[chottala.com] India’s fault lines and the seven sisters

India's fault lines and the seven sisters

By: Adeela Naureen | August 18, 2012

The recent upscaled violence and mayhem in India's northeastern State
of Assam between Bodos and Ashoms is just the simmering of the powder
keg called the seven sisters. Falling along the eastern border of
Bangladesh (and not essentially bordering it), these include Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh (NEFA), Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and
Tripura.

As far back as in 2001, Wasbir Hussain in an article, Insurgency in
India's Northeast Cross-border Links and Strategic Alliances, in the
Indian Institute for Conflict Management, described the situation as
the simmering north east, as "India's north-east is one of South
Asia's hottest trouble spots, not simply because the region has as
many as 30 armed insurgent organisations operating and fighting the
Indian state, but because trans-border linkages that these groups
have, and strategic alliances among them, have acted as force
multipliers and have made the conflict dynamics all the more
intricate. With demands of these insurgent groups, ranging from
secession to autonomy and the right to self-determination, and a
plethora of ethnic groups clamouring for special rights and the
protection of their distinct identity, the region is bound to be a
turbulent one.

"Moreover, the location of the eight north-eastern Indian states,
itself, is part of the reason why it has always been a hotbed of
militancy with trans-border ramifications. This region of 263,000
square kilometres shares highly porous and sensitive frontiers with
China in the north, Myanmar in the east, Bangladesh in the south-west
and Bhutan to the north-west. The region's strategic location is
underlined by the fact that it shares a 4,500 km-long international
border with its four South Asian neighbours, but is connected to the
Indian mainland by a tenuous 22 km-long land corridor passing through
Siliguri in the eastern State of West Bengal, appropriately described
as the 'Chicken's Neck'."

The recent surge of ethnic violence has led to the deployment of army
in the troubled districts of Assam where almost 1,70,000 people
forcibly removed from their homes and have been put into temporary
shelters, reminiscent of the Nazi concentration camps.

Despite the fact that the Indian media has downplayed the exodus of
this tragic happening, the general public in India has shown
abhorrence to the Muslims of Assam, with one commentator in the daily
The Hindu remarking: "The fundamental question is how aliens can
terrorise the Indians in India? Assam is on the way to become another
Kashmir, perhaps, a much more sinister one at that because of the twin
evil of vote bank politics and negligent attitude towards the
north-east in general."

Where are the champions of human rights in India, the so-called
international community and the very vocal and vibrant media
intellectuals within Pakistan? Whether it is the prosecution of
Rohingyas of Myanmar or the ruthless killings of Assamese Muslims in
India, everyone is so quiet and unmoved. After all, Muslim blood is
the cheapest to be spilled across the globe, from Afghanistan to
Arakan and from Tripoli to Kokrajhar. So it has to be one Dr Munawar
Hasan to remind this sleeping nation of 180 million that we should be
able to at least raise our voice in a strong protest.

So where is India - the mighty - heading for? I will quote some
conclusion from a private study: "The Indian Union's control over its
resurgent population, especially the oppressed communities, is
eroding; it is only a matter of time when instability in the hotbeds
of revolution reaches a critical point of no return, leading to loss
of central control and call for autonomy and independence along the
identified fault lines.

"There is a general (un)awareness of the 'Indian internal conflicts'
in Pakistan due to lack of proper focus as well as distance factor. We
do not have any dedicated institution to study Indian internal polity
due to stereotype attitudes. The Muslims of India other than Kashmir
have been left at Indian mercy for too long and there is a clear
blackout of information on these communities and their plight.

"Pakistan and the international community have an obligation to
provide moral support to the oppressed communities of India; after
all, India has always raised questions on Balochistan and even
northern areas whenever they have found an opportunity. Interestingly,
the Indian media and its think tanks project the themes of failed
states in South Asia and opine that all states surrounding India are
either failed or failing states. It is time for India to reflect that
actually it is the basket case for a failed state.

"The Indian establishment and its media have successively befooled the
international community on the plight of its downtrodden masses as
well as apartheid treatment meted out to Dalits and Muslims with the
themes of 'Shining India' and milk and honey flowing through the
Ganges River. The voices of oppressed communities of India have been
snubbed under a thick blanket of 'all is well'. It is high time the
international community abided by their obligation of moral and
diplomatic support to the oppressed of India.

"The international community must understand that Indian fault lines
are real and have the potential to destabilise the whole region. The
nuclearised South Asia cannot afford an India with exorbitant
expenditure on arms and arsenal spending where its oppressed
communities become desperate leading to loss of political control.
India must put its house in order before embarking upon its journey to
the so-called greatness.

"Pakistan and the international community should provide forums to the
oppressed Indian communities in voicing their concerns and help them
in achieving semblance of basic human rights. In this time of
information age, the regional and international media (including print
and electronic) has an obligation to come forward and deliver the
oppressed communities of India from the centuries of exploitation and
oppression."

The writer is a Zimbabwe-based Pakistani and works as a freelance
journalist. She is working on the social issues confronting Pakistan
and Zimbabwe, the psychological cost of the long war as well as
phenomenon of Musharaffization of Pakistani society.
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/columns/18-Aug-2012/india-s-fault-lines-and-the-seven-sisters


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