North-East paradox: Why the historical glory is suffering!

PART-I

Priyanku rayan Baruah

tiol Integration remains a crucial issue in India, notwithstanding the fact that we boast of a civilization, which is nearly 5000 years old. India’s ancient, unique and great culture and civilization has been a great unifying factor. The variety of life here makes a complex but wonderful and a whole pattern. The Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Parses etc., live here in harmony and trust. India’s great cultural and historical heritage is common to all the people and citizens of the country. The greatest virtue of Indian culture has been its abiding tolerance and respect for others.

    The unity of North-East India faces grave challenges today. First, regiolism is gaining ground in India. A large number of regiol parties have come into existence; and it is generally seen that these parties prefer regiol interest to tiol interest. At times, we have witnessed conflicts and disturbances. Certain anti-tiol and exterl forces try to disrupt the unity of the country by encouraging commul feelings and sentiments. It leads to intolerance, disharmony and lawlessness among the masses. There has also been an increase in riots, violence and killings of innocent people.

Secondly, separatist tendencies are developing among certain sections the people who demand separate homelands.

Thirdly, despite our Constitution having declared India as a secular State commul riot erupt every now and then and pose a threat to the unity of North-East India.

Fourthly, casteism and linguism are also affecting the unity of the country. The caste factor also plays a great role during the elections. Despite a shared culture of so many years, linguistic diversities have often generated tensions and conflicts amongst different communities threatening the fabric of tiol unity. The same holds good for regiolism, exacerbated no doubt by inequitable development amongst different regions of the country. The age-old caste system has also contributed in no small measure to weaken the bond of unity.

Most of our very politicians are extremely corrupt. They often make empty promises and mislead the innocent masses to win their mandate for power just to become “Greedy rulers” to amass wealth to the detriment of the socio-political and economic well-being of the good people of this country. Our so-called leaders do not think twice about the harmony of the country when it comes to grinding their axe. Playing vote-bank politics, they have always tried to create animosity between different religions.

Circumstances in the theatres of conflict in India’s Northeast go against the general presumption of a direct and self-evident conflict of interests between the government and its various agencies, on the one hand, and the terrorist groupings, on the other. A complex collusive arrangement between various legitimate power elites and terrorist groupings exists in every single terrorism-affected State, and this arrangement facilitates a continuous transfer of resources into the ‘underground economy of terrorism’. Contrary to the common perception of terrorist activity as violent confrontation with the government, there is a more insidious subversion of the established order through a consensual regime against a backdrop of widespread breakdown of law and order, and terrorist groupings have demonstrated their preference towards ‘systemic corruption’, rather than the dismantling or destruction of the prevailing political order.

The press is still under words to feel the responsibility and in realizing their definite role. The Indian democracy suffers from growing persolity cult. Although in parliamentary democracy a large number of ordinces are promulgated every year but due to the failure in actual implementation, very often the opposition criticized that in India ordinces are promulgated just as a matter of routine. Such criticism cannot be ignored; rather the system needs to construct properly to develop the process of administration in an organized manner. Not only at the centre, but even in the States the state of affairs is at the same in state level! The emerging characters of electoral politics have made matters worse. Commul Hindu parties apart, even the ruling Congress Party, professedly secular, has, since independence, had a dualistic character. The secular strain in the Congress was represented by Nehru but the commul strain was also present in the form of Patel, India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, and was more pronounced at the provincial level. Nehru’s stature kept the commul strain in check, but in the seventies, the party machinery has been taken over by the new generation of leaders, whose power and mobilization is based less on secularism or socio-economic programs and more on exploiting caste and religious divisions at the local levels. The recent rise in incidences of Hindu-Muslim riots has a good deal to do with this new phenomenon.

Corruption prevails at the apex of the tower of Indian politics. Corruption by a public servant on the other hand amounts to treason against the country; every single corrupt act by public servants costs the country its development. Corruption in arms procurement by the armed forces has potential to weaken the country’s defense preparedness. Corruption in business deals like the one in 2G spectrum allocation can cause a huge loss to the exchequer, increase the tax burden on the people. Corruption in handling agricultural products can cause inflation, lead to steep rise in food prices, make basic food not affordable to the poor. Corruption in mining ministry can allow a few to loot the entire tural resources of the country and sell of the precious ores mindlessly, thereby depriving the country of those resources in the future. Take Iron ore for instance, its mindless mining and exports at throw away rates today, will cause the country a lot in the next 50 years when we will have a huge requirement to build a great infrastructure in the country, but will have no ore left and will have to import steel at huge prices from other countries. So, in general, corruption at public offices causes a huge setback to the overall development and security of the country, and should be punished on the lines of treason against the country.

Alas! Migrated people, brokers, crimils have started to dance on the parliamentary floor of India. Whatever may be the source of this migration, it seems that it is gradually leading to a significant change in the demographic character of the affected areas.  Sentiments of common people are being hunted in different steps.  

Priyanku rayan Baruah.Lecturer,R.D college, Digboi can be reached at Ph#.8811836885 & E-mail:alwayspriyanku @gmail.com. (To be continued)