The witch's brew, the fears within and the regional security: implications for India

Abstract

This paper is about the fears within India (K.P.S. Gill, Daily News and Analysis, Mumbai, August 23,2007) because of (a) the criminalization of politics, the irrationality and irresponsibility of political responses over extended periods of time, the continuous degeneration of the policing and internal security apparatus, the failure to maintain and create policing capacities in proportion to the country's needs, and the collapse of the entire justice system, and (b) the growing insurgencies within India, particularly because of communal problems, and the left wing extremism (of the Maoists) and their links with countries in the neighborhood (Bangladesh, Thailand, for example). India itself is deeply susceptible to destabilization because of disorder and no governance plaguing large parts of the country. But of course India has had a long and continuous experience in die management of internal security crises, starting in the massive and bloody upheavals of Partition from the early 1950s and a succession of insurgencies and terrorist movements, starting with the Naga rebellion in 1952. It is also the case that the country has, in many instances, been able to successfully tackle, contain or neutralize such movements whenever a determined political leadership and consensus has backed coordinated action by the security forces. There is yet a range of other internal] security challenges, including communal polarization and rioting, organized and trans-national crime, criminal politics and political crime, afflicting different parts of the country from time to time, and they have been countered with mixed success within a broad context of almost continuous decline in the country's administrative, security and justice systems (Nihar Nayak, Faultiness 17, February 15, 2006: 126-151; ). This paper is a quick summary of all these problems, towards an understanding of the regional security and the implications for India. The paper is closely looking at the country's counter insurgency experiences taking select case studies and analyses the deeper reasons and proposes strategies to overcome and / or eliminate the insurgency and security problems in the country and the South Asian Region