The departure of the British from South Asia in mid-twentieth century has, by and large, seemingly signalled the “end of colonialism” in the sub-continent. In turn, this has further fostered the impression that hereafter natives are able to enjoy their right to self-determination (to form their own political lives). But this impression is at odds with the ground realities. Voices within the sub-continent pitching for political aspirations that did not fit into the political arrangements between the colonial rulers and leaders of major nationalist movements were summarily denied. While the two-nation theory based on religion led to the creation of India and Pakistan, several princely kingdoms (Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Manipur, etc.) were merged into India against their wishes. At yet another level, other regions and peoples who also voiced similar aspirations (Nagas and Kashmiris) were peremptorily snubbed. A democratic discourse to promote choice to integrate with or secede from the new nation states, even though conceded in principle, was not tried out.
The armed opposition movements in Kashmir and parts of Northeast India can thus be seen as the outcome of the failure to democratically engage with the dissenting political voices. In fact, all these movements initially started peacefully engaging in democratic practices. Today, the intelligent-sia have unfortunately tended to take the armed movements on their face value. There is thus a crying need to go into the roots to understand how each of these movements has started and reached the present state of full-blown political conflict. Enough democratic engagement has not, perhaps, been tried out by the states in power.
Non-engagement with the dissenting political voices is not, however, confined to those who have challenged these states right from the time of their inception. The same treatment has also been meted out to those who, initially, were part of the state formation. There are several instances of the latter: Tamils of Sri Lanka; Bengalis of former East Pakistan; Kukis, Mizos, Meiteis, etc. in India. Whether or not a democratic engagement would have changed the trajectory of the dissenting movements is now hypothetical. Post 9/11, the political climate for open-ended democratic engagement with the dissenting movements, particularly armed ones, has certainly been vitiated even more. In the context of South Asia, however, it is our belief that an open-ended democratic engagement with the armed movements remains the sine qua non for resolving the decades-old conflicts.
In line with the thoughts in the foregoing paragraphs, the Eastern Quarterly (Volume 6, Issues I & II combined) revisits the armed movements in the sub-continent. Titled ARMED OPPOSITION MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA, this edition of the Eastern Quarterly debates the issues that lie at the core of the armed movements in India’s Northeast, Kashmir, and Sri Lanka focussing on several dimensions. The contemporary struggles and contestations raised by the voices from the margins show complexity unlike the earlier ones between an alien colonial power and the colonized natives. Today, the contests that come from the margins (irrespective of geographical location of the voices) throw a challenge to the idea of the “people” (a historical-cultural mosaic as projected by the new nation states) embedded in a politico-geographical space. The struggle by the Assamese and Manipuris to break away from India, and the Nagas from Manipur are instances of these complex struggles and contestations.
Two clear voices – that of the state and the non-state forces – stand out in the contestations. For the former, the existing territory and nation narrative of the nation state is sacrosanct. The latter seeks to debunk the “projected” nation narrative and redraw the geo-political boundary of the existing state. These two contesting voices, more or less, fall within the classic discourse of nationalist struggles wherein one party represents the state as a legitimate authority over a given politico-geographical space and people, whereas the struggling voices project an organic voice of a people.
The nationalist struggles and the classic contestation between the existing state and peoples’ movements are mainly about complete secession from the existing state or greater autonomy within the existing state. The contestation has, however, brought forth issues that seemingly transcend the conflict. Human rights and peace initiatives are examples. While parties to the struggle see the above issues as sub-issues that can be settled once the challenge to territorial integrity is snuffed out or sovereignty is achieved, a large section of people have come to view human rights and peoples’ peace initiatives as core concerns informed by universal moral norms that have to be respected by the contesting parties unreservedly. Thus, engaging with issues engendered by the violence of the contesting parties also form part of the debate.
Initiating the discussion, Bhagat Oinam’s article “Nation Building Projects at the Margins: A Tale on Aspirations, Contestations and Crossroads” dwells upon the classic discourse of nationalist struggle that emerged in Northeast India towards the second half of the twentieth century, and which still continues today in a volatile form. Taking note of the different armed movements in the state of Manipur, Oinam traces the complexity in the struggle and contestation to the shifting role and focus of the contesting players. Earlier, the armed movements in the region depicted the Indian state as the common enemy. Not any more with some of the armed groups shifting its position. In the process, the Indian state has been transformed from being a party to the conflict to that of an arbitrator. The only way to recover the struggle, Oinam opines, is to resist the trend of exclusive politics with the idea of multiplicity informed by wholesome moral values.
The tale of victimhood of and struggle by the “marginalised” people is continued by T.T. Haokip in his article “Kuki Armed Opposition Movement.” Haokip narrates the rise of the Kuki armed struggle, its failure and successes in relation to other ethnic groups. Strongly arguing that the Kuki struggle for identity and nationhood is a response to majority Meitei hegemony and betrayal by the Mizo movement, Haokip details the struggle by the Kukis for a separate statehood. This narrative also highlights that all armed struggle in the region are not necessarily secessionist in the sense that these do not want to secede from the present state of India. While such struggles do not directly threaten the territorial integrity of the Indian state, it aims at reconfiguration of the boundaries of the federal states. The trend set by the Kuki national struggle has today been taken over by the Nagas with the idea of “Nagalim.”
Though armed opposition movements aim at larger political goals, the failure or the success of the movements do not decide the relevance or irrele-vance of the issues out of which the movements emerge. Tracing the story of the LTTE and its failure, M. Mayilvaganan in “Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: Genesis, State Behaviour and India’s Approach” takes up the above-mentioned issue by studying the post-LTTE scenario. Mayilvaganan says that the challenge to address the concerns of the Tamils and other minorities lies squarely with the Sri Lankan government and its willingness to abide by the democratic norms of governance and representation of ethnic communities in the country. He further highlights the role of India as a regional power to ensure that all is well in the neighbouring country, particularly in respect of the minority Tamils who have a close cultural linkage with India.
Taking the issues of human rights and peace initiatives, Warisha Farasat & Fasihun Nisa Qadri in their artcle entitled “Bring Peace and Justice to Kashmir” further takes the debate on the armed opposition movement beyond the ambit of nationalist struggles. Arguing that peace initiatives by the civil bodies must be taken up seriously by the state and non-state forces, the idea of restorative justice is highlighted with the argument that even at the time of signing accords between the contesting parties, the principle of justice to the victims of crimes must not be lost sight of.
Giving an overall critique of the armed movements in the Northeast, Patrick Hoenig and K. Kokho in their article “Armed Opposition Groups in Northeast India: The Splinter Scenario” highlights the transformation of the armed organizations over the decades as they begin to ironically ape the behaviour of the state they seek to supplant and thereby seem to be more and more misaligned to the principles they set out to champion. The author further argues that because they have lost support of the local population, the armed opposition groups, in the twisted logic of the state, are no longer considered insurgents but “terrorists,” with whom one can have no dialogue.
S. Mangi Singh in his article, “The Dilemma of Small Ethnic Communi-ties: A Study of Komrem People” in the KALEIDOSCOPE section, highlights the unenviable plight of smaller tribes like the Komrem in the setting of exclusivist politics in Manipur. As is its wont, exclusivist politics of the larger tribal groupings (Naga and Kuki) engenders a competitive trend of aggrega-tion wherein these larger groups grow at the expense of the smaller tribes. In stark terms, the smaller tribes are allowed the choice of casting their lot with either the “Naga” or the “Kuki” and thereby live with the displeasure of the other. And, in the process, the polity of the small tribes end up being ruptured more often than not.
In TAKE TWO, Pradip Phanjoubam critiques the last issue of the Eastern Quarterly entitled POPULAR CULTURE: MUSIC, TEXTS AND MESSAGES for equating popular culture with a particular music format. In the context of Manipur, he avers that the conspicuous absence of Roopraag, which has been synonymous with popular culture since the 1970s, and other popular music trends renders the assessments less representative as well as incomplete. Phanjoubam also raises the issue that the context in which popular culture emerged in the West against orthodox, well-disciplined, mathematically precise Western classical music seems fairly different from the way Western pop culture has emerged in the Northeast.
We in the Eastern Quarterly hope that the fare we have marshalled in the issue would continue to engage and provoke our readers.