"At War" Four Pillars of Falsehood and Public of Republic : Book Review

Mohen Naorem *

Unrest in Northeast India is due to political terrorists

This book is the first of its kind which documents the failure of democracy in India and the authors expresses deep desire to acknowledge the truth, stands for truth, spread the truth to liberate the people from post British Slavery and confer upon them “Civic Sovereignty”.

The book “At War” Four Pillars of Falsehood and Public of Republic, justifies that Executive, Judiciary, Legislature and the Press are Four Pillars of Falsehood. As each one of these institutions has been achieving exactly the opposite for which they pretend to be striving for.

After Independence, Northeast States were accorded step motherly treatment in the Constitution of India. Nehruvian integration through the Assam model was another historic blunder as it considered Assam to be the last outpost of the Indian Civilization in the east, followed by giving away Manipur’s Kabaw valley to Myanmar without consulting the people of Manipur.

Naga issue could have solved a long time back if Dictator Nehru studied the political history of Naga Hills, Assam and Manipur. The failed meeting of 1953 seemed to indicate that no more room left for a compromise or even talks between the Government of India and the Naga leaders. Today, entire Northeast is suffering and with the divide and rule policy of successive government.

Seven of India’s Northeastern states facing insurgency since last 60 years in one form or the other, 23 of its states facing left wing extremism, state of Punjab burnt in this fire for a decade and Kashmir continues to simmer in the heat of this war, that state never wants to win but continue, since it provides strongest excuse for using militia with impunity and sustain proxy war of state against its civil society.

The authors blame Nehru politicizing Indian army and using it to silence the political dissent in the State of Assam against Naga Hills. Even after freedom from British Colonial rule, the colonial Indian military raised on the principles of divisive politics to enslave the natives, turned into effectively handy tool, use Sikhs against Nagas in Nagaland, Gurkhas against Meeteis in Manipur and everyone against Muslims in Kashmir.

Kabaw valley was handed over to Burma (Myanmar), without consulting the people of Manipur and in return Nehru gifted the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1958 to the entire Northeastern States of India, which empowers even a Lance Naik to shoot and kill anyone on mere suspicion that he may disturb public order, arrest any person under the garb of reasonable suspicion and enter any premises without search warrant. In fact, living with this law is living under the barrel of gun with death just a bullet away.

“No Appeal, “No Argument”, No Advocates” but gory street of death for freedom of expression in the state propounded as World’s largest democracy.

“At War” Four Pillars of Falsehood and Public of Republic is contemporary history of crisis in India, with tales from conflict and persecution, unleashed upon the people of this nation by authoritative state, as witnessed and analyzed by a frontline operational insider.

The authors states that post British India is engulfed in perpetual war of state on its own public of republic as a design of governance to preserve power formation that functions on the principles of presenting falsehood as the gospel truth and continue unhindered economic exploitation.

In Manipur, 1528 cases of fake encounters, and another hundred more are missing from the Police and Army custody. Authors warned that the biggest threat to the lives and liberty of people of post British India comes from the work culture of police, paramilitary and military, with lives being devoured with impunity. These victims depend on “Judiciary”, the last hope of those, who believe to live within frame work of rule of law.

The authors advocates that the only direct and indirect beneficiaries of spiraling crime and corruption, turned to be Police and Judiciary – thus flourishes the mutual relationship between crime and “Pillars of Falsehood”.

The book is a firsthand account and analysis of tragic events of the role played by police and armed forces, functioning of which provokes conflict, and prepares fertile ground for terrorism and insurgency to prosper and vicious cycle of violence through retributive justice continues, with a heavy price being paid by common man with his life and liberty in peril.

The authors blames that “Executive” pillar of democracy, manned by dumb babus of IAS/IPS without any domain expertise, devoid of problem solving aptitude and devoid of organizing abilities. Ironically, most of the babus posted in the Northeast states don’t know the geographical and political history of the region.

The author have worked as a front line operation officer of BSF and posted in the towns and villages of North, Northeast and Western India. This book represents the eyewitness account of the grotesque scenes of violence as a fall out of ill trained criminalized militia.

The author also suggest to liberate citizens from the shackles of colonial laws and institutions and redefine citizen’s relationship with the state, that of a sovereign, the independent, to whom every state actor is directly accountable.

In the book, a chapter titled, “The Freedom of 1947- Plot, Traitors and treacheries” exposed everything which needs to be informed to the youths of Nation. Masses that had played foot soldiers with huge sacrifices were overnight transformed from Colonial slaves to petitioners at the mercy of autocratic power formation assumed by Nehru.

This book highlighted the pitfalls and tales of existing Indian institutions in general and armed forces and their role in particular, in provoking the ongoing political crisis into full blown insurgent violence in the Country.

This is an honest effort to inform the common man “why it is happening” and to prepare public opinion as a sequel to the campaign for much needed radical but democratic structural changes India has been longing for!