Charles Chasie
This is a response to Lieutenant General Arvinder S. Lamba’s views as published in Eastern Mirror on June 14, 2014. At first I was tempted to dismiss it as the eccentric opinions of a retired General. But such views also touch issues that go to make policies for the region. Secondly, I have now managed to find the article by Thangkhanlal Ngaihte published in IPCS, to which piece General Lamba was reacting, and found it constructive. I think Mr Ngaihte has only echoed the perceptions of the peoples of the North East and has not gone out of his way to be hostile to the Army. Perhaps, the General has been too sensitive and not thought enough about the need to bridge the communication gap between the mainland and the NE that has always plagued the region. There also appears to be a slanting in his writing. Hence, this write-up.
This response is meant to be a discussion and sharing of views not a destructive criticism. But let me first make my position clear lest what I write is also misunderstood. I am a person who believes it is in the best interest of Nagas and others in NE to be part of the Indian Union – I find similar sentiments in Ngaihte’s piece unless I have read his writing very wrong. I have known many Indian army generals, and a few became friends, and I find many of them are very good human beings and I respect them for that.
Secondly, I have no difficulty with Government of India appointing anyone to the office of Minister or Governor in any State. That is its prerogative. The test is how the person in office performs/performed. If people have misperceptions, then they should be accepted as challenges and opportunities to change that image. We are all usually thrown into situations we do not choose and find ourselves dealing with people we may not naturally want to! How we respond is how we change and transform situations for the better. If our responses are inadequate, God forbid, things can also be made worse which nobody wants.
Having said the above, I am a little surprised at General Lamba’s apparent “we” and “they” attitude which seemed to have crept in, especially towards the end of his piece. I do not question the possible good intentions of the general or how he personally sees the situation. He has that right like all of us also have the right to express our opinions.
As a retired army general, Mr Lamba, naturally, may think he has to defend the Indian Army’s position or that he is proving loyal to a former colleague. We may or may not agree but he has that right. What is not in sinc is his reading, and interpretation, of history of the region.
First, General Lamba talks about “the “phenomenon of conflict” in North East and wants to go back to the 10th Century and walk us through to 1879, which was when the Battle of Khonoma with British took place, ostensibly the last stand again the British Imperialists. He goes on to talk about Arunachal Pradesh in the 1960s and seems to want to make his argument/s through the eyes of British Colonists. He appears to think that it was the British who brought Peace to Nagas and other parts of NE and that Indian Army is its legatee! Sure, peoples of the North East, and my own Nagas are always at logger heads with each other. But has the GoI and Indian Army been helping to bring them together or taking advantage?
Transfer this scenario to what now constitutes mainland India, And one wonders what General Lamba’s views are on British Colonialism and whether because the various princely states in India were always fighting each other, did it justify the East India Company (and later the British Government) to take over and rule India? If we go by the General’s argument, then it can be said that British Colonialists brought peace to India or should we say they created/built modern India?! I wonder how many Indians would accept such a premise?
General Lamba goes on to say that “The Indian Army’s bond with the Northeast is older than even people from the region would know”. In the context in which he has written, I think this is an insult to both India and, certainly, to the peoples of the North East who are supposed to be part of India. There are still many people in the region who remember 1947! His apparent justification of British Colonialism, and implicit acceptance of Indian Army as its legatee, seem to continue here which predates Indian Independence and into British India period. The question is, “What was India’s Freedom Struggle all about and from whom?”
Yes, Northeastern peoples were ignorant, and backward for many years, even decades, but things are different now. Does the good General also know the kind of Forced Labour Indian Army imposed on Naga villagers in the 1950s-1960s, and even later, particularly clearing jungles? What about the infamous Oinam incident and numerous others? Can these be cited as “bonds” of friendship with Northeastern peoples? Does he also know the kind of inhuman legislations still on the statute books? If he wants, I would be happy to oblige and send him texts of the mentioned legislations. I have often written that these legislations are a blot on India’s civilization and its present status as the largest democracy in the world.
General Lamba talks about nation-building. This is all very well and I, for one, welcome it very much. He mentions the presence of “Communists” who took advantage of the situation in North East. They may have?! But why and how did such run-away situations come about? If you have the people with you, why should you fear? The fear comes from the fact that there have been wrongs and these wrongs have not been addressed or not addressed adequately.
Next General Lamba talks about the good development works being done by the Indian Army and that in the Northeast, “Development has been a prime focus of the Army”. True, the Army has been doing some good works. I have myself seen some of them. But the Army’s primary duty is to protect the country from external danger/forces, not even internal matters except in extraordinary circumstances, and certainly not “development”. The Army is not required for development purposes nor was it created for development purposes. There are so many other expert agencies for that. The dilution of the Army’s role creates “confusion” among all, including the soldiery while it reflects unimaginative thinking at the policy level. The political leadership must learn to use the Army intelligently and sparingly.
The presence of militancy/insurgency in the region is a given. There is no arguing the fact. The point is how do you solve these? Do you do this with more violence or by winning hearts and minds of the people? At most, military presence, and actions, can only provide a “softening” stance of the opposition and create a more conducive atmosphere for political solutions. There has never been any permanent military solution to any problem anywhere. Without proper respect for people’s sentiments and their perceived rights and without a political agreement, a durable and workable solution to any problem is difficult to perceive.
Finally, I am baffled by General Lamba’s quotation of the epitaph in the Kohima Cemetery, ”When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today”. He justifies this epitaph because “Many amongst the Indian Army Generals have served and died with dignity and honour for the sake of their countrymen from this great region”. One can ask if the general thinks North East is not part of India and so the message needs to be passed on to mainlanders (the real India?) about the Army’s sacrifice for their nation in NE? The General can be an Anglophile and nobody will object. But Is this a perpetration of the Colonialistic attitude which has usually been the hallmark of Indian Government’s, and many mainlanders’, dealings with North East, be it policy, legislations etc?
It is not surprising that Northeasterners are often confused. On the one hand, GoI claims the region belongs to India and wants everybody to join the “mainstream”, whatever that means? On the other hand, the attitudes the people of this region experience from the mainland is one of intolerance, treating the North eastern peoples as ”subject” peoples and pursuing 18th, 19th Century Colonial policies of the British.
Just take two legislation examples. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has now been made famous, thanks largely to Irom Chanu Sharmila and her struggle against this Act. The world already knows this as an “inhuman” law. What about the Nagaland Security Regulation Act, 1962? This is still hardly known by people outside, even the majority of younger Nagas do not know although their people suffered so much under this Act. If the AFSPA is “inhuman”, the Nagaland Security Regulation Act can be said to be even more “draconian”. This Act made possible the “concentration camps” in the garb of “village groupings” and under this Act Nagas have no right to private property. Also under this Act, the position of the Governor is more that of a Colonial Governor. Is it any surprise if Nagas are reluctant to become part of an India that would impose such draconian laws on them? That such a law may not be applied all the time is no excuse for its continued existence.
Namrata Goswami, writing about Naga Identity, has said that arbitrary International boundaries, “with little regard to local realities, and the framework of policy-making that views ethnic groups as somehow pre-modern and in need of development are the major existential and ideational challenges. Inherent in this framework is a notion that somehow, the mainstream culture and institutions are … universal… policy making is propelled by the `command culture of legitimacy’ that public administrators espouse… what is required … is a deep seated understanding of the culture of identity recognition and preservation”.
History must not be tampered with lest we repeat the follies of the past. An English friend does not even like people who try to explain history with hind sight and he calls them pseudo-historians. We all need to walk softly, side by side, respecting each other and working together so that when we are gone, God-willing, there may be some positive footprints in the sands of time!
