Afia Ambreen
Recently, dissident leaders from the Manipur state announced their separation from India claiming that they were speaking on behalf of Maharaja of Manipur High Highness the Leishemba Sanajaoba and announced the launch of an exiled government. The formerly princely state had become part of India in 1949 after New Delhi gained independence, but the people of the state dispute the succession and have been waging a decades-long violent separatist campaign. It is pertinent to mention that Nagaland, one of the north eastern states in India has declared separation. The move came from an influential organization which has been struggling for independence and was announced a day before India’s 73rd Independence Day. The Naga Students Federation (NSF) declared independence by hoisting the Nagaland flag across the north eastern states as well as the Naga areas in Myanmar. Nagaland has also released its own National Anthem and declared the city of Kohima as its capital.
The last ruler of Manipur Bodhchandra Singh signed the instrument of accession after he feared that Burma (now Myanmar) will take over the state. This succession had been questioned by the people of Manipur. Manipur, one of India’s smallest states has a population of close to 2.8 million people. It is known as the one of the so-called “Seven Sisters” a group of restive northeastern states.
Moreover, these groups have a policy of not targeting the state police but have been fighting the Indian army and para-military troops in the region as they represent the Indian government. As a response to the insurgency, Manipur has been declared a ‘disturbed area’ since 1980 and the Indian Armed Forces Special Power Act 1958 has been imposed in the state by the government. The people of the state continue to protest the use of such powers by the Indian government as it has led to many human rights violations in the state. At a press conference in London on 29th November, Chief Minister of Manipur State Council Yamben Biren and Minister of External Affairs and Defence of Manipur State Council Narengbam Samarjit announced to formally launch the exiled government the Manipur State Council. The exiled government will be based in Central London. They produced a document showing that His Highness the Maharaja of Manipur had authorized them by the Order No. 12 of 2013 dated the March 15, 2013 to solve the political problems of the State of Manipur.
A widely visible characteristic of northeast India is its economic under-development. The region is one of the most backward regions of India. Abject poverty of locals alienated them from the Indian government. The north-eastern region has poverty levels ranging between 42-58 percent, making it one of the most backward regions in India. As the region was economically isolated from the rest of the country during the colonial period, it did not benefit from the process of industrialization and modernization. After independence, the Indian government also did not take any serious steps towards development of the region. Instead, the Indian government has exploited the natural and mineral resources of the region without benefiting it in any way. The north-eastern region is rich in natural and mineral resources such as forests, oil and gas etc. Despite these natural endowments, the region is industrially backward because of low investment from the public sector.
The separatists groups are engaged in northeast India, Punjab and the Indian held Kashmir (IHK). In Assam, there are at least 35 known separatist groups. In Manipur, there is the Peoples Liberation Army. In Meghalaya, there is the Peoples Liberation Front of Meghalaya. Nagaland has at least three known insurgent entities; Punjab has 12; Tripura has 30; and Mizoram has 2. Then there is the Arunachal Dragon Force (ADF) in Arunachal Pradesh. Apart from these, a new source of terrorism involving a radical Hindu fringe is also emerging in India; there is no doubt that hate against the Muslim minority in India has led to this type of terrorism. The Hindu extremist parties, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, want the ‘majoritarian transformation’ of India, whereby the primacy of just one community (Hindu) can be asserted over all the others. In other words, it was this agenda of extremist Hindus, which allowed them to engage in violent activities. They want India to be a full-fledged Hindu state with the superiority of Hindus over other communities. For this purpose, they usually employ three techniques: Banish all minorities out of India; or force them to convert into Hinduism; and if they do not accept these two conditions, then kill them to purge Bharat of the people other than the Hindus. Thus, all the dedicated Hindus are following these lines. In Assam, there is an ongoing campaign to label all the Bengali speaking people as ‘foreigners’ in order to throw them out of India. Similarly, the movement of forced conversion to Hinduism is going on in different states such as Gujarat, Orissa and Karnataka. For instance, recently Hindus forced the people of Orissa and Karnataka to either convert to Hinduism or leave the Indian States. The third tactic of killing the minorities in case of dissent to the two other techniques is going on. Hindus from time to time had arranged the massacre of Muslims and Christians in different states. Since 1993, the Bajrang Dal cadre has been involved in bomb making; they were arrested in Madhya Pradesh in the same year and now there are cases from as far as Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
In a nutshell, India is facing potential as well as actual separatist movements in northeast India. Instead of addressing the real causes of insurgency in the northeast, the Indian government is maintaining India’s unity mainly through the use of force. The Indian counter-insurgency in the northeast depends on the deploying of the security forces. The Indian government has given the security forces vast powers to maintain law and order by implementing repressive laws such as Armed Forces Special powers Act, Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance and Disturbed Areas Act. Torture and bad treatment are strictly prohibited by the Indian constitution in all circumstances. But still human rights abuses by the security forces are continuously reported in the whole northeast.
