Continuing with "why we are still under developed"... The point here is that the security situation in the country has been and still is grim... not just because of the issues we have right now but mainly because there's no long term plan that's being implemented by the leadership to make India more secure.
So, The 50s were a decade of North East and Kashmir problems, The 60s and 70s could be defined as a decades of naxalsim. The 70s also saw a resurgence of turmoil in the NE with insurgency in Assam along sudden upsurge of corruption in public life and police misuse starting with the emergency. 80s were a decade of violence in Punjab while the 90s were Kashmir years continuing to this day. All this While we continue to see the crime rate going up except in few tiny pockets in the country and the prevasiveness of corruption increasing to unprecedented levels. We also see more and more criminals as law makers. I wanted to expand on each of these but I figured the goal is not to understand these problems but to focus on the main issue of "under-developed-ness" which is partially because of these problems where we spend a majority of our resources these days.
Apart from those discussed earlier we have the following security issues which hamper our development:
Periodic Religious riots:
After Ayodya episode it almost became an annual event. But religious riots have been a aprt of our histor for centuries now.
We can talk about this seperately if we want, but the fact remains we have lot to acheive in terms of religious harmony.
Regular Caste Related Violence:
Over 100,000 cases of rape, murder, arson, and other atrocities against Dalits are reported in India each year.
Our agencies have reported that these cases are typically related to attempts by Dalits to defy the social order, or demand minimum wages and their basic human rights. Many of the atrocities are committed by the police. Even perpetrators of large-scale massacres have escaped prosecution. e.g. Bhagalpur (Bihar), Tsundur(AP), Karamchedu(AP), Ramanathapuram(TN) all of these cases are still under trial/investigation)
An estimated forty million people in India, among them fifteen million children, are bonded laborers, working in slave-like conditions in order to pay off a debt. A majority of them are Dalits.
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/india/
Insurgency in Assam
Assam is one of the states that has problems since independence. Majority of the problems were addressed by carving out different states to diiferent ethnic groups. So Nagaland was carved out in 1963, Meghalaya in 1970, Mizoram in 1972 and Arunachal Pradesh in 1987. The Major problem that is still a serious issue was the influx of Bangladeshi's. This led to one of the most successful student agitations in India leading to the most youthful party ever voted to office in any state in India. The students union that started as a vigilante group ended up being governing party in the state with a lot of promises in 1985. I remember when Mahanta took oath of office in Assam for the first time. Now PK Mahanta faces several corruption charges in Assam but still continues in active politics. in 1993 an Autonomous council of BodoLand was created within Assam. Today Assam is burning more than ever thanks to Politicians, Senior Bureaucrats and other interested parties. Assam continues to be a major security issue infact it is said that it is more serious issue than Kashmir..
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/assam.htm
http://members.tripod.com/israindia/isr/week1/neindia.html
Insurgency in Manipur
Ethnic violence:
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/aug/09raman.htm
http://www.manipuronline.com/Features/December%202002/insurgencyinstitutionalization13_3.htm
Insurgency in Tripura
Tripura's insurgency has killed more people than in Kashmir in any given period. I think that sums up the seriousness of the issue.
The cause for insurgency again is ethnic & immigrant population & Independence from India like in the case of Assam
FYI: Tripura and Manipur were princely states during British raj.
http://www.himalmag.com/december2001/essay.htm
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/thirteen_years_of_killings_in_tripura.htm
Basically entire N.E. is a time bomb ticking to explode. The real reason is prolonged state of underdevelopment and serious neglect by authorities. The people of N.E since the days of MahaBharata are know to take up arms for the right cause and won't remain passive like the rest of the country.
The Special Task Forces on Internal Security and Border Management (2000) came out with several recommedations but not one is implemented.
There are lot of strategic advisors to many governments around the world who predict that India's Break up will start with the N.E.
Insurgency in Kashmir
Since 1989, more than 13,500 civilians and 5,250 security personnel have been killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. By contrast, over the same period, 29 persons have been indicted for terrorism in the state — 13 between 1989 and December 2002; since then, 16.
This is probably the most widely covered security issue So, I'll just leave it at that. (Check references in the next post)
http://homepages.uc.edu/thro/dilemma/print-rao.html#sec5
Apart from these there are several other important and equally serious issues such as Law and order in UP, Bihar, Religious tensions in Gujarat, Underworld in Mumbai etc.
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/in/Crime
Not that our police never solved any problems, Militancy in Punjab, Gorkha problem etc. were solved only because of the efficiency of the police. But KPS Gill writes (After winning peace in Punjab), "Freedom from fear was won at great cost. but it is not self sustaining and will have to be defended constantly if it is to survive."
Here's what ArunShourie has to say about Indian Security issues in a series of articles:
Shourie I
Islamic fundamentalism and its ally Left-wing extremism are responsible for grave threats to India. The State remains in denial
Shourie II
Over a hundred ISI modules have been unearthed and smashed in India. Yet drug money flows in and so do a stream of unwelcome visitors
Shourie III
A range of authorities have pointed to the urgent danger brewing in Muslim ‘religious’ centres, the porosity of our borders and demographic threats. Yet to voice them invites the charge, ‘communal’
Shourie IV
Well-trained commando units are not used to fight terrorists, instead they are used to guard VIPs. The police lack the equipment, strategy or the morale to effectively combat criminal mafias
Inorder for us to understand why we haven't been able to solve many of the problems and why some of the problems re-start right after we solve them I think we need to understand the way we structured our Police and Criminal Justice system. I think understanding this is important to understand the reason behind why we are so backward. ... In the Next Post
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