copying and pasting article so that members can read it here....
Therefore, in Manipur,
Naga nationalism competes not just with Meitei nationalism, but also with its Kuki counterpart – this is, unfortunately, a perennial struggle. In 1993, heavy conflicts between the Nagas and the Kukis led to the deaths of many. From January 1993 to September 1993,
400 people were killed – men, women, and children were brutally chopped to pieces. Communal violence is still present in the insurgency-laden state.
The government has been engaged in peace talks with the Nagas but this has angered the Meitei and other ethnicities. For example, in 2001 the Meiteis came out on the streets and burned the Assembly building with legislators still inside. In response, security forces killed 18 protesters.
There is a fear that violence might upsurge again due to the current (2019) talks between the government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) led by Isak Chishi Swu – and hence
security has been further bolstered. Manipur accounted for 50% of the violence in India’s northeast in
2018 with 127 violent incidents.
The protracted fighting has ruined the lives of many in Manipur with the Indian Army saying that an early solution to the insurgency problem in
the state is extremely difficult – it appears it is an immutable problem. Manipur’s economic condition is far from copacetic as it has the third-highest poverty rate (36.89%) in India. On October 29, 2019, dissident Manipur political leaders declared independence from India and that they would form a “government-in-exile”.
The external affairs minister in the self-declared Manipur State Council, Narengbam Samarjit, stated that the exiled government would push for recognition by the UN.
Naxalites
The Naxalites are a group of far-left radical communists that support the Maoist ideology. Manmohan Singh labeled the Naxalites as the “single biggest internal security challenge” to India. The insurgency began in 1967 in West Bengal’s
Naxalbari village. This village was the sight of a tribal peasant revolt against local landlords.
Although, this rebellion was suppressed, “it became the focus of a number of
communist-led separatist movements that sprung up in remote, often tribal areas in India”. Initially, these movements emerged in India’s northeast but later extended its reach to many other parts. The groups under the Naxalite umbrella claim to represent the socially, politically, and economically disenfranchised and marginalized people – mainly the tribal people and Dalits.
Their main groups include the People’s War Group (PWG) – established in 1976 – and the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist-Janashakti – formed in 1992. The latter has a presence in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh. The Naxalites believe that to subvert the Indian government and its exploitive system, it needs to sustain a peasant-led revolution in accordance with the Maoist doctrine.
For example, in 2001 the Meiteis came out on the streets and burned the Assembly building with legislators still inside. In response, security forces killed 18 protesters
They primarily employ guerilla tactics against their targets, which include businessmen, landlords, security forces, and politicians. They are also known for targeting communication, transportation, and other infrastructure to disrupt services. They have come to control large swathes of territory in states like
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Orissa etcetera.
The ongoing phase of the insurgency began in 2004 when PWG merged with the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist). The People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) is its armed militant wing. At its peak, in 2007, the Naxalite insurgency was active across “half of India’s 28 states” which comprises around 40% of the country’s geographical area – this is known as the Red Corridor.
Due to the strict government crackdown, the number of Naxal-affected areas has reduced in recent times, however. Interestingly enough, the Red Corridor consists of some of the most neglected, poor, illiterate, and overpopulated areas of India such as Jharkhand, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and so on.
This government apathy helps the Naxalite cause to recruit the antagonized poor of India who feel exploited by Delhi. The Naxalites look for support from the hundreds of millions of tribal people in India, who
have suffered greatly due to India’s rigid caste-system. One author comments that the primary reason for the expansion of Naxalism is the widespread exploitation of
the underprivileged and scheduled castes.
In 2009, the government launched a counterinsurgency operation that led to an escalation of violence and casualties of many civilians. More than 100 people lost their lives throughout India that year.
Over
20,000 people – mainly civilians – have been killed since 1980 due to the insurgency and counterinsurgency efforts. As is often heard about Indian security forces, there are many accusations leveled against them vis-à-vis sexual abuse and extrajudicial killings of innocent tribal people among other gross transgressions. Even human rights groups have been targeted for reporting such abuses.
The Naxalites too have been accused of illegal behavior including kidnapping and torture. A third actor which has surfaced in the midst of this conflict are the government-backed vigilante groups that target Naxalite sympathizers – one such right-wing group called Salwa Judum has been accused of rapes and murders but was eventually outlawed.
The state of Chhattisgarh has especially been ensnared by violence even to this day. The government deployed over 100,000 troops to uproot the decades-old Naxalite insurgency in the state but the violence and its monolithic nature results in deaths every year. For example, in 2018, 9 security personnel were killed in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. The recent most violent incident saw the deaths of 19 police officers via a Naxalite IED in Maharashtra on May 1, 2019.
Conclusion
I have briefly elaborated on only three of the many ongoing secessionist/insurgent movements in India. These insurgencies and movements, unfortunately, do not get the “airtime” they deserve on the mainstream media whether Indian or international. It is not shocking that India’s unfree and controlled media purposefully does not report objectively on these movements as to not further ruin India’s international repute (which has become very muddied after the Jammu & Kashmir article blunder).
India is by no means a true democracy as its minorities are completely exposed and unsafe. They have treated minorities’ grievances with neglect and have tackled decades-old insurgencies with brute force akin to IOK – which has further alienated its minorities. While the Western world is hasty in passing judgment against Muslim countries especially Pakistan when it comes to human rights and the sort, India usually manages to avoid the condemning gaze of the world.
India’s multi-racial and multi-ethnic nature has become its own weakness and the BJP, which seeks to establish a Hindu only nation, is further ostracizing India’s minorities in the realization of this goal. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that India is currently on the path of self-destruction.
I will end with a telling quote and although it predates partition (1947), it holds true even today:
“There is not, and never was an India, or even any country of India, possessing, according to European ideas, any sort of unity, physical, political, social or religious.” – John Strachey (1888)
