NEW DELHI: A major blast in Assam which claimed over 20 lives and the spate of insurgency related incidents in the north-Eastern states once again underscore the wide gap in the Center’s perception of the situation and the ground reality which, by all accounts, remains explosive.
Being embroiled in other issues like Ayodhya and resuscitation of the country’s economy, the P.V.Narasimha Rao government has clearly had no time to pay attention to the complex realities of the north-eastern states. The situation remains the same as before the coming to power of the Rao government making absolutely no change in Delhi’s handling of the sensitive border region.
For one, scant attention has been paid to resolving the basic issues that have led to the insurgent forces entrenching themselves in the treacherous hills and dales of the region. A strong presence of the security forces in the region has become a fact of life, often creating friction between them and the locals, Army operations are currently on in Manipur, North Cachar Hills district of Assam and the Brahmaputra valley besides Nagaland, where operations are virtually on in perpetuity.
Despite the hopes raised by the Congress coming to power at Dispur, there are no signs of the much-awaited talks being held with ULFA. Neither has there been any tangible progress towards resolving the ‘Bodoland’ issue (Oct.13 blast can be attributed to frustration on this count) even as new trouble spots arc emerging in the hill states of the region. Meanwhile, informed circles in the Capital claim that the 16 ‘militants’ killed by the Tripura police in South district were in fact innocent people and had nothing to do with insurgency.
North Cachar Hills district has become the latest base and corridor for insurgents from the region traversing to and from Bangladesh. The Hmar tribe is at odds with the majority Lushais of Mizoram while there have been major clashes between the Nagas and Kukis in Manipur hill districts (these are accompanied by charges that the Kukis are being backed by the Assam Rifles against the Nagas).
With tinder boxes setting off at regular intervals, the recent visit to the region of the Union minister of state for home, M.M Jacob, has led to considerable cynicism -even ridicule in north-east circles. During his whistle-stop tour of the region, insurgents struck al various places even as he came out with the classic statement that he was “satisfied with the effective tackling of insurgency” by the governments of the seven rates.
At the Central level, the region appears to have been tossed around between the home and defence ministries under the Rao government. The Bodo agitation, for instance, was being dealt with by the defence minister, Sharad Pawar, while the home ministry appeared to be in the dark about moves to tackle the ULFA issue, which has been entirely entrusted to the Assam chief minister.
The difference is perceptions on the ULFA issue between the home minister, S.B.Chavan, and Hiteswar Saikia, is well known. In this context, suggestions have been made to create a separate department if not a ministry to ensure that the north-eastern affairs are handled by an independent minister and not by a minister with several other charges.
With the polity being fractured several times over in respective states of the region, the friction at the ground level is bound to increase a situation that needs careful handling by Delhi.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 30, 1992
