Civic space and winning confidence
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 23 2015 -
Defence analysts around the world have observed that the Indian Military have traditionally remained quite apolitical as compared to its troubled neighbours like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
However, they too have commented on the extra role the Indian Military plays in certain trouble-torn regions of the country, particularly Kashmir and the Northeast.
According to the popular State narrative, the deployment of army and para-military forces in the Northeast has been necessitated by the imperatives of combating the growth of “insurgency and militancy.”
Following the Union Government’s decision, military presence in the Northeast is almost as old as the history of the Republic.
With the prolonged military presence unable to subdue the growing armed movements, New Delhi had to device different strategies to win the confidence of the general populace which led to the introduction of Civic Action Programme (CAP).
Under this programme, various welfare and developmental activities like holding of medical camps, sports meets, distribution of materials & educational aids, repairs of roads, bridges, etc., have been religiously initiated.
It is generally accepted that the use of military in external missions and projects requires the introduction of CAP if the military intends to hold on to their mission for extended period.
For internal missions, the Government of India has been releasing funds to Army and Central Paramilitary Forces for conducting CAP through the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
It is not known whether or not the investment has actually brought in any perceptible change as far as winning the confidence of the people of region are concerned.
However, any keen political observer will notice that the military’s engagement in the civic action actually usurps the civic space already dismembered by numerous social, economic and political predicaments.
In plain words, if the army and armed forces continue to engage themselves in the CAP, it indicates the failure of the civilian government to reach out to people it was meant to serve.
So long as the State Governments continue to exhibit failure, the civic spaces would remain appropriated.
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