“We have stepped into an extremely dangerous and
paradoxical time. We have built ourselves a political fine democracy but in
society and economy there is no democracy and there is no equality. The tension
between the inequality in the social and economic terms can explode our
political
democracy.”- Primary architect of Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in his speech after handing over the draft constitution in Parliament
And today almost 63 years after his speech, we can find he
got it absolutely correct. The most dangerous threat to the internal security
of India is the fastest growing inequality in the social and economic fields.
The country is facing the consequences in the form of poverty, hunger,
malnutrition, Naxalism and so on. The challenges are interconnected to each
other.
Below are the major
challenges to the internal security of India:
1. Fastest
growing inequality in income between the rich and the poor
a. The inequality
in income between the rich and the poor is increasing at fastest rate since
1991 i.e., the year of liberalization of India.
b. The benefits of
globalization are not percolated to the lower strata of Indian society and thus
they are ignored from the developmental stream.
c. This resulted
into extreme poverty, hunger, malnutrition, farmer suicides and so on.
Measures to be taken:
- To
bridge the gap between rich and poor Government has to focus on the Directive
Principles of State Policy (DSPS).
- The Directive
Principles of State Policy are guidelines to the central and state
governments of India, to be kept in mind while framing laws and policies. These
provisions, contained in Part IV of the Constitution of India, are not
enforceable by any court, but the principles laid down therein are considered
fundamental in the governance of the country, making it the duty of the State
to apply these principles in making laws to establish a just society in the
country.
- Government
scheme to the poor should reach to the last hand
- Self-employment
like SHG(Self Help Groups) should be generated in rural and urban areas
- The
most vital thing to reduce the inequality in income in the society is political
will of the politicians
2. Maoist/Naxalites
insurgency in the heart of India
a. The deprived and
the marginalized sections of the society, unable to survive in the present
system, get alienated from the growth of the country. The militant and
extremist forces thrive in this environment.
b. The most prominent
among the groups, that have mushroomed in the recent years, are the People’s
War Group (PWG) and the Marxist Communist Centre (MCC)
c. The Naxalites
have now been going after the innocent civilians after the Government security
forces. Extortion is the only way of funding to Naxals.
Measures to be taken:
- Poverty
and livelihood issues should be resolved
- Infrastructure
in the Naxal affected areas must be improved
- The
intelligence network has to be strengthened significantly
- The
issue of Naxalites can be resolved by the only way of peaceful talk to Naxal
leaders since this kind of insurgency is caused due to the ignorance of
government towards these forest dwellers and seizing their lands for
industrialization.
3. Fundamentalist
forces (Terrorism):
a. This is the most
serious threat to the India’s internal security
b. The organizations,
like Al Qaida, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, are encouraging the so-called ‘Jehadis’ to
enter India from outside
c. The break-up of
the Indian Union continues to be the main goal of Pakistan’s domestic and
foreign policy
d. Easy availability of
deadly weapons with the subversive groups operating in India has created new
dangers for India’s security.
Measures undertaken by Government:
- Sophisticated
Counter-Terror Technology (CCTV cameras)
- Intelligence
agencies, state police, customs, border security, cyber and public health
departments to counter terror attacks.
- The
state’s counter-terror mechanism must envision the creation of Special Forces
meant specifically for the purpose of averting terror networks in India. These
Special Forces must be established in vulnerable states like Delhi,
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan Manipur and Assam
- The
state’s land and coastal border security must be strengthened given the fact
that terror attacks have been conducted and planned in the neighbouring states.
- Cyber
specialization should be made a part of the counter-terror mechanism towards
addressing hacking issues, tracing terror links in the virtual world, locating
the computers, and countries where this transnational nature of terrorism
originates, etc.
- India
should establish a Federal Counter-Terrorism Mechanism, which will integrate
with above mentioned institutions
4. Corruption
and corrosion of public institutions
5. Environmental
degradation at rapid pace
a. The Indian
rivers on whose banks the Indian civilization was once flourished are on the
verge of diminishing their beauties. They are highly degraded and the water is
polluted due to discharge of the sewages from the industries.
b. The deforestation is
taking place at rapid pace since Liberalization of the country in 1991.
Deforestation became the serious threat to so many vulnerable species of flora
and fauna.
Measures taken by the Government:
- Increased
the area of Protected Area Networks with the increase in wildlife sanctuaries
and National Parks.
- Enacted
Project Tiger and Project Elephant to save these wild-lives from
poaching
- Central
Zoo Authority (CZA) provides assistance to various zoos for better upkeep and
health facilities to the zoo animals
6. Illegal
immigration to the north-east
a. Estimates of the
total population of illegal immigrants in Nagaland or elsewhere in India is
problematic due to the clandestine nature of the immigrants. Illegal
immigration is getting recognised as one of the growing concerns in
tribal-dominated Nagaland.
b. Most of the alleged
illegal immigrants usually possess fraudulent voter identity cards, driving
licenses and ration cards. This made the task of investigation extremely
difficult.
Constraints in preventing the illegal immigration:
· Inadequate
policing along the border
· Demographic
dynamics
· Indifferent
attitude of Bangladesh
· Lack
of political will
· Communal
politics
· Corruption
Impact of Illegal migration:
· Security
impact
· Communal
polarization
· Demographic
impact
· Political
impact
7. Armed ethnic
insurgencies in the north east (Manipur and Nagaland) and north (Kashmir)
a. The Naga
insurgency started way back in early 1950s. Some insurgent groups seek
secession from the Indian Union, some others seek separate states and yet
others greater autonomy within the existing state.
b. These insurgencies
have affected the economic and social life of the region and posed a great
threat to its stability
c. The lack of
physical, cultural and emotional links has encouraged a feeling of alienation,
which is being exploited by the neighbours to pursue their own agenda.
d. The NLFT and the ATTF
continue to be active in Tripura.
e. Mizoram is not
an exception, there are problems between the Mizos and the Chakmas,
and the Mizos and the Reangs
Measures to be taken:
- Structural
conditions like ethic alienation, lack of infrastructure, absence of land
rights should be addressed.
- Processes
of dialogue and negotiation with armed outfits must be conducted in a
professional manner by people trained in negotiation techniques and not by
generalized bureaucracy
- The
conflicting issues between the Northeastern states like land issues/border
should be settled at the local level.
- India
must ensure that countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar are not used by
insurgent groups as launching pads for violence in its border states. Dialogue
mechanism in all three countries need to be institutionalized and activated on
a daily basis
- Revenues
from these states must be utilized for the development of the states themselves
since they are backward states compared to other more developed states in
India.
- Acts
like the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 and amended in 1972 should be
lifted from the Northeast in a phased manner as the common perception of this
act is that it is unjust and repressive.
8. Fragile,
unstable neighbours
a. Pakistan –
failed state
b. China – Border issues
c. Sri-Lanka – Had
a brutal civil war that does not address the underlying problems
d. Bangladesh – fragile
democracy, so many times military has overtaken the government
e. Nepal – Maoist
insurgency, democratic process is fragile
9. Armed “Sena”
on caste and ethnic lines
a. Affected the
police and administration
b. Loss of public
confidence in the capacity of the state to protect their life and property is
the primary cause of this dangerous development
c. In the Border
States these movements become secessionist because of the support they receive
from the hostile neighboring states.
10. Communal forces
a. The communal
forces are the major challenge which wants to undermine the democratic secular
fabric of the society.
b. Government needs to
isolate such extremist forces which disturb the unity of the nation and its
people.
c. The recent
Muzaffarnagar riot is one of the example how communal forces play the bloody
game of division in the society.
Measures to be taken:
There is need to strengthen and revitalize local "peace
communities" in rural areas which have representatives from different
communities and have in the past been effective in containing and resolving
conflicts.
Measures to be taken at broader level
1. The Internal security
issues should not be treated as merely law and order problems
2. There should be work
on social, political and economic levels
3. Security requirements
should be met by not giving the free hand to security agencies
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