Burma ‘Bridge’: India’s festering sore

By Anuj Raina | NT

The People’s Liberation  Army and the Manipur  Naga People’s Front have  jointly claimed responsibility for the ambush of an Assam  Rifles convoy on 13 November, in  Churachandpur district of Manipur, killing seven, including a battalion commander, his wife and  their five-year-old son. The latest  ambush came at a time when the  security situation in the Northeast had improved significantly  in the army’s assessment, and a  planned and gradual drawdown of  soldiers was underway. Protracted  deployment and counter-insurgency operations by the security  forces have been instrumental in  abatement of the level of violence  and restoring a security situation  suitable for civil governance elements to function.

The latest attack is an attempt  by insurgents to re-establish their  relevance at a time when violent  incidents have come down. Security forces have launched a massive manhunt for the insurgents  who carried out the ambush, but  they may have slipped across the  porous border into Myanmar. The  aftershocks of the hit were felt in  New Delhi, with the government vowing swift action against the  insurgents.

India has faced a dizzying array of insurgencies in its Northeast since Independence in 1947. Although the government ended  outright hostilities with the major Naga armed groups in 1997,  progress in the major peace talks  has been hampered by factionalism, ambiguous ceasefire rules  and lingering questions surrounding the fate of ethnic Nagas beyond Nagaland itself. As  a result, although violence has  dropped over the last decade, the  region continues to be characterised by enduring low-level violence, militarisation and civilian  insecurity.

India shares a 1643 km long  border with Myanmar, along four  Northeastern states: Arunachal  Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur  and Mizoram, with Myanmar’s  Sagaing Region and Chin State.  The people collectively known as  Chins by the Burmese live along  the border of Northeast India  and Myanmar. Similarly, there  are still a good number of Naga  tribes inhabiting western Myanmar, adjacent to Nagaland. All  these people still maintain their  language, traditions, arts, crafts,  lifestyle as well as traditional religious practices. Their interests  are protected by the Indo-Burma  Treaty of 1951 on Border Affairs,  which allows free movement of  the local ethnic tribal groups  on both sides for the purpose of  carrying on local trade and social visits. With the recent coup  in that country, and subsequent  escalation of violence in its more  than 70-year-long civil conflict,  there is a very real risk of spillover into the Northeast.

Comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy required

The insurgencies of the Northeast have continued for the past  seven decades, despite various  efforts by New Delhi for a permanent solution. However, with the  older generation passing away  and the new generation having  little interest in insurgencies,  the time is ripe to hammer out  a long term strategy for elimination of residual insurgencies. A wise mix of socio-economic  development and political settlement are the pillars of a lasting  peace in the Northeast. Winning  hearts and minds should be the  cornerstone for achieving conflict resolution.

To ensure peace and stability  in the Northeast, however temporary, India must sign peace  accords with various remaining insurgent groups in the region, on the lines of ‘Framework  Agreement’ signed with NSCN  (IM) in Aug 2015. Engagement of  insurgent groups in talks is vital  for conflict resolution and therefore must be pursued actively and  persistently. Notwithstanding the  progress in peace talks, efforts by  the civil society for rapprochement with the insurgent organisations must continue. This  enables a respectable way out for  the insurgent leaders and leads  to a win-win situation for all the  stakeholders.

Concurrently, India should  continue to operate against those  insurgent groups who have not  shown inclination towards any  peace talks, like NSCN (K). This  will erode their resisting power  and will bring about stability in  the region while a political solution is being drafted. A humane  approach in these operations is  imperative.

As noted earlier, India shares a  1643 km long border with Myanmar. Border security must, therefore, be strengthened to preclude  insurgen