• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Upendra Choudhury

SECURITY is an essential component of governance. It is, therefore, not surprising that the current governance crisis can be traced to some serious security problems facing the country. Traditional security threats, such as the danger of war have been overshadowed by the danger of domestic and armed insurgencies and terrorist activities. The Home Secretary recently informed the Standing Committee on Home Affairs that of the 535 districts, as many as 210 were affected by insurgency, ethnic strife, extremist activities, caste clashes and other conflicts.

Terrorism can be briefly defined as "an act or threat of an act of tactical violence by a group of trained individuals, having international linkage to achieve political objectives".Terrorism has serious implications for the governance of the country. During periods of heightened militancy, there can be a loss of state control over areas under militants' control. These areas are usually the least developed and away from the governmental nodal points. This makes it easier for the militants to project an image of being a `separate state'The militants indulge in selective killing of judges and lawyers so as to ensure that after a certain period, the law stops functioning and the writ of the militants rules. Within a militant-controlled area, the so-called `second police stations' and `second law courts' are common, with execution meted out to police informers. Similarly, the security forces fighting militancy tend to ignore judicial processes and in the process, `encounter' killings and `disappearances' become common.

With the increase of terrorist violence and insurgency activities, the affected areas are soon transformed into a shifting battleground between the extremists and the security forces. At this point, all critical activities, policies and decisions relating to the conflict are progressively taken over by the Central government and defined and coordinated by the bureaucrats located thousand miles away. This leads to a shrinking of the State governments' role.Sometimes, the militants deliberately attack the specific communities — for instance, the ULFA attacks on Western and Upper Assam regions — to demonstrate the State government's `failure', and provoking President's rule. During President's rule, the militants think that the security forces will be given a free hand, and this could lead to human rights violations in turn strengthening secessionist tendencies.

With the escalation of violence, the problem moves beyond the control of State police and leads to the intervention by the armed forces. Using civilians as shields and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) as force multipliers lead to human rights violations (which, indeed, is a primary aim of militants). Moreover, the militants use religious places to carry out their anti-national activities. The damage that is caused can be used to excite religious sentiments and wide spread resentment against the security forces. Over a period, this is detrimental to the discipline and morale of the armed forces, resulting in considerable psychological stress on both officers and men, leading to poor recruitment prospects in the long run.

The position of the State police is no better. Faced with low-level militancy and insurgency, a state usually succumbs to the temptation to ease controls over licensed weapons, thus, causing an increase in proliferation of weapons into society. This reduces the effectiveness of police forces, causing large-scale demoralisation and frustration to the men in uniform.

The final implication of terrorism can be seen in the rise of private militia belonging to various political parties or antagonistic groups. Some political bosses are known to move with heavily armed private armies. This is far more dangerous as the injection of violence into the political process can threaten the system as a whole. For instance, violence during elections has become the norm rather than the exception in many States with 17 bomb blasts in Tamil Nadu alone.

Thus, terrorism poses a serious threat to governance. However, the problem cannot be solved through brute force alone. Since bad governance, economic backwardness and growing unemployment are the primary causes for the growth of terrorism and insurgency in India, urgent and appropriate measures have to be taken in those areas.

(The author teaches in the Post-Graduate Department of Political Science, Dyal Singh College, Karnal, Haryana.)

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Unbundling MSEB

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line