. Despite its emergence as Asia’s third-biggest economy, India has the highest illiteracy rate in the world – 70%, and the people lack adequate shelter, sanitation, clean water, nutrition, healthcare and job opportunities. The groups that are mostly left behind are minorities. There is a growing concern that unless this situation is addressed, the country will be torn apart by the despair and rage of the poor sooner or later.

Hindutva – The Hindu Political Philosophy Steeped in Prejudice 

The so-called nationalist philosophy – Hindutva, is actually a euphemistic effort to conceal communal beliefs and practices. Many Indian Marxist sociologists describe the Hindutva movement as fascist in a classical sense, in its ideology and class support, methods and programs, especially targeting the concept of homogenized majority and cultural hegemony. Others raise issues with regards to sometimes-vacillating attitudes of its adherents towards non-Hindus and secularism. 

Defining Hindutva, “The struggle for India’s Soul” (World Policy Journal, fall 2002) states that India is “not only the [Hindu] fatherland but also …. their pun ya bhumi, their holy land”. To Hindu extremists, all others on this land are viewed as “aliens” who do not belong there.

Hindutva is identified as the guiding ideology of the Sangh Parivar, a family of Hindu nationalist organizations of which Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are a part. Not part of Sangh Parivar, but closely associated with it, is Shiv Sena, a highly controversial political party of Maharashtra. The record of all these right-wing radical parties in pursuing discriminatory policies towards minorities, particularly the Muslims, and engaging in their frequent massacres is no secret. This record alone is enough to show the true colors of Hindutvavadis (followers of Hindutva) and what Hindutva stands for.

Explaining the mindset of Shiv Sena, sociologist Dipankar Gupta says: “A good Hindu for the Shiv Sena is not necessarily a person well versed in Hindu scriptures, but one who is ready and willing to go out and attack Muslims … To be a good Hindu is to hate Muslims and nothing else.” This is borne out by the 2002 indiscriminate killings of Muslims in Gujarat for which Shiv Sena was held responsible.

The adherents of Hindutva demonize those who do not subscribe to that philosophy or are opposed to its pre-eminence and dub them anti-state or terrorists just as the Hindu scriptures in earlier times branded such people as rakshasas. As always, these groups have been ‘red in tooth and claw’ in violently resolving all their social, religious and political differences and killing, raping, burning and lynching those who show the audacity to stand up to them for their rights.

In 1947, these groups preferred violent upheaval and vivisection of India to sharing power with the Muslims and killed more people in communal violence, including Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Dalits than ever before in recent history. Citing ‘ekta and akhandata’ (unity and integrity) of India, they have refused to allow self-rule to Sikhs (86%) in the Punjab, to Muslims (80%) in Kashmir, to Buddhists (90%) in Ladakh, to Christians in the North East of India and to the tribal population of central India.

It is this intolerance and bigotry that has generated alienation and hate among minorities, Dalits and people of other faiths – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists. It lays the ground for angry and rebellious reaction among those who are targeted.

Insurgent Movements

Naxalites or Maoists: The Maoist Movement of Nepal, supported ironically by the Indian Government, came home to roost. Inspired by the Nepalese Maoist forest dwellers who took over and ruled their forests, the lowest of Indian forest dwellers of Naxalbari (West Bengal) – the ‘adivasis’, launched their own Maoist movement and took control of their forests too. 

According to one of the legends that support India’s diabolical caste system, the Adivasis were punished by the gods for killing a Brahmin (member of the highest caste – the 5% which more or fewer rules and controls India). As a punishment, the Adivasis were expelled to live like animals in the forest and, like them, survive by preying on the weaker, owning nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When huge mineral deposits were discovered in some of the forested areas, the authorities decided to relocate the Adivasis in 1967. They refused. Having no other title, they did not want to give up what they held and this set in motion a cycle of resistance and reprisals, including rapes and murders by the powerful vested interests.

It is now recognised that exploitation of billions of dollars worth of mineral wealth of the central and eastern Indian tribal area by the capitalists without giving a share to the poorest of the poor forest dwellers whose home it has been for ages, lay at the root of the Maoist insurgency, modelled after the teachings of the great Chinese revolutionary leader.

These Maoists now inhabit an area known as the ‘Red Corridor’ that stretches from West Bengal to Karnataka state in the southwest. They are active across 220 districts in 20 states – about 40% of India’s geographical area. They also threaten to extend operations in major urban centers, including New Delhi. Indian intelligence reports say that insurgents include 20,000 armed men and 50,000 regular or full-time organizers and mobilizers, with the numbers growing. In 2007 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged the growing influence of Maoist insurgency as “the most serious internal threat to India’s national security.”

The Seven Sisters: The seven states of northeastern India called the Seven Sisters are significantly different, ethnically and linguistically, from the rest of the country. These states are rocked by a large number of armed and violent rebellions, some seeking separate states, some fighting for autonomy and others demanding complete independence, keeping the entire region is a state of turmoil. These states include Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.

These states accuse New Delhi of apathy towards their issues. Illiteracy, poverty and lack of economic opportunities have fueled the natives’ demand for autonomy and independence. There also exist territorial disputes among states and tensions between natives and immigrants from other states which the governments have not attended to, accentuating the problems. 
 
The Assam state has been the hotbed of active militancy for many years, ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) has been in the forefront of a liberation struggle since 1979, along with two dozen other militant groups, on the grounds of neglect and economic disparity. Over 10,000 people have lost their lives and thousand have been displaced during the last 25 years. The army has been unable to subdue the insurgents. 

The divide between the tribals and nontribal settlers is the cause of the trouble in Meghalaya. The absence of effective governance gives rise to identity issues, mismanagement, and growing corruption. Like other states in the region, there is a demand for independence along tribal lines. The Achik National Volunteer Council has pursued since 1995 the formation of an Achik Land in the Caro Hills, whereas the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council seeks to free the state from Garo domination.

The Arunachal Dragon Force, also known as the East India Liberation Front, is a violent secessionist movement in the eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The ADF seeks to create an independent state resembling the pre-British Tea Country that would include area currently in Arunachal Pradesh as well as neighboring Assam.

Mizoram’s tensions have arisen largely due to the Assamese domination and the neglect of the Mizo people by India. In 1986, the main secessionist movement led by the Mizo National Front ended after a peace accord, bringing peace to the region. However, secessionist demands by some groups continue to insist on an independent Hmar State. 

Nagaland was created in 1963 as the 16th state of Indian Union after carving it out of Assam. It happens to be the oldest of insurgencies of India (since 1947) and is believed to have inspired almost all others ethnic groups in the region, demanding full independence. The state is marked by a multiplicity of tribes, ethnicities, cultures and religion. It is home to around 400 tribes or sub-tribes and has witnessed conflicts, including infighting amongst various villages, tribes, and other warring factions, most of them seeking a separate homeland comprising Christian dominated areas of Nagaland and certain areas of Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. The area is rich in oil reserves worth billions and government efforts to strike deals with the rebel groups have yielded no results. Thousands have died since the insurgency began. 

The struggle for the independence of Manipur has been actively pursued by several insurgent groups since 1964, some of them with socialist leanings, arising out of neglect by the state and central governments of the issues and concerns of the people. For lack of education and economic opportunities, many people have been forced to join these separatists groups. The disturbed conditions have only added to the sufferings of the general population. The controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (or AFSPA) has been extensively criticized, as it gives wide and unrestricted powers to the army, which invariably leads to serious violations of human rights.

It was the ethnic tensions between the Bengali immigrants after the 1971 war and the native tribal population in Tripura and the building of a fence by the government along the Bangladesh border that led to a rebellion in the 1970s. Very active insurgency now goes on amid very harsh living conditions for thousands of homeless refugees. The National Liberation Front of Tripura and the All Tripura Tiger Force demand the expulsion of Bengali-speaking immigrants.

Tamil Nadu: In the wake of their defeat by the Sri Lankan military in the Jaffna peninsula, the Tamil LTTE freedom fighters took refuge in the adjoining Tamil Nadu state of India, where on account of common ethnicity, religion, language and culture they mixed easily and enjoyed mass support for their cause. Overtime LTTE regrouped and recruited volunteers from amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and the local population and began to amass weapons and explosives.

There is a strong anti-India and pro-secessionist sentiment in Tamil Nadu. Most people want independence from India despite sharing a common religion – Hinduism, with the rest of Hindu-dominated India. Their argument: religion is not a binding force that can override other considerations, such as language, culture, ethnicity, people’s aspirations and an identity that entitles them to an independent existence. They argue that if Nepal can have an independent existence as a Hindu state right next to India why can’t Tamil Nadu? And they argue that one religion does not necessarily translate into one nationality. If that were so, there would not have been so many Christian and Muslim states enjoying independent status. Tamils are inspired by the Maoist/Naxalite movement but their secessionist organizations have been shut down after being labeled as terrorists.  

Khalistan Movement of the Sikhs: The Sikh community has long nurtured a grudge against the Hindu-dominated governments in New Delhi for having gone back on their word given at the time of partition in 1947, promising autonomy to their state of Punjab, renaming it Khalistan, which the Sikhs considered to be very important from their religious and political standpoint. Real as well as perceived discrimination and a feeling of betrayal by the central government of Indira Gandhi brought matters to the head and fearing a rebellion from the Sikh militant groups, she ordered a military crackdown on their most revered shrine – the Golden Temple, in 1981, where armed Sikhs put up stiff resistance. An estimated 3000 people, including a large number of pilgrims, died. This ended in a military victory but a political disaster for Indira Gandhi. Soon afterward in 1984, she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards and this, in turn, led to a general massacre of the Sikhs across India. Although the situation has returned to normal, the Sikh community has not forgiven the Hindus for this sacrilege and tensions continue. The demand for Khalistan is still alive and about 17 movements for a separate Sikh state remain active.

Another factor that has added to the existing tensions between the central government and the Sikhs is the diversion to the neighboring states of their most important natural resource – river water, which belonged only to Punjab under the prevalent national and international law. This deprived Punjab of billions of rupees annually. With 80% of the state population – the poor farming community, adversely affected, there has been a great deal of unrest. The military was used to suppress this unrest but there are fears that the issue could become the moot point of another Maoist uprising, this time in Punjab.

Kashmir: The Kashmir issue is as old as the history of India and Pakistan’s independence. It arose out of India’s forcible occupation of this predominantly Muslim state against the wishes of its people and in violation of the principle of partition of British India. A fierce struggle for independence continues unabated in the valley in which hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives at the hands of the central and state government’s security forces and have been displaced. There has been an international condemnation of human rights violations. India has defied the resolutions of the UN Security Council that have called for the demilitarization of the valley and holding of a plebiscite to determine the will of the people.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars and efforts at reaching a solution through negotiations have not been fruitful.

Consequences for South Asia

The Indian internal scene presents a very disturbing scenario, one that has prompted Suhas Chakma, Director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights in New Delhi, to say that ‘India is at war with itself’. Alan Hart, the British journalist, while speaking about insurgencies in India at LISA seminar in July this year, agreed with this characterization. There is a consensus that this situation seriously threatens India’s stability and consequently its democracy.

In a changing world, as the poor of India become more and more aware of the affluence of the relative few who reap the benefits of the country’s development boom, the rich-poor division assumes greater significance and cannot be ignored. “The insurgency in all of its manifestations and the counter-insurgency operations of the security forces in all of their manifestations are only the casing of the ticking time-bomb under India’s democracy. The explosive substance inside the casing is, in a word, POVERTY” said Alan Hart, and said it rightly.

It is also important to understand that newly undertaken unification of India has not yet taken firm roots and it would be a bad idea for it to try and trigger fragmentation among its neighbors. There is imminent danger of the Domino effect taking the whole of South Asia down.

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Axis of Logic Columnist, Shahid R. Siddiqi

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A case study of MNF movement for independence in Mizoram : India’s Counter-Insurgency Operation and Human Right Violation

Mizo National Front Emblem

By

Dr Th Siamkhum

Mizo National Front Emblem:: Pix – Wikipedia/

Introduction.

Mizoram, a tiny trans-Indo-Myanmar border state of India, located in the extreme north-east corner of India, bordering Myanmar in the East, state of Tripura in the west, Cachar District of Assam and Churachandpur District of Manipur in the North and Sylhet District of Bangladesh in the South, witnessed one of the most devastating underground movements in India for 20 years from 1966 to 1986. The movement was launched by the Mizo National Front under the charismatic leadership of Laldenga, demanding the sovereign state of Mizoram with a strong sense of will and determination to its goal of political independence from India.

The MNA (Mizo National Army) the armed wing of MNF, composed of those young Mizos with a high degree of morale for the cause they were for. The initial success of the movement in over-powering almost all security outposts in the District, except Assam Rifles Brigade Headquarters, Aizawl, could be attributed to the fighting zeal and high degree of morale of the MNA fighters to the cause of the Mizos and their independence.

The MNF, after realizing the futility of armed struggle for achieving political sovereignty, decided to have the negotiation with the Government of India in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which ultimately culminated into the signing of Peace Accord with Government of India in 1986 known as “The Mizo Peace Accord, 1986”. The Mizo Peace Accord 1986, eventually becomes the most successful peace accord ever been signed by the Government of India with any insurgent groups in the north-east, and elsewhere.

While the ‘Mautam‘ (famine) of the late 1950s and early 1960s and the apathy of government to the call of the people for relief supply was the immediate cause of the conflict, there are also a number of historical, political, economic, cultural, social and religious factors which are collectively responsible for the outbreak of violent uprising in Mizoram in 1966.

2. Historical and Political Factors:

Historically, the Mizos lived an independent political life, independent of any foreign power. Each village was ruled over by a sovereign village chief who exercised absolute and indivisible power. He was the final authority within the village in all aspects of village life, and was the chief administrator as well as the chief justice of the village, having the power to give the severest form of punishment, including death penalty to those who violate the unwritten customary laws and traditional practices. However, the British invaded the Mizo/Lushai country and took control of the entire hills on the 6th September 1895.

by AThough the British took over the administration of the whole Lushai/Mizo Hills, the chiefs were left with much power regarding customary and traditional practices were concerned. The Lushai Hills District was, then put under a superintendent who, in consultation with the village chief, administered the District. The entire District was put under the Chin Hills Regulation act of 1892 and Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873 and was included in the Excluded Areas along with Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

[Mizo People]

Sooner than expected, the time came for the British to hand over power to India.At this critical juncture, a critical question inevitably came up i.e. what should be the future status of the District (Mizo/Lushai Hills District), whether it should join Indian Union, Pakistan or Burma; choose to be a Crown Colony under the British or become an independent state.LL. Peter, the then Superintendent of the District called a joint meeting of representatives of different groups and organizations including political party (Mizo Union) Chiefs’ Union, Freedom party (those against the chiefs), Ex-Servicemen, MizoHmeichheTangrual Pawl (United Women Organization), Govt. employees etc. to decide the future of Mizo/Lushai Hills District on 14.8.1947. The meeting under the influence of Mizo Union unanimously passed the following three points of resolutions:-

In case, the Mizo Hills was merged with the Indian Union,
1. “Mizos would have the right to decide their own future i.e. right to secede from India after ten years”.
2. The traditional customary laws and practices should be preserved and protected.
3. Chin Hill Regulations Act, 1892 and Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act, 1873 should continue to be enforced in the District.

The Mizos interpreted these pre-conditions, though not a contractual agreement between the two parties (Mizos and India), as their rights. They asserted and re-asserted that they have the right to secede from the Indian Union which finally culminated into an armed rebellious movement for independent in 1966. The other factors responsible for the uprising was Assam Government’s language policy. Under a strong pressure from dominant Assamese, The Assamese language was made the official language of the state which was much resented to by non-Assamese speaking Districts. Khasis, Jaintias, Garos and the Mizos refused to accept the imposition of Assamese in their respective District and decided to demand a separate Hill State.

A new political party, APHLC (All Party Hill Leaders Conference) was formed to spearhead the demand for separate Hill State. In Mizoram, the Mizo Union, instead of joining hand with APHLC for separate Hill State, was in favour of a separate State for the Mizos. The MNF (Mizo National Front), on the other hand, was not interested in demanding either the separate Hills for the Khasis, Garos, and Mizos nor was it interested in a separate state for Mizos. It was in favour of demanding a separate independence sovereign state for the Mizos, not only outside Assam but also outside India.

The imposition of Assamese on the Mizos could, therefore, be seen as one of the contributing factors for the movement. The Mizos were not satisfied with the provision of Sixth Schedule of the constitution of India. They felt that the provision of Sixth schedule has not sufficiently protected their language, customs, traditions, religions etc. The imposition of Assamese language on the Mizos was much resented and there was growing apprehension that there would be a cultural invasion by the dominant Assamese speaking Hindus. The Mizos were also frustrated with the Assam Government’s lack of interest in various issues.

The Mizo Hills District was, then merged with the state of Assam and was given a special protection under the provision of Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India. The nomenclature of the District was also changed to from Lushai Hills District to Mizo Hills District on 19th April 1954.Soon after Mizoram was merged with the Indian Union, discontentment and dissatisfaction, both on the policies of Assam Government and Central government, grew on various issues.

The conduct of public examination on Sunday and the visit of Central dignitaries on Sunday were interpreted as a deliberate attempt to restrict the freedom of worship for those who were involved in such examinations. To testify this, the MNF cited the visit of JL Nehru on Sunday, 3rd April 1953. The restriction of the entry of foreign missionaries into the District was also seen as an infringement on the religious right of the Mizos. The Mizos, in order to assert their ethnic and cultural identity under the dominant Assamese political set up, strived to have a separate state of their own.

However, it was realized by a section of Mizo leadership that the assertion of Mizo identity would not be possible within the state of Assam or even under the Indian Union, the insurgency was adopted as a better means for Mizo nation building. Another worth mentioning factor responsible for the Mizo uprising of 1966 was racial and ethnic distinctiveness of the Mizos.

The Mizos belong to Mongolian ethnic and racial group with Mongolian physical feature whereas people of mainland India are having Aryan and Dravidian racial background, with quite a distinct physical feature from the Mizos. The majority of Mizos, therefore, feel that their Mongolian background could not support them to be Indians. They maintained, it is the will of nature that they are not Indians, but Mizos. Nature destined them to be Mizos of Mongolian racial stock. This feeling of natural alienation from mainland India is also partly responsible for the demand for independence by the Mizos (MNF).

Historical factors, language policy of the government of Assam, their apprehension of religious interference by dominant Hindu Indians, fear of cultural invasion, lack of development, neglect of Mizo District by government of Assam, assertion of the people that they have the right to decide their own future etc. have their own role in influencing the Mizos to fight for separate independent state. However, Mautam (Famine) which struck Mizo Hills and lack of government’s response to the call of the people for assistance is the most immediate cause of insurgency in Mizoram.

 

Reference 

 

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Nepali Gorkhas may soon not be a part of the Indian Army

Nepali Gorkhas may soon not be a part of the Indian Army 

By Ritu Sharma

 

[Gorkha People's Liberation Front] ima

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS)India’s first field marshal, S.H.F.J. Manekshaw, preferred calling himself Sam ‘Bahadur’ as a sign of respect for the brave Gorkha soldiers, most of whom came from Nepal. However, a call by Nepal Maoist chief Prachanda not to allow them to join the Indian army could impact on traditionalmilitary ties between the two countries. “If anyone says he is not afraid of anything, either he is lying or he is a Gorkha,” Manekshaw once said.

Gorkha National Liberation Front
Chairperson Subhash Ghisingh
Founded 1980
   
Party flag
Flag of Gurkhaland.svg
 

However, Prachanda, who is poised to head the government in the Himalayan nation, told reporters April 25 that Nepali Gorkhas should not be allowed to join Indian defence forces.

There are two types of Gorkhas in the Indian Army – those hailing from India (who have migrated from Nepal long ago), and the others from Nepal. Under a tripartite agreement signed between India, Nepal and Britain in 1947, Gorkhas from Nepal were allowed to work in the British and Indian armies. Currently, nearly 40,000 Nepali Gorkhas are employed in the Indian Army.

“Nepali Gorkhas have been part of the Indian Army for a very long time. If they are stopped from joining the army then the association between the armies and also the countries will be affected,” former Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ved Prakash Malik told IANS.

“Besides the large number of Nepali Gorkha soldiers, we also have a large number of pensioners in the country. The pensioners are looked after by us only. We have opened hospitals and other facilities at Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal,” Malik added. In some villages in eastern Nepal, about half of the families have one or more pensioners from the Indian Army.

India and Nepal share such a close relationship that the Indian Army chief is honorary chief of the Nepali Army traditionally and vice-versa.

“It is not just a question of strength but also our proximity and tradition,” said Malik.

Besides impacting the age-old ties between the two nations, Prachanda’s demand, if acceded to, can lead to anarchy in Nepal due to large-scale unemployment, say military experts here.

“The Indian Army and the British Army – which also has a Gorkha regiment – are a major source of employment for Nepali youth. There can be unrest in the Himalayan kingdom, leading to a big problem,” Major General (retd) Afsar Karim told IANS.

Prachanda’s call has put the Gorkhas in a moral dilemma – of choosing a life in their country or one that will ensure livelihood and sustenance.

“The Nepali Gorkha soldiers send a lot of money back home, contributing in a big way to the Nepali economy,” an army official said.

However, experts do not see any major operational problem for the Indian Army if the Nepali Gorkahs are forbidden from joining.

“If Prachanda’s demand ever materialises, the Indian Army would not be affected operationally as the army has reduced considerably the number of Gorkhas,” Karim added.

The first battalion of the Gorkha regiment was raised during British rule in 1815. The Gorkhas have served the Indian Army with valour since then.

Gorkhas have played a crucial role in India’s three wars with Pakistan (1947-48, 1965 and 1971) and during the India-China conflict in 1962. A Gorkha battalion served with distinction as part of the Indian Army contingent in the United Nations Operations in the Congo (now Zaire) in the 1960s.

(Ritu Sharma is a correspondent with IANS. She can be contacted at [email protected])

 

REFERENCE

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