[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here has been much speculation in the local media on what the situation in the ‘inurgency ridden’ states in the northeast will be under the BJP led NDA government with Narendra Modi at the helm of affairs.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, during his recent visit to Assam to attend the funeral of the Assam SP shot dead by Karbi militants said that …”I am from the northeast and I know the situation in the region. Now, since I am in the home ministry it is good for the state governments in the northeast to pursue any matter” should for the moment hold nerves in check.
As for now there appears to be no departure from the policy adopted by the centre in handling the issue of militancy. Soon after the gunning down of a woman by militants in the Garo Hills last week and the killing of superintendent police Nityananda Goswami, last Thursday by Karbi militants in Assam’ s more security forces are being deployed in the area. Five units of CRPF’s elite Cobra battalion will launch counter insurgency operations in Assam, where a senior police officer was killed by militants two days ago.Besides, the Centre agreed to continue the existing deployment of additional central forces in the state for a period of three months.The decisions were taken on Saturday after Union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju held a law and order review meeting with Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi in state capital Dispur. The review meeting followed after the Centre earlier decided to withdrawal 36 out of total 58 companies of additional forces deployed in the Bodoland Territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) area June 11.The question to be asked is how is the centre actually approaching the issue of old “insurgencies” in the region. Home Minister Kiren Rijiju had also tellingly remarked that ‘talks cannot go on forever’. While this may be true, any haste to prove this point will undo all that has been achieved towards initiating a dialogue, especially when it comes to the Naga political issue. For decades a trust deficit has existed between those at the helm of affairs in the Government of India and Naga leaders who have been at the centrifugal point of the same.
The situation demands that each side take one bold step to display that they mean what they say and that they are committed to the common good of all. Both parties appear to be searching for reassurances that the other will keep his word. One of the sore issues it appears is related to the possession of arms by the NSCN (IM) and the subsequent surrender of the same. Not surprisingly, this is a suggestion with no scope of being accepted, especially in the absence of any workable arrangement that is known to have been made during the 17 year long Ceasefire talks.
It takes a paradigm shift of the mindset to bridge the divide. And the ripples that such a shift can make to break down barriers cannot be quantified.
Take for example the recent decision by British PM David Cameroon that all Sikhs are now exempted from using the ‘hard hat’ or the helmet at construction sites. He said he was struck by the peace and tranquility of the Golden Temple in Amritsar during his visit there and realized how much pain Blue Star Operation had caused. The statement comes in the wake of reports earlier this year of the British military’s role in the 1984 Operation Blue Star .
Cameroon’s apology and concession for belief based sentiments may have just won him a diplomatic coup over elements angry that the British Army had a role in the OP Bluestar.
Can talks on the Naga political issue hope for a similar overtures to break the deadlock on a issue now spanning four generations?
