Northeast in deep crisis

I first heard this in Nagaland 20 years ago. A visit to the Northeast in mid-July reveals that the Indian state has succeeded in spreading such resentment to all seven states of the region.

Today's worst cesspools of discontent are Assam and Manipur. The Assamese are upset not so much at the terrible havoc the floods are wreaking, as at the government's apathy, poor relief provision, and lack of planning and preparedness.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Assam's people have learnt to expect floods, and to great extent, to live with them: they know floods can't be prevented. But what they do expect is warning about the imminence and severity of floods, and plans for evacuation. This could substantially reduce loss to life and property -- at a modest cost.

Instead, the government spends billions on "flood control" -- a massive scam. It builds dams that will be washed away or bypassed in no time. One such is a dam on the Pagladiya river, a Brahmaputra tributary.

This "multipurpose" project is meant to establish "flood control" over 40,000 hectares, irrigate 54,000 hectares and generate a token 3 MW of power. Its estimated cost has more than doubled to Rs 1,136 crores in three years.

I was on an Environment Ministry committee in 1996-98, to which the Pagladiya dam was referred. "Pagladiya" literally means "mad river" because it changes its course wildly and drastically -- largely because of seismic factors which shift huge masses of earth, creating landslides and floods.

The effect is further compounded by deforestation and other man-made factors.

I opposed the project because no dam could address the root-cause of floods or the shifting of the river's bed. A 3 km-long dam would be useless, for instance, on a river which changes course by 30 km in 4 years!

The project was approved under Central irrigation-lobby pressure. Today, the same "mad river" is creating havoc by depositing coarse silt on fertile paddy-fields -- causing food shortages.

The Pagladiya, reports The Hindu, has turned Namati village (pop 8,000) in Nalbari district "into

an island." People have died of diarrhoea because there's no safe drinking water. The administration has "now installed four tube-wells." Tube-wells amidst floods -- what an irony! Continues the report: this year, the Pagladiya changed course and "converged with another river, Buradiya."

This highlights the skewed Centre-Northeast relationship. If New Delhi can be so supremely cynical towards the region's largest constituent, one can only imagine its attitude towards the smaller states.

Manipur is a perfect, sordid, instance. It has witnessed angry month-long protests at the alleged torture, rape, and murder of Thangjam Manorama, a 32-year old Manipuri woman, by Assam Rifles.

The most dramatic protest was a demonstration by women opposite the Assam Rifles headquarters on July 15. They stripped themselves and held up two banners: "Indian Army, rape us; Indian Army, take our flesh."

Assam Rifles predictably claimed this was an "encounter killing" of an "insurgent." The claim is belied by evidence and has further infuriated

the public which has long opposed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, one of the most draconian laws on India's statute-books. The AFSPA's abuse (rather, normal use) evokes popular revulsion.

A poignant protest against the killing of 10 innocent civilians under the Act has been led by Sharmila Devi who has refused to eat anything since November 2000. (She is forcibly nose-fed.)

The AFSPA is modelled on a colonial Ordinance of 1942, enacted to neutralise the Quit India Movement. Under it, the government can declare any area "disturbed," conferring upon the armed forces extraordinary powers -- without accountability.

In a "disturbed" area, an officer of any rank can "search any premises without warrant," destroy it, and carry out an arrest on "reasonable suspicion" that a person has committed or is about to commit an offence!

He can kill a person who, in his "opinion," violates prohibitory orders, including trivial ones.

Section 6 of the Act grants immunity to the armed forces "in respect of anything done or purported to be done" under the Act. "Purported to be done" takes the cake!

So the army is the judge, jury, prosecutor -- and the executioner.

POTA is obnoxious. But it at least has an appeal process and other (inadequate) "safeguards." The AFSPA's sole "safeguard" is Section 5, which says that an accused person "shall be made over" to the police "with the least possible delay" -- as determined by the army, of course.

The AFSPA is a disgraceful law. It diminishes the army itself to a civilian-killing machine. It cannot be reformed. It must be repealed lock, stock, and barrel.

That's the Manipuris' unanimous demand. The Centre is mulishly resisting it. Popular pressure has impelled Chief Minister Ibobi Singh to lift the AFSPA from the Imphal municipal area -- an obviously inadequate step.

The Centre, technically, can re-impose the Act or clamp President's rule on Manipur. But that would begin a potentially catastrophic confrontation.

The Centre has already provoked suspicion in the Imphal Valley by extending the ceasefire agreement with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M). The agreement covers all Naga-inhabited areas, including Manipur's hill districts.

Manipuris understandably fear that the agreement might eventually led to their state's division. The UPA's Common Minimum Programme promises to maintain "the integrity" of India's Northeastern states. But this hasn't fully assured Manipuris.

The anti-AFSPA agitation reflects all their grievances. The Centre must address these. Manipur is a powder-keg and site of multiple conflicts: Imphal Valley vs the hills, Meiteis vs tribals, Nagas vs Kukis.

The Centre must not aggravate matters through a mindlessly insensitive stance on the AFSPA. The consequences could be unspeakable for the entire Northeast.

Praful Bidwai is an eminent Indian columnist.