Where drones dare India

Kongbrailatpam Rajeshwar Sharma *

Manipur has been in the limelight for wrong reasons. It is not due to peace and development or achievements but due to violence, drugs and drones. It has witnessed harrowing scenes of violence during the past sixteen months. In spite of the deployment of more than sixty-thousand Central armed forces personnel who are armed with the powers of the notorious AFSPA, the violence in Manipur is rather being abetted with incessant provocative attacks than mitigated.

Despite the fact that unidentified drones had been sighted hovering over Imphal Airport disrupting flights a few months back, no precautionary measure such as installation of drone-jamming equipment was taken up to face the challenge of drone-bombing. The tragic event of drone-attack that took place on the 1st September caught the Unified Command by surprise.

It has amply shown their lack of foresight as well as failure to protect and save lives. There is no reason why the Unified Command should not be held responsible for the drone- attack. There should be accountability for every act of omission. In the attack, a young woman was killed at Koutruk with weaponized drones allegedly by “Kuki militants” from the nearby hills.

In that barbaric attack, an ambulance from Leimakhong was alleged to have been used as a Trojan horse. Not being satisfied with the killing of the woman, the “narco terrorists” also burnt down several houses leaving nine other people seriously wounded.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that such barbaric acts are nothing short of terrorism. These provocative attacks not only indicate the failure of intelligence but it also shows the chink in the Indian armour. Moreover the use of weaponized drones and RPGs (Rocket propelled grenades) is an ample proof that the security forces are as vulnerable as the civilians are.

This time Koutruk was the target of the terrorist-drones, and Moirang as the target of the RPGs fired from nearby hills allegedly by the “Kuki miltants”. One cannot rule out that Leimakhong or Langjing might be their next target. It is high time the Indian Government and its security

forces deployed in Manipur stopped their “partisan” way of engaging with the situations in the State. At the same time, the Indian Government should immediately review its policy of wait-and-see. It would be better not to use the people of Manipur as guinea pigs of their game plan to divide the State and pamper the other community. Such a policy has cost hundreds of lives and properties worth .crores of rupees. So they had better learn a lesson.

It would be too late when Delhi realizes that its flawed policy would boomerang as al-Qaeda did to the United States of America. One’s memory is not too short to forget the tragic event that happened in New York on 9/11 in the year 2001. It was all due to the wrong policy of the United States in Afghanistan. During the Cold War between the United States and the USSR, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979.

It immediately sparked an armed resistance against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The Afghan Nationals who resisted the Soviet occupation of their country were joined by mainly Arabs and other Nationals. They saw the resistance as Jihad in defense of an attack upon Islam or a Muslim country. It was an Islamic resistance that sowed the seeds of al-Qaeda and Islamic State or IS.

Thousands of young Muslim men went to Afghanistan via Pakistan to undergo military training and to take part in the Jihad or holy struggle. The United States of America, through its Central Intelligence Agency, funded the Afghan Mujahideen to fight against the Soviet occupation of their country.

During the first half of the 1980s, various armed groups in Afghanistan formed a coalition called the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen so as to present a united front against the Soviet occupation. Along with Saudi Arabia, the United States increased its funding steadily till the end of the occupation in 1989 when the Soviet Union completed the withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan.

With Osama bin Laden as its leader, a radical Islamic organization called al-Qaeda was formed, after having been pampered with the American funds, for the cause of Islam in the Peshawar region of Pakistan on 11th August 1988 when the Soviet Union started withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan. The Afghans primarily fought for the freedom of their country.

However the Arabs particularly al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden had a greater plan just as what one can see in the present conflict in Manipur. It aimed at freeing all the Arab countries and kingdoms from the western influence particularly from the influence of the United States of America. Like Frankenstein, al-Qaeda grew bigger, and soon it became so formidable that it became a great threat to the West.

After freeing the Arabs from western influence, al-Qaeda would restore the Caliphate where everyone would be under Sharia Law. And finally they would wage wars against the Kuffars or the non-believers. As a war against the Kuffars, al-Qaeda attacked the United States by hijacking two passenger planes and rammed the twin towers on 11th September 2001.

The tragic incident of 9/11 that happened in New York destroyed the twin towers and killed thousands of people. In this way, the United States of America paid a heavy price for creating its own Frankenstein.

Similarly in Manipur a Frankenstein is being created by Delhi at the cost of hundreds of lives and properties worth crores of rupees. It would soon suck the State into a civil war that would attract the attention of the superpowers like China and the United States.

Their money and influence, which cannot be ruled out, have the potential to carve out a new Christian sovereign State like Timor-Leste which was carved out of the Indonesian island of Timor in 1999.

If the myopic eyes of Mr Narendra Modi fail to see the unfolding tragedy in Manipur, it is time his advisors showed him how powerful the drones and RPGs are, and what they can inflict not only on the people of Manipur but also on his soldiers. The shadows of the two superpowers are slowly darkening the horizon.

Wake up, Mr Modi. Manipur is slipping out of your hand.