Summary of Main Themes from Seminar
Binalakshmi Nepram spoke at a seminar hosted and
organised by South Asia Partnership Canada in
collaboration with the CPCC Small Arms Working Group.
At the beginning of her presentation, Ms Nepram said
her aim was to give a voice to the indigenous people
of the often-forgotten region of North East India.
Born in Manipur, she said she grew up thinking that
events such as arbitrary arrests, intermittent
gunfire, fighting by rebel groups, and drug abuse were
'normal'.
It was not until she left to study in New Delhi that
she learned of the extent and inter-connection of arms
and narcotics trafficking and armed ethnic insurgency
in the North Eastern states in India. This knowledge
formed the basis of her research and writing, and has
enabled her to link up with others working on similar
issues around the world.
Ms Nepram dedicated her talk to the many young people
killed in armed conflict in North East India.
Main Themes From Presentation
North East India comprises the seven states of Assam,
Arunchal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Tripura.
Sandwiched between Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan and
China, it is the part of India with the most
international borders. Home to over 220 different
indigenous groups, the main religion is animist.
Ethnically the region feels more akin to South
EastAsia than South Asia. It is a beautiful part of
the world but,unknown to most people, it has been at
war for five decades.
Traditionally, the states in the North East have had
their own identity. In the early stages of
colonisation, the North Eastern states were not part
of British India. Only later did they become part of
the dominion.
In the 1940s, many of the ethnic groups in the North
East argued that they should not be joined with India
when it obtained independence. The Naga people wrote
to Nehru to ask to be a separate state and others,
including the Manipuris, made similar requests. India
refused and, by the 1950s, the Indian government sent
in the military which used sweeping powers given to it
through the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958 to
put down the growing insurgency.
The Mizo National Front, for example, was formed as a
protest group because the Indian government failed to
act when warned of an impending famine in the state in
the 1960s, and many died as a result. The Mizo fought
the government for 20 years before signing a peace
accord in 1986. Tripuri insurgents are fighting to
protect their language and cultural identify which
they claim are threatened by the large influx of
Bangladeshis from the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Regardless of their origin, the world does not hear
about these insurgencies because they occur in such a
small and remote area.
Until the 1960s, the various groups pursued their
political struggle without violence. This changed
when the Nagas began training in China. On their
return, the armed struggle began. Others followed the
lead of the Nagas. The first arms used in the region
were Chinese weapons and World War II remnants. Groups
such as the Manipuris called themselves a 'people's
liberation army'.
The situation changed again in the 1970s when China
made a foreign policy decision to stop supporting
revolutionary groups around the world, including those
in North East India. As a result, insurgency groups
in the North East turned to similar groups in Burma
who had camps all along the Indo-Burmese border. Once
the North Eastern groups started to train with Burmese
rebel groups, the drug problems started.
The 'Golden Triangle' (Burma, Thailand and Laos) is a
major drug producing area with many ethnic groups
involved in poppy cultivation.
Much of the area is mountainous and inaccessible.
Along the border that North East India shares with
Burma, there are thought to be 19 illegal plants to
refine opium into heroin. The refining process is
aided by the fact that India is the largest producer
in the world of acetic anhydride, the main chemical
needed to produce heroin. Some are now calling this
region the 'Golden Hexagon'. Burmese rebels obtain
cover and protection for thier drug production and
trafficking activities in exchange for training
insurgency groups from the North East.
Once the Burmese and North East insurgency groups
linked up, the number of these groups proliferated
with each group arming itself to the hilt. In the
case of Manipur, it had three insurgency groups until
the 1980s. By the 1990s, this increased to 27 groups.
It is the same in other states of North East India.
Some insurgency groups in the North East are now
trafficking drugs themselves.
Others take a strong anti-drug stance to the extent of
burning opium crops and even shooting unrepentant
addicts. Eitherway, the region is awash with drugs.
States such as Manipur have some of the highest
incidence of HIV-AIDS in the world because of the
large number of intravenous drug use. Drugs are
central to the financing of the insurgency groups and,
as a result, drug kingpins operate with impunity.
Drug trafficking and increased violence are
inextricably linked.
At least 55 types of small arms have been found in the
North East sourced from at least 9 different
countries. They are brought into the region using at
least 13 routes. These gun-running routes are called
'long marches' in which all the logistics for the
movement of the weapons are mapped out. Different
rebelgroups control different routes. Some of the arms
are brought in by the India government which is –
allegedly – supporting some rebel groups including the
Kukis who are fighting against the Nagas.
Criminalisation is seeping into what began as
legitimate political struggles.
The North East was once a prosperous region and part
of the old Silk Route. It has abundant resources
including minerals, gold, tea, oil, bamboo and
hydro-electricity generating potential.
Now it is landlocked, impoverished and unable to
produce basic goods. Income it earns from oil goes to
the India government.
It is reliant on grants from the government. It is
also a war zone. From the 1980s, the India government
intensified its clampdown on rebellion. Human rights
violations, arbitrary arrests, 'disappearances' and
extrajudicial killings are a fact of life.
For every 8 people in North East India, there is one
armed person.
News from the region is curtailed. Visitors require
a permit as the region is designated a 'restricted
zone'. People cannot hold public meetings or
congregate in groups of more than four as the Indian
Arms Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 is in operation
in many parts of North East India for the last 4
decades. Even as researcher conducting interviews, one
does not have any sense of personal security.
Civil society offers some hope for a way forward. In
Manipur, because of the regular 'disappearances' of
young people by various insurgency groups and the
military, the mothers of those who had been taken have
a roster to patrol the streets each evening.
When the women on duty see an armed group approach,
they sound the alarm and all the mothers band together
to prevent their young people from being taken. The
movement has been so successful that it has spread
throughout the region and become a major force. Even
the rebel groups fear these women. They do not have
weapons but the women have strength in their hearts. A
project is now underway to help these women to
influence policy on a broader
level.
There are legitimate ways to form a political struggle
but it does not have to be bloody. The influence of
narcotic drugs and money has undoubtedly led to the
proliferation of armed conflictin North East India.
India must take some responsibility for not
understanding the concerns of people in the North East
and dealing with them. The rebel groups must also
share responsibility for how they have chosen to
pursue their struggle.
North East India is now a quagmire, but we must have
faith,drawing on the experience of civil society, that
there is a wayforward out of this crisis.
Binalakshmi Nepram is the author of the recently published book " Meckley", a book which chronicles the times and
history of manipur.
She is presently a research asssociate at saferworld, UK. Her work focusses on researching and writing on wars,
insurgencies and small arm proliferation in Southern and South East Asia.
This article was sent courtesy of Dr. Bishwajeet Elangbam. He can reached at [email protected]
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