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06/09/2008: "Fed up with violence: Peace rallies across Nagaland Jagdamba Mall Organizer"

Fed up with violence: Peace rallies across Nagaland Jagdamba Mall Organizer

With little hope that Naga armed cadres would listen to the voice of the people, Nagas across the length and breath of Nagaland called for restoration of peace and normalcy in the trouble torn state. Under the aegis of Goanburas and Dubashis peace rallies were organised in all the 11 districts of the state.

In the state capital Kohima, worried Home Minister Imkong L. Imchen led the rally from old MLA hostel junction to the main public ground and lambasted the anti-social activities of the Naga armed cadres. “Kidnapping, abduction, ransom and extortion will not bring independence to Naga prople,” he said. Condemning the killing of innocent people in the strongest term, he questioned the cadres who gave them orders to shoot at the public. “AK- 47 will never bring independence to Nagas,” he asserted. He said 1951 Naga plebiscite was not for taking up AK- 47 rifles, nor was to kill public with guns,” he said. He called upon the Naga cadres to eschew the path of violence and come for the common platform for common agenda to be placed before the policy makers of the country to decide the future course of action for the Naga people. He also blamed the political parties of the state for the present mess in Naga society. He said the political parties always take advantage of the situation and exploit it for their own vested interest and this has compounded the situation.

Imchatoba Imchen, president of Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) said 11 years of Naga ceasefire has resulted into increase in fratricidal killings, kidnapping, abduction, ransom and extortions generating extra burden to the common Nagas. Angami Youth Organisation general secretary S. Nagi urged the government to enforce its authority to save the people from the ongoing turmoil brought about by underground groups in the name of a political movement. The Joint Forum of the GBs and DBs highlighted that despite the ceasefire agreement, violence and killings continue to take place in civilian populated areas of Dimapur, which also endangered the lives of the general public.

Commissioner Nagaland, HK Khulu said Nagaland state was passing through the darkest hour in its long 60 years of Naga history after the creation of the state. He said the Nagas are living in a fragile atmosphere wanting peace and harmony for progressive society and they are fed up of the continuing violence and killings among themselves.

The state convener for GBs and DBs Joint Forum, Taku Longkumer, expressed the apprehension that if the situation continues, there would be a civil war in the Naga society. “Unless there is cessation of fire, how can we call for reconciliation,” he asked. He also appealed to the Naga Hoho and ENPO (Eastern Naga Peoples Organisation) to come together and join hands in the process of initiating peace in the state. Naga Hoho speaker, HK Zhimomi, was critical about the role of Village Chiefs, whom he alleged are becoming “tax collectors” of underground factions. This, he said, has to be immediately stopped. Shri Zhimomi further urged the general public to strengthen the hands of the Naga Hoho and the civil societies. Others who spoke were president Naga Council, Savi Legise, adviser NSF, Phusika Aomi, president DNSU, Solomom, Awomi and retired Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner T.N. Manen.

Earlier, the peace march started from City Tower junction and culminated at DDSC stadium where public leaders, NGOs and a large number of school and college students participated. The peace rallyists numbering more than 10,000 representing Village Council members, Ao Seden, Watsu mungdang, AKM, Ward Chairmen, Town Councils, various school students of Mokokchung town and Mokokchung public assembled at the main police point in the morning and proceeded towards Imkongmeren Sports Complex holding placards, banners and giving slogans such as ‘We want peace, stop bloodshed, shun violence’ etc.

Concluding the peace rally at the Imkongmeren Sports Complex, the vice president of all Nagaland GBs Federation, Chubakumzuk and president Ao Seden Temjenkaba called upon the people to work for bringing permanent peace in Nagaland. At Mon, the rally was held at the private Bus Stand where DC Mon Shri Dinesh Kumar said everybody should try to first bring peace in Nagaland, then only development would follow. He deliberated on the principle of non-violence and urged the Nagas to unite and join hands for a better tomorrow.

At Wokha, the Joint Forum Working Committee of Wokha district GBs and DBs Association organised a peace rally at local football ground. Deputy Commissioner Wokha, Mikha Lomi appealed to the people to show solidarity to fight against the gun culture in the society and to stand together and oppose fratricidal killing amongst the Naga brothers. He also appealed to all the leaders to think seriously and take positive steps to stop the long-term political problem.

The rally started from public ground and proceeded towards PWD and culminated at NST junction. More than 10,000 people from all walks of life attended the rally. From January till May 16, 2008, more than five-dozen people have been killed in factional fights. On May 16 it crossed all limits when 15 cadres of NSCN (unification) including one innocent Konyak villager were killed in fight with NSCN (IM). It was in this background that peace rallies were organised throughout the state.
Let’s solve Naga issue together, not tribe wise morungexpress
MLA or 5th Ghaspani II, K. Hollohon
Talking about the deteriorating law and order situation and the frequent factional clashes that has claimed many lives in Dimapur district, especially around his constituency 5th Ghaspani II, Independent MLA, K. Hollohon shared his sense of helplessness during a one-on-one interview with The Morung Express.

MEx: For the past few months, Dimapur has witnessed a lot of killings and unfortunately most of these clashes have happened under your assembly constituency. How concerned are you about this worsening situation?
Hollohon: It is very difficult to say anything here because this is the issue of Naga political issue and it is not possible to interfere in their challenge against each other. Nagas are no longer working for a common Naga problem but it has now become individual problem and even if I try a lot, I cannot solve it on my own.

MEx: Though it is a factional warfare, a number of civilians have also been killed and the public of your area, even school children, are also being put to enormous strains and harassment.
Hollohon: Yes, and yet I cannot interfere and tell them why are you killing my people because they know exactly what they are doing. We are not getting any benefit by these killings. But there is a government, it is the government who should be in consultation with all the groups, and not us as mere MLAs and opposition.

MEx: So you don’t think the state government is doing enough to contain the situation?
Hollohon: Atleast, they should know what the situation is in Nagaland or what the situation is in Delhi because it is their duty. If we interfere in this situation, they (the state government) will accuse us of trying to topple their government. The only activities of Naga politician is that they are satisfied if they become ministers or MLAs but I want to know what the Naga political leaders talk in Delhi. They are not at all disclosing to the people what they discuss.

MEx: You mean you want more transparency on the talks that Naga underground groups have with the Government of India?
Hollohon: In 2004, I used to have these discussions with the union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil asking him why the Centre does not intervene in our problem but he replied, “Hollohonji, its not my problem, its your problem. It is your family that is quarrelling so how can I interfere in your family’s quarrel?....I am not sending my army to kill the Nagas but it is Nagas killing themselves so how can I stop the killing?” How can I reply to this when he (Shivraj Patil) is stating a fact here.

MEx: What is your opinion on Muivah’s recent statement which appeared in the papers about being open to a one-on-one with Khaplang?
Hollohon: It is good if they can manage such a thing. We need something like that. This is for the entire Nagas not for individual benefit. Who is saying no to it? But truth should be carried out in truth and not mixed with false action. This is where the problem arises.

MEx: So what suggestions would you make for improving the ground situation in the state?
Hollohon: I would suggest for the factions to withdraw these killing activities and let the people work without fear. Then the whole Naga people will work towards our freedom together. Stop the killing and stop the suspicion. Suspicion has become our people’s character and many people have died because of it. They (factions) are challenging each other but at what cost? Killing of 12, 14 everyday is not going to reap any benefit. Already this year, 60 people have been killed.
And my opinion is that Delhi should give a decision like “If you don’t do this, we will also not do this; or if you do this, we will do this for you.” Lets talks in kgs, weighed in a balance. Instead, they (GoI) are simply bluffing the Nagas; acting like they are with one group and then the other group, twisting languages, so on. It is really bluffing.
I think Nagas are really bent on destroying ourselves. This Naga movement was started decades ago against the British, not India and there was not a single killing then. But look at us now. Today Christianity is the only factor that is binding us together.
Let us leave behind this issue of tribes and talk on how to bring peace to Nagaland. Without peace we cannot achieve anything. I keep thinking why not love each other and then solve this problem with the Government of India, not in tribe-wise manner but together.
Nagaland: Beginnings of an End? Bibhu Prasad Routray Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management
What is worrisome for Nagaland, however, is the prospect of the intensification of the internecine clashes between the NSCN-IM on the one hand and the NSCN-K and NSCN-U on the other. South Asia Intelligence Review, January 21, 2008
Terror turned realtime in Nagaland in the early hours of June 4. Television cameras captured live footage as armed cadres of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Unification (NSCN-U) and the Isak-Muivah faction of the NSCN (NSCN-IM) exchanged fire in the Seithekima area, 15 kilometres off the commercial hub, Dimapur, in a clash that left 12 NSCN-U cadres dead. The NSCN-IM blamed the Unification faction of initiating the clash. In a separate clash in a nearby area, another two NSCN-U cadres were killed on the same day. Barely 20 days earlier, on May 16, in a similar pattern in the same area, 16 persons including 14 NSCN-U cadres and two civilians had been killed. The clash had occurred while NSCN-U cadres were returning after carrying out an attack on an NSCN-IM camp in a nearby area. IM cadres, waiting in ambush, hailed bullets on their unsuspecting rivals, giving them little chance to react, and decamped with their victims’ weapons. With bodies lying scattered, local people converged on the NSCN-IM’s Cease-fire Monitoring Cell at the 4th Mile area in Dimapur, demanding an explanation for such ruthless killings. Subsequent firing by the IM cadres claimed the lives of two civilians.
Apart from the staggering number of deaths in these individual incidents, the incidents themselves come as no surprise to regular watchers of the Naga conflict and conform largely to the pattern of militant violence in Nagaland. In a State where the two principal militant factions [NSCN-IM and the Khaplang faction (NSCN-K)] have been under a cease-fire agreement with the Centre, Nagaland records disturbing level of annual fatalities, with a consistent escalation over the years. Fatalities, mostly among the militant ranks as a result of factional clashes, claimed 97 lives in 2004, 99 in 2005, 147 in 2006 and 154 in 2007. According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), 25 fatalities were recorded in 2008 (till March 31). The Institute for Conflict Management database records another 48 deaths between April 1 and June 3 (a day before the June 4 incident). Total fatalities in the current year, consequently, already stood at 87, as of June 5, 2008.
Interestingly, the NSCN-U, which has been in the thick of things in Nagaland since its inception in November 2007, has been a product of a move to unify the warring NSCN-IM and NSCN-K, which represented a tribal divide that has marked the Naga secessionist struggle since the 1950s. On November 23, 2007, armed cadres and some senior functionaries of both the IM and K factions converged at Hovishe under the Niuland sub-division in the Dimapur District to sign an inter-factional ‘truce agreement’, declaring the unification of both warring factions a common goal. The Agreement led to the birth of NSCN-Unification (NSCN-U), which remained stationed at Vihokhu, 25 kilometres from Dimapur. The IM leadership was critical of the development and made it clear that the Agreement was not acceptable to them.
The NSCN-IM’s attitude was mostly rooted in the tribal divide within the group, which was brought into further prominence by the formation of the NSCN-U. The NSCN-U signified a revolt by the cadres belonging to the Sema tribe within the NSCN-IM against the overbearing presence of the Tangkhul tribe, to which the IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah belongs. The Tangkhuls have a marginal presence in Nagaland and are mostly based in the Hill District of Ukhrul in neighbouring Manipur. The NSCN-U has subsequently argued that the IM faction is trying to turn Nagaland into a ‘Gaza Strip’ to rehabilitate the Tangkhuls, with a view to undermine the native Nagas in the State. At least on three occasions this year, NSCN-U cadres have carried out attacks on Tangkhul Nagas in Dimapur.
Inevitably, the birth of the NSCN-U has added to the instability parameters within Nagaland. Cadres of the new outfit, mostly drawn from the IM faction, retained the legacy of violence of their parent group. With its proximity to NSCN-K, the NSCN-U also faced no dearth of small arms and ammunition. A glimpse of the array of weapons in the possession of the NSCN-U was provided by a March 11 recovery of an AK-47 rifle with magazine, one .22 rifle, one double barrel 12 Bore gun, one 7.65mm pistol of Italian make with three magazines, one.38 revolver and two Chinese grenades, from six arrested NSCN-U militants in Dimapur.
There is little doubt that the NSCN-U is being supported by the NSCN-K, which has apparently found a way out of its direct confrontations with the IM faction (the two principal factions have clashed only six times this year, thrice in the neighbouring state of Manipur and thrice in Nagaland) and is still being able to inflict losses on its bete noire. Both the NSCN-K and NSCN-U cadres have reportedly operated in tandem and a substantial amount of arms and ammunition has been transferred from the Khaplang camp to the NSCN-U cadres. Realising this, on May 10, the Cease-Fire Supervisory Board (CFSB) had asked the NSCN-K to shift its camp at Vihokhu in the Dimapur District to avoid clashes with the NSCN-IM, since the camp was not a ‘Designated Camp’.
While clashes between the NSCN-IM and the NSCN-K, in previous years, were reported mostly from the Districts of Kohima, Mon, Phek, Zunheboto, Mokokchung and Wokha, Dimapur has emerged almost as the sole location (with the exception of just one incident in Wokha) of the fighting between the IM and U factions. Since its inception, Unification cadres have been based primarily in and around Dimapur and have not ventured into the NSCN-IM strongholds in other Districts. Dimapur, however, hosts NSCN-IM’s command headquarters at Camp Hebron and, consequently, accounts for a large concentration of its total of 3,000 cadres.
Prior to the June 4 incident (and excluding the May 16 clash), the clashes between the U and IM factions in 2008 have included the following.
• May 12: A clash between militants of the NSCN-IM and the NSCN-U was reported from ‘Tinali Teak Bagan’ between Xelhozhe and Seithekiema ‘A’ in the Dimapur District. No casualty was reported.
• May 5: In separate incidents, two civilians, including a college student, and a NSCN-IM militant were shot dead by suspected NSCN-U militants in Dimapur.
• May 4: Two NSCN-U cadres were killed during a clash at Merapani in the Wokha District. (This was the sole incident of a clash between the two factions outside Dimapur). On the same day, NSCN-IM ‘lieutenant’ A. Pouken Zeliang, was shot dead by suspected NSCN-U militants in the Burma Camp area in Dimapur.
• May 1: Two civilians and an NSCN-U cadre were killed during a clash at Old Showuba village under Niuland sub-division in the Dimapur District.
• April 30: One ‘Deputy Kilonser’ (minister), Nemalie Metha, and a ‘joint secretary’, Kahoi Chaplee, of the NSCN-IM were abducted by the rival NSCN-U from Dimapur. On the same day, an NSCN-IM ‘commanding officer’ in the Tamenglong District of Manipur, identified as L.Y. Shanga alias Yurthing, was killed when an explosive ‘accidentally’ went off at Camp Hebron in Dimapur. The NSCN-U, however, alleged that Shanga was ‘executed’ at Camp Hebron on the suspicion of his attempt to defect to the NSCN-U.
• April 22: Two NSCN-U militants, ‘Captain’ Atovi and ‘Sergeant Major’ Pukheto, and two NSCN-IM militants, ‘privates’ Thachan Tangkhul and Y. Tangkhul, were killed during a clash between the two groups at Tenyiphe-I near St. Joseph’s School along the road towards Khopanalla in Dimapur. Two unexploded grenades were recovered by police personnel from the incident site.
On the same day, a clash between militants of the NSCN-U and NSCN-IM was reported at Singrijan in the Dimapur District along the Assam-Nagaland border. No casualty was reported.
• April 17: Two cadres of the NSCN-U, identified as Alex Sema and Sukuithong, and one from the rival NSCN-IM, identified as ‘Lt.’ Shondhar, were killed, while another NSCN-IM cadre was abducted in three separate incidents of factional violence in Dimapur.
• March 28: Two NSCN-IM leaders, Hangsing and Longshen, were abducted from their respective houses by the NSCN-U.
• May 25: NSCN-U alleged that four of its cadres were abducted by the NSCN-IM in Dimapur and one of them was tortured to death.
• February 1: Three NSCN-IM militants, Tokishe G. Swu, Asangba Santam and Nikhuyi, and Swu’s wife were abducted by the cadres of NSCN-U from Dimapur.
In addition, at least three clashes between the two factions were averted in the Dimapur District as a result of intervention by civilians. On May 14, irate villagers drove away cadres of both factions from Khehokhu, Hoito and Nihoto areas, where both the groups had converged to carry out attacks on each other. Previously, on May 8, people chased out NSCN-IM and NSCN-U militants engaged in a violent clash at Diphupar. On April 24, a factional clash between both factions was averted after people forced cadres belonging to both factions to vacate Diphupar ‘B’ and Ikishe villages. While civilian intervention for peace is an indication of the popular disenchantment with an overwhelming atmosphere of constant war and is a welcome scenario in trouble-torn Nagaland, the near absence of the state in peace-making has contributed to the significant collateral loss of civilian lives, as in the May 16 incident.
Several previous assessments on SAIR have underlined that the cease-fire ground rules which are supposed to keep the armed cadres within the designated camps, and to control their movements and activities, have been violated with impunity over the years. The mere existence and non-enforcement of such ground rules has provided the militant cadres the licence to run a regime of extortion and abduction targeting not just the civilian population in the state, but also the transit traffic and travellers bound for neighbouring Manipur, on the National Highways passing through Nagaland.
A confirmation of the state of affairs, largely a product of a complacent Union Government, was provided by a MHA letter to the Nagaland Government on January 29, 2008. The letter broadened the definition of cease-fire violations to include extortion in the garb of collecting ‘taxes’, abduction for ransom and killings, smuggling of arms and ammunition, issuing demand letters, issuing warning/threat azhas (orders) to senior politicians and bureaucrats, movements through and residence in populated areas with arms and in uniforms, inter-factional clashes and targeted killing of rival cadres, stand off between cadres and Security Forces (SFs) and unauthorised concentrations of armed cadres. The MHA letter further indicated that cease-fire violations involving commission of offences would be dealt with primarily by the State Police, with the support of Assam Rifles/Army wherever required. However, violations involving movements and stay in populated areas with arms and in uniforms and unauthorised concentrations would primarily be dealt with by the Assam Rifles or the Army. State Police and other Central Forces would be co-opted wherever necessary.
The letter also included a newly formulated Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) for the Army/ Assam Rifles (AR), Central Para-Military Forces (CPMFs) and the Nagaland Police, which included the directive that, during joint operations, cordon should be established by the Army/AR and search operations should be carried out by the State Police / India Reserve Battalion (IRB) / Nagaland Armed Police (NAP) / CPMFs. However, only in exceptional circumstances where the Police make such a request, the senior most Army / AR officer present on the spot may assume command of all forces to deal with the situation.
For some inexplicable reasons and in spite of the continuing clashes between the militant factions, the SOP has remained unimplemented for three and half months after the directives to this effect reached Kohima. After the May 16 incident the State Government had asked for the implementation of the SOP, pleaded with the militant factions to vacate populated areas, and directed the Police and CPMFs to enforce cease-fire ground rules to pre-empt armed clashes between rival factions. On May 22, the State Government also set a deadline of June 10 to evict all armed militants from civilian areas in all the 11 Districts, especially from District Headquarters. However, it was not till June 6, that the Dimapur District administration conducted a thirteen-hour ‘flush out’ exercise in different colonies of Dimapur town and nearby villages. No such operation, however, had been carried out in any of the other Districts till the writing of this report.
As indicated repeatedly on SAIR, the Nagaland State Government’s role in the long-standing conflict has remained negligible and limited mostly to issuing of occasional pleas for ‘sanity’. While the earlier Congress regime headed by the present Governor to Goa, S.C. Jamir, was accused of favouring the NSCN-K, the Nephiu Rio-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) Government, which was re-elected in the March 2008 elections to the State Legislative Assembly, is believed to be close to the NSCN-IM. Such proximity has led Rio to maintain, on a permanent basis, that factional clashes are ‘political’ in nature and are largely unavoidable as long as the conflict exists. On May 10, Rio expressed his doubts regarding New Delhi’s ‘sincerity’ in talks with the militant groups, and said that there was no clear direction from the MHA about what the fate of talks with the NSCN-IM was to be. He asserted, further: "Definitely, the delay (in talks between NSCN-IM and Centre) is the cause of all the problems. It is getting multiplied. We want to see the sincerity of the Government of India and the underground groups to resolve it."
Official complacency and complicity notwithstanding, the recent developments signify a moment of truth for the NSCN-IM, not just because its monopoly over violence is increasingly being challenged by other armed factions, but also due to a rapidly developing schism between the common people and the rebel group. For example, at a meeting organised by the local populace in Dimapur after the May 16 violence, speakers repeatedly questioned the rationale behind the continued bloodshed and the direction of the Naga struggle under the leadership of the NSCN-IM. While it might be easy for the insurgent outfit to dismiss such queries as part of the propaganda by sympathisers of rival factions, it remains a fact that the group is no longer the undisputed leader of the Naga movement, a position it laid claims to, in earlier years.
On May 19, 2008, a new militant group, the United Naga People’s Council (UNPC), another splinter from the NSCN-IM, was formally launched at an unspecified location in the Senapati District of neighbouring Manipur. UNPC has the purported objective of minimising the divide between the Hills and the Valley areas of Manipur, an objective that runs contrary to the NSCN-IM’s grandiose vision of a Greater Nagaland (Nagalim). Further, on June 3, four NSCN-IM senior cadres defected to the Khaplang camp, alleging that the IM faction is being run to satisfy the interests of few persons.
Evidently, irrespective of the fatalities it has been able to inflict on the NSCN-U, restiveness is fast catching up with the NSCN-IM top leadership. General Secretary Muivah, in media interviews, has started talking about exercising the ‘back to the jungle’ option if negotiations with the Government of India do not progress satisfactorily. He is also trying hard to initiate a half-baked reconciliation effort with the NSCN-K. Such efforts, however, have limited utility as far as pressurising the Government or cajoling his old adversary, Khaplang, to come to his rescue. In the coming days, NSCN-IM is bound to see its popular support decline even further, even as peace in Nagaland remains miles away.
Onus on Centre to start peace talks: NDFB R Dutta Choudhury Assam Tribune
GUWAHATI, June 8 – The National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) has submitted a memorandum enlisting its demands to the Centre and now it is up to the Government to start the process of political dialogues for an early solution of the problems, said the general secretary of the militant outfit, Govinda Basumatary. Talking to The Assam Tribune today, the NDFB general secretary said that the negative attitude of the Government is the main reason for the delay in starting of the peace talks as formal talks have not started even after three years of signing of the ceasefire agreement between the Government and the militant outfit. He said that the term of the ceasefire agreement has been extended with effect from June 1 last and hoped that formal talks would start within the next six months.

Basumatary said that earlier the Government was claiming that the talks were delayed because of the failure of the NDFB to submit its demands, “but after we submitted the demands, it is up to the Government to start the formal talks.” He also expressed the opinion that the Government could have started the process of talks earlier even before the NDFB submitted its charter of demands as was done in the case of several other militant groups. However, Basumatary refused to divulge the contents of the memorandum submitted to the Government of India and whether the NDFB demanded dissolution of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

The chairman of the NDFB, DR Nabla is still abroad and when asked as to when he is expected to come to India to participate in the peace talks with the Government, the NDFB general secretary said that their chairman would come to India only if the peace talks progress satisfactorily.

Though the Government has instructed that all the cadres of the NDFB should stay in the designated camps as per the provisions of the ground rules of the ceasefire agreement, a number of members of the outfit are still staying outside the camps. However, Basumatary justified the same saying that the designated camps do not have adequate space to house all the cadres. He said that the NDFB has three designated camps, which could accommodate 700 persons at the most, while the outfit has more than a thousand cadres. He said that the outfit demanded that at least two more camps should be established, but the Government is yet to do so, forcing a number of cadres to stay at their homes.

Interestingly, the NDFB has not yet accepted funds from the Government to maintain the designated camps. Basumatary admitted that the Government had offered funds for maintaining the camps, “but we decided to maintain the camps ourselves with the help provided by our supporters.”

On the recent incidents of clashes between the cadres of the NDFB with the former BLT militants, Basumatary said that the Government was responsible for the clashes. When asked whether the NDFB would be willing to hold talks with the BTC chief Hagrama Mahilary to settle the differences, Basumatary said, “There is no point talking to the BTC chief. We had spoken to him earlier but he did not keep his words.”

The NDFB vice-chairman Dhiren Boro, arrested in Sikkim, is still in Gangtok jail and the NDFB has demanded that the Government should release him to expedite the peace process. The NDFB also called upon the Government of India to find the whereabouts of eight of its members including the high-profile publicity secretary B Erakdao, who are missing since the operations launched by the Bhutan Army against the militant groups in December, 2003. The Government of Bhutan claimed that they handed over all the arrested persons to Indian security forces, while, on the other hand, the Government of India has been maintaining that the NDFB members missing since the operations had not been handed over. It is now up to the Government to find the whereabouts of the missing persons, the NDFB general secretary said.
The test of democracy Northeast Echoes PATRICIA MUKHIM
Indian democracy has many flaws many of them arising from the fact that large swathes of voters are still so ill-equipped to elect their representatives.
Democracy is not a neutral term. It involves people’s emotions, their intelligence, their capacity to analyse issues rationally, their sense of judgement and many other things besides. Hence, if democracy is a value-loaded concept whose practice requires a set of norms and procedures within an institutional set-up, the fundamental question is whether India is really able to claim that it is a democracy as suggested by Aristotle and those after him. To my mind, democracy in this country and in the northeastern region is far from what western liberal thinkers have defined it to be.
If democracy has a set of values then its practitioners are expected to imbibe those values and act them out to the extent possible. But electoral politics seem to defy the very norms of democracy. In Elections for Sale, Fabrice Lehoucq says electoral corruption emerges only when parties can monitor the behaviour of voters.
Secret ballot In a democracy, the very notion of secret ballot means that every voter behaves in a particular way and is not swayed by other people’s choices. But in a situation where voter behaviour is influenced by ethnicity, clan and religion, “secret ballot” is out of question. People vote collectively instead of privately. Similarly, when constituents are taken as a homogenous entity and then labelled by the kind of work they do, such as tea garden labourers or tea tribes in Assam and when their economic conditions are in the sub-zero zone, vote purchase becomes the only way to win elections.
Ripun Bora, who was until a week ago Assam’s education minister, is the classic case of a candidate who enters the electoral politics with the sole intention of winning at any and all costs. There are many like him across the political spectrum.
Sniping of political opponents is not something intrinsic to our cultures. But as politics attain a sharp and dangerous competitive edge and candidates become like compulsive gamblers who stake their last buck into the game, losing is no longer an option and winning is imperative. Losing pushes the candidate into the forgotten recesses of the voters’ mind. But apart from that it deprives the loser of making good the money he has invested in the game.
The cynicism with which Ripun Bora’s arrest in New Delhi was taken especially in Assam’s journalistic circles is frightening. Among the intellectual class and others who have reached a certain level of elitism by virtue of which they have little need for public representatives, disparaging the political class has become a favourite pastime.
Scary skeletons Commenting on the Ripun Bora arrest, many of them said that a criminal background is a pre-requisite for becoming a successful politician. Their contention is that Ripun Bora is not the only one with a criminal background. There are many others with more scary skeletons in their cupboards.
This erosion of public confidence does not bode well for democracy. But there is also little evidence to suggest that there are any attempts to restore this public confidence in democracy. With every election the amount spent in buying votes is getting higher. And in this game of one-up-man-ship some parties more than others are responsible for vitiating the atmosphere of electoral politics.
When the winnability of a candidate is assessed by the amount of money he possesses rather than his qualities of head and heart, then we are already laying the foundation for a corrupt political system. This unfortunately goes by the nomenclature of democracy despite it having mutated to a completely different entity. This is the reason why a person of such dubious reputation like Mani Kumar Subba continues to be patronised by the Congress in the face of mounting evidence that he is a foreign national.
The criminalisation of politics assumes dangerous portends when those who make laws themselves try to neutralise those who uphold the law. Ripun Bora is a lawmaker. In his time he has been part of several legislation aimed at deepening democracy. But all such legislation become meaningless because instead of supporting the keepers of law, the law maker bribes them to suppress information that could lead to the unravelling of a crime — a task that law keepers are paid to faithfully carry out.
Corrupt system That our own local police personnel are completely sold out to politicians further reduces public confidence in a vital arm of the state. This has burdened the CBI considerably as it is being called upon to handle every case that the state police have bungled. Whether one looks at the Aarushi murder case of Noida or the Ripun Bora case, the police now seem preoccupied with their two minutes of fame on a media channel mouthing something that they themselves perhaps do not believe.
It is pointless to blame the police here because they are part of a corrupt system. They are increasingly being used as a private force of the ruling party to carry out its bidding rather than to serve the public. It is common to see even highly placed police officials with absolutely no qualms about showing which way they are politically aligned.
There are examples galore from Gujarat which inform us that the police can be used to carry out a state-sponsored pogrom of political vendetta on a section of the population.
This is a frightening scenario. You see several Bollywood movies where the police are caricatured as being hands in glove with politicians and executing their dirty little games, including the elimination of political rivals. Movies they say reflect life. Has real life then become as sordid as it is being depicted in the movies?
Self-policing The Ripun Bora case has also ripped open a discourse that is long overdue, which is the nexus between journalism and politics. Although journalists willy-nilly rub shoulders with politicians since one reports what the other does, the element of objectivity that is the hallmark of the fourth estate can on no account be dispensed with. That a journalist is allegedly a liaison between the CBI and a politician involved in a crime is shameful to the profession.
Roger Rosenblatt said, “The principle reason journalists exist in society is that people have a need to be informed of and to comprehend the details of an experience.” In the Ripun Bora case it is unfortunate that a journalist has become the subject of unsavoury news when he should have been reporting the scandalous story. But when all the other pillars of democracy are creaking can the fourth pillar carry all the weight? I guess the fourth pillar too must go through an introspective phase and analyse its role.
The problem with self-policing is that it can be a very subjective exercise and given to needless defensiveness. While talks of morality seem a bit mundane in a world where the lines between right and wrong have all but blurred, I would agree with Margeret Duras who wrote, “Journalism without a moral position is impossible.” But how can we take a moral stance when we have compromised our positions?
(The author can be contacted at patricia17@rediffmail.com)