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Indian Imperialism: India the bully of South Asia (JR110)
Introduction
Successive regimes have considered the neighborhood as an
irritant and challenge, not an opportunity. Seldom have India’s policies
displayed a sense of belonging to the region or a desire to work with the neighborhood
for greater integration and cooperation. India
considers itself as the successor of the British Raj and therefore the Indian
Foreign Policy assigns a role to India to control the neighboring countries. India has a self assigned role of a
policeman of South Asia which keeps dictating to the countries which are its neighbors.
This is presented as the principle of “non reciprocity“,
which acknowledges India's huge size relative to other South Asian nations and
concludes that it needs to do more than just seek quid pro quo from them. Some
form of this has existed for long, most notably in the so-called Gujral
doctrine (It is a set
of five principles to guide the conduct of foreign relations with India's
immediate neighbors as spelt out by I.K.Gujral, first as India's foreign
minister and later as the prime minister. Among other factors, these five
principles arise from the belief that India's stature and strength cannot be
divorced from the quality of its relations with its neighbors.) of the late nineties
The
regional strong man mentality resulted in the fact that the only
country in the world, other than Israel, to have acquired land through conflict
or intimidation after the end of World War 2 is India. Israel has at least the flimsy
excuse that in some of their conflicts with the Arabs they pre-empted imminent
aggression and thus were not the aggressor per se. In the South Asian
sub-continent, India has openly coveted (and/or made designs to take possession
thereof) before actually annexing their neighbor or their prime real estate. In
every incident of aggression, care was taken to garb the nakedly expansionist
moves under some camouflage or the other.
Indian
aggression post partition
Indian
aggression commenced immediately after achieving freedom. The first to fall
into India's grip was Kashmir; the legal subterfuge used was the Maharaja's
Letter of Accession. This was followed by military intervention to annex
Hyderabad, Junagadh and Manawadar in 1948. In 1960 it was the turn of the
Portuguese possessions of Goa, Daman and Diu in a farcical war. The smaller
princely States of India were just taken over lock, stock and barrel at the
appropriate time, in most cases this was accompanied by a considerable loss of
life and assets by mainly the Muslims. There were, however, some states over
which problems arose, primarily because of India's insatiable desire to grab
territory. For example, the Muslim ruler of Junagarh, a state with a Hindu
majority population, announced his decision to join Pakistan. India responded
by aiding and abetting the establishment of a so-called "Provisional
Government" of Junagarh on Indian territory, which attacked Junagarh with
Indian connivance and support. Subsequently Indian forces also invaded Junagarh,
despite protests from Pakistan, in order to "restore law and order".
A farcical plebiscite was organized under Indian auspices, and India annexed
Junagarh. Similarly, in Hyderabad, a Hindu majority state, the Muslim ruler of
the state wanted to retain an independent status. India responded by attacking
Hyderabad and annexed the state by force. India sought to justify its
aggression against Hyderabad and Junagarh on the plea that the rulers of
Junagarh and Hyderabad were acting against the wishes of their people.
RAW: An Instrument of Indian Imperialism
As the world started to look askance
at naked aggression, India turned increasingly to subterfuge. In 1968 they
formed the Research and Analytical Wing (RAW) whose main purpose at that time
was to organize covert operations in Bangladesh, in this they were actively
supported by the Border Security Forces (BSF) whose Deputy Director General
(DDG), in this case Brig Pande, was based at Calcutta with an alternate HQs in
91 BSF at Agartala for operational purposes. With the creation of RAW, India
turned from naked aggression to sophistication in the pursuit of its ambitions.
RAW became involved in covert operations in all the peripheral countries around
India. While RAW's role in the creation of Bangladesh did not get much
attention, its operatives were in constant contact with hard-core India
sympathizers within Awami League (AL) such as Tajuddin, Nazrul Islam, etc.
Through these surrogates RAW maintained pressure on Sheikh Mujibur Rehman
whenever he started weakening in his anti-Pakistan stance. After 1971, RAW
retained its interest in Bangladesh, raising a parallel military organisation
loyal to AL (and India) known as the Rakhi Bahini headed by Brig Nuruzzaman. As
a Captain of the Pakistan Army, Nuruzzaman had undergone trial for treason in
the famous Agartala Conspiracy Case. Though they were better armed and
organised than the Bangladesh Armed Forces, the Rakhi Bahini was easily
disarmed and demobilised by the Bangladesh Army post-Mujib. RAW agents have since
become a permanent factor for destabilisation in Bangladesh, having subverted
the loyalties of a large segment of the Hindu population. After Sheikh Mujib
was assassinated, they re-created the 1971 vintage Kader Bahini led by the
infamous Kader Siddiqui who operated from Indian territory from 1975 to 1985
and constantly troubled the Zia Regime (and later the Ershad regime) with many
instances of terrorism. Today India sustains the Chakma revolt against
Bangladesh in the Chittagong Hill Tracts by supporting the Shanti Bahini which
makes cross border raids from training and logistics camps in the Indian
Tripura State at Amarpur, Sabroom and opposite Baghban-Tilla.
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), created in
1968, and has assumed a significant status in the formulation of India's
domestic and foreign policies, particularly the later. Working directly under
the Prime Minister, it has over the years become and effective instrument of
India's national power. In consonance with Kautilya's precepts, RAW's espionage
doctrine is based on the principle of waging a continuous series of battles of
intrigues and secret wars.
RAW
emerges as the only presently functioning instrument of wide scale application
of State terrorism. This is no rogue operation planned by some idealistic nuts
running wild; this is a deliberate implementation of the policy of the Indian
Government to annex and occupy neighboring countries or to browbeat them into
accepting Indian hegemony. That RAW takes the initiative to sow anarchy and
disorder puts it in a murderous class of its own.
Credit must
go to Indira Gandhi who in the late 1970s gave RAW a changed and much more
dynamic role. To suit her much publicized Indira Doctrine, (actually India
Doctrine) Mrs. Gandhi specifically asked RAW to create a powerful organ within
the organization which could undertake covert operations in neighboring
countries. It is this capability that makes RAW a more fearsome agency than its
superior KGB, CIA, MI-6, BND and the Mossad.
Its internal role is confined only in monitoring
events having bearing on the external threat. RAW's boss works directly under
the Prime Minister. An Additional Secretary to the Government of India, under
the Director RAW, is responsible for the Office of Special Operations (OSO), intelligence
collected from different countries, internal security (under the Director
General of Security), the electronic/technical section and general
administration. The Additional Secretary as well as the Director General of
Security is also under the Director of RAW. DG Security has two important
sections: the Aviation Research Center (ARC) and the Special Services Bureau
(SSB). The joint Director has specified desks with different regional
divisions/areas (countries):
RAW priorities are: Pakistan; China and South East Asia: the Middle East and
Africa: and other countries. Aviation
Research Center (ARC) is responsible for interception, monitoring and jamming
of target country's communication systems. It has the most sophisticated
electronic equipment and also a substantial number of aircraft equipped with
state-of- the art eavesdropping devices. ARC was strengthened in mid-1987 by
the addition of three new aircraft, the Gulf Stream-3. These aircraft can
reportedly fly at an altitude of 52,000 ft and has an operating range of 5000
km. ARC also controls a number of radar stations located close to India's
borders. Its aircraft also carry out oblique reconnaissance, along the border
with Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Pakistan.
RAW having been given a virtual carte blanche to
conduct destabilization operations in neighboring countries inimical to India RAW
seriously undertook restructuring of its organization accordingly. RAW was
given a list of seven countries (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan,
Pakistan and Maldives) whom India considered its principal regional
protagonists. It very soon systematically and brilliantly crafted covert
operations in all these countries to coerce, destabilize and subvert them in
consonance with the foreign policy objectives of the Indian Government.
RAW's operations against the regional countries
were conducted with great professional skill and expertise. Central to the
operations was the establishment of a huge network inside the target countries.
It used and targeted political dissent, ethnic divisions, economic backwardness
and criminal elements within these states to foment subversion, terrorism and
sabotage. RAW created the conducive
environments, RAW stage-managed future events in these countries in such a way
that military intervention appears a natural concomitant of events. In most
cases, RAW's hand remained hidden, but more often that not target countries
soon began unearthing those "hidden hand". A brief expose of RAW's
operations in neighboring countries would reveal the full expanse of its
regional ambitions to suit India Doctrine (Open Secrets: India's Intelligence
Unveiled by M K Dhar. Manas Publications, New Delhi, 2005).
The Jain Commission Report for the Indian government has confirmed
that the Indian intelligence services Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) has
been fomenting violence to destabilize within the domestic politics of the
South Asian Countries. When examining the political behavior of the countries
like Sri Lanka, BanglaDesh, Nepal, Pakistan and other states, it appears to be
more militant much violent on the canvas of South Asia. In the back ground of
all the evils the face of the RAW appears like a monster which feeds on to
nothing but the human blood. A senior leader of the opposition Bharatiya
Janatha Party (BJP) has alleged the ruling Congress Party that RAW had nurtured
the abhorrent Liberation Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) to destabilize Sri Lanka. For
nefarious acts the LTTE’s were funded and equipped with arms by the government
of India, said Venkiah Naidu the former president of the opposition party, in a
statement while adding, the Congress Party is totally connected to all the
terrorist activities being conducted in and around the sub continent. Sri Lanka
having multi-sectarian population happened to be a peaceful country up to the
mid seventies as in and outside it sang the song together with India. But the
trouble began in 1977 when Sri Lanka extended arms to host United States and
stood against the illogical demand of India to oust all the foreign naval
forces from the Indian Ocean. Pakistan has never forgotten its benefactor Sri
Lanka who allowed in 1971 war the landing and fuelling facilities to Pakistan.
Pakistan herself has been the victim of militancy forged by India & fully
understands the role assigned to LTTE by RAW is to destabilize a peaceful
country thus compelling Sri Lanka to bow to the dictates of India. RAW has
never left an opportunity to propagate negatively and unfold the friendship
knot exists between the two countries i.e. Pak-Sri Lanka brother hood which is
much stronger than Himalaya & more sacred than Ganges. The tactics used by
India is first to establish a group of terrorists against a country which is
funded, supported with arms, trained, dispatched to terrorize the targeted
country like the LTTE in Sri Lanka and then compel her to yell for help from
India. Recently the Sri Lankan got outraged at the Indian national security
advisor’s bluster that for their defence needs they can look only to India and cannot
go to China, Pakistan or anyone else. And the beauty is the Sri Lanka was not
only refrained by India to purchase sophisticated weapons for its safety but
also this would remain the prerogative of India to decide what categories of
weapons be given to Sri Lanka. It has been learnt through reliable sources that
when India tried to sell out its weapons to Sri Lanka to fight back her
illegitimate son the “LTTE”, simultaneously RAW ferried sophisticated weapons
to her brother the “LTTE” to various sanctuaries existed across the border, to
gun down the Sri Lankan Army. Sri Lanka also allowed installation of high
powered transmitter by Voice of America (VOA) on its territory, which was
resented by India. It also permitted Israel to establish a nominal presence of
its intelligence training set up. It was due to such very irritants in the
Indo-Sri Lanka relationship that Mrs. Indira Gandhi decided to bring Sri Lanka
in to fold of the so called Indira Doctrine (India Doctrine). Kao the chief of
the RAW was told by Gandhi to repeat the episode of Bangladesh. That’s how the
mother India gave birth to an illegitimate son the “LTTE” exactly on the lines
of Mukti Bahini to piecemeal the peace of Sri Lanka. Accordingly for the LTTE,
the training camps at places like Gunda & Gorakhpur were set up. Sri Lanka
was forced in to Indian power web when Indo - Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 was
signed & Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in light of the same landed in
Sri Lanka. This Indian adventure killed 60,000 men, women & children of the
innocent Sri Lankan and situation prevailing at that time compelled Indian
forces to withdraw to her own territory. The price has been quite high for the
Sri Lanka & is still continuing to pay the same for this Indian initiated
& RAW inspired polarised conflict. The former Indian High Commissioner in
Sri Lanka, J.N.Dixit even accused RAW of having given Rs. Five crore to the
LTTE as a token of reward for carrying out subversive activities in Sri Lanka.
Indian intelligence agencies were involved in the
former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh since early 1960s. Its operatives were in
touch with Sheikh Mujib for quite some time. Sheikh Mujib went to Agartala in
1965. The famous Agartala case was unearthed in 1967. In fact, the main purpose
of rising RAW in 1968 was to organize covert operations in Bangladesh. As early
as in 1968, RAW was given a green signal to begin mobilizing all its resources
for the impending intervention in East Pakistan. When in July 1971 General
Manekshaw told Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that the army would not be ready
till December to intervene in Bangladesh, she quickly turned to RAW for help.
RAW was ready. Its officers used Bengali refugees to set up Mukti Bahini. Using this outfit as a cover, Indian military,
sneaked deep into Bangladesh. The story of Mukti Bahini and RAW's role in its
creation and training is now well-known. RAW never concealed its Bangladesh
operations.
Interested readers may have details in Asoka
Raina's Inside RAW: the story of India's secret service published by Vikas
Publishing House of New Delhi. The creation of Bangladesh was masterminded by
RAW in complicity with KGB under the covert clauses of Indo-Soviet Treaty of
Friendship and Co-operation (adopted as 25-year Indo-Bangladesh Treaty of
Friendship and Co-operation in 1972).
RAW retained a keen interest in Bangladesh even
after its independence. Mr. Subramaniam Swamy, Janata Dal MP, a close associate
of Morarji Desai said that Rameswar Nath Kao, former Chief of RAW, and Shankaran
Nair upset about Sheikh Mujib's assassination chalked a plot to kill General
Ziaur Rahman. However, when Morarji Desai came into power in 1977 he was
indignant at RAW's role in Bangladesh and ordered operations in Bangladesh to
be called off; but by then RAW had already gone too far. General Zia continued
to be in power for quite some time but he was assassinated after Indira Gandhi
returned to power, though she denied her involvement in his assassination(
Weekly Sunday,Calcutta,18 September, 1988).
RAW was involved in training of Chakma tribal’s and
Shanti Bahini who carry out subversive activities in Bangladesh. It has also
unleashed a well-organized plan of psychological warfare, creation of polarization
among the armed forces, propaganda by false allegations of use of Bangladesh
territory by ISI, creation of dissension's among the political parties and
religious sects, control of media, denial of river waters, and propping up a
host of disputes in order to keep Bangladesh under a constant political and
socio-economic pressure ( " RAW and Bangladesh" by Mohammad Zainal
Abedin, November 1995, RAW In Bangladesh: Portrait of an Aggressive
Intelligence, written and published by Abu Rushd, Dhaka).
Sikkim
Sikkim was the easiest and most docile prey for RAW.
Indira Gandhi annexed the Kingdom of Sikkim in mid-1970s, to be an integral part of India Sikkim kingdom
of Sikkim became a possession of India
Bhutan
Bhutan is a land-locked country, totally dependent
on India. RAW has developed links with members of the royal family as well as
top bureaucrats to implements its policies. It has cultivated its agents
amongst Nepalese settlers and is in a position to create difficulties for the
Government of Bhutan. In fact, the King of Bhutan has been reduced to the
position of merely acquiescing into New Delhi's decisions and go by its
dictates in the international arena. Bhuttan's Jigme Wangchuk of the adjacent
Himalayan Kingdom does not strain too
much at the leash and studiously toes the Indian line, realizing that his
situation is probably more untenable than his once-upon-a-time Sikkim counterpart.
Nominally, he remains, along with the Maldives ,
as showpiece independent nations and the only ones on India 's periphery 'without' problems with India
Recent
events include the Doklam standoff
between China and Indian troops who claim to be acting in behalf of Bhutan.
That confrontation has exacerbated Thimphu’s concerns about getting sucked into
a Sino-Indian conflict. Bhutanese elites, and increasingly the public, believe
they should settle their border with China, not tack a settlement onto India’s
more intractable dispute. Beijing has offered Thimphu a strategic swap, in
which China would concede to Bhutan disputed territory in the north, in
exchange for Doklam. New Delhi, however, firmly discourages conceding Doklam to
China.
Ever since the Doklam standoff, Bhutan has become crucial for
Indian adventurism. In the recently held elections, Bhutanese media and society
gave a strong impression that “India is an Elephant in the Room”. Although, all
political parties had agreed before the election campaigning that they would
not ‘politicise’ sensitive issues like foreign policy, but the “India factor”
dominated the polls with rival parties defaming each other on “Indo-Bhutan
relations”.
The Indian establishment is, however, worried over the first round
defeat of the outgoing ruling party PDP (a pro-India party) and rise of DPT
(considered as pro-China party winning 17 seats). The paradox is that while
India thinks it is ‘protecting’ Bhutan from the Chinese with its imposing
military presence, the Bhutanese want not to be involved in the Sino-Indian
rivalry in any way. Bhutan also wants to establish direct diplomatic relations
with other countries – a job that is now being done by the Bhutanese embassy in
New Delhi – but such a move is strongly disliked by Indian establishment.
Sri Lanka
Post- independence Sri Lanka Israel
It was because of these 'irritants' in the Indo-Sri
Lanka relations that Mrs Indira Gandhi planned to bring Sri Lanka into the fold of the so-called Indira
Doctrine (India Doctrine) Kao was told by Gandhi to repeat their Bangladesh Gorakhpur Sri Lanka
was forced into Indian power-web when Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 was singed
and Indian Peace-Keeping-Force (IPKF) landed in Sri Lanka
The Ministry of External Affairs was also upset at
RAW's role in Sri Lanka as they felt that RAW was still continuing negotiations
with the Tamil Tiger leader Parabhakran in contravention to the Indian
government's foreign policy. According to R Swaminathan, (former Special
Secretary of RAW) it was this outfit which was used as the intermediary between
Rajib Gandhi and Tamil leader Parabhakaran. The former Indian High Commissioner
in Sri Lanka Sri
Lanka
The
paradise that once was Sri
Lanka Bangladesh Gorakhpur Tamil
State Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Sri
Lanka India closed
down all camps and suspended the free movement of Tamils (now mostly supporter
of LTTE) with India India
Recently ex President of Sri
Lankan President Sirisena made the claim
of an assassination plot by RAW, just days before Ranil Wickremesinghe was
scheduled to visit New Delhi. In her most recent article for the Hindu, the
Colombo correspondent of The Hindu Ms Srinivasan has reported that the Sri
Lankan authorities are seeking “Chinese assistance to tap evidence pertaining
to the assassination plot”. This was not the first time that a Sri Lankan
leader has accused RAW of interference. Mahinda Rajapaksa had held RAW among
those responsible for the change in regime following his defeat in 2015.
Maldives
Under a well-orchestrated RAW plan, on November 30
1988 a 300 to 400-strong well trained force of mercenaries, armed with
automatic weapons, initially said to be of unknown origin, infiltrated in boats
and stormed the capital of Maldives. They resorted to indiscriminate shooting
and took high-level government officials as hostages. At the Presidential
Palace, the small contingent of loyal national guards offered stiff resistance,
which enabled President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to shift to a safe place from
where he issued urgent appeals for help from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Britain and the United States.
The Indian Prime Ministe Rajiv Gandhi reacted
promptly and about 1600 combat troops belonging to 50 Independent Para-Brigade
in conjunction with Indian Naval units landed at Male under the code-name
Operation Cactus. A number of IAF transport aircraft, escorted by fighters,
were used for landing personnel, heavy equipment and supplies. Within hours of
landing, the Indian troops flushed out the attackers form the streets and
hideouts. Some of them surrendered to Indian troops, and many were captured by
Indian Naval units while trying to escape along with their hostages in a
Maldivian ship, Progress Light. Most of the 30 hostages including Ahmed
Majtaba, Maldives Minister of Transport, were released. The Indian Government
announced the success of the Operation Cactus and complimented the armed forces
for a good job done.
The Indian Defense Minister while addressing IAF
personnel at Bangalore claimed that the country's prestige has gone high
because of the peace-keeping role played by the Indian forces in Maldives. The
International Community in general and the South Asian states in particular,
however, viewed with suspicious the over-all concept and motives of the
operation. The western media described it as a display of newly-acquired
military muscle by India and its growing role as a regional police. Although
the apparent identification of the two Maldivian nationals could be a
sufficient reason, at its face value, to link it with the previous such
attempts by the mercenaries, yet other converging factors, indicative of
involvement of external hand, could hardly be ignored. Sailing of the
mercenaries from Manar and Kankasanturai in Sri Lanka, which were in complete
control of IPKF, and the timing and speed of the Indian intervention proved
their involvement beyond any doubt.
The operation conducted on Nov 30, 1988; by RAW in MALDIVES is a
role model for the World & especially for the South Asian countries. When
the Indian forces got bogged in Sri Lanka, RAW created a ludicrous drama in the
Maldives. Terrorists belonging to the RAW – funded Eelam People’s Revolutionary
Liberation Front (EPRLF) staged an attack on Male, which resorted to
indiscriminate shooting and took high level government officials as hostages.
The situation forced the President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to shift to a safe
place, where he according to the plan of RAW issued urgent appeals for help
from India. The Indian Prime Minister reacted promptly and dispatched about
1600 combat troops coupled with Indian Naval Units escorted by fighter
aircrafts to conduct the Operation-Cactus, which met success effortlessly. The
whole drama ended with in 24 hours. However, no one at home or abroad was
deceived by this RAW engineered drama. What a comedian tragedy it is that India
plays with the fate of small nations in the funniest & deceitful manner.
The
Indian Ocean farce where 200 Tamil mercenaries from the Ealam Peoples
Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF - another creation of RAW) were employed
to stage a coup against Maldives
Ever since the partition of the sub-continent India
has been openly meddling in Nepal's internal affairs by contriving internal
strife and conflicts through RAW to destabilize the successive legitimate
governments and prop up puppet regimes which would be more amenable Indian
machinations. Armed insurrections were sponsored and abetted by RAW and later
requests for military assistance to control these were managed through
pro-India leaders. India has been aiding and inciting the Nepalese dissidents
to collaborate with the Nepali Congress. For this they were supplied arms
whenever the King or the Nepalese Government appeared to be drifting away from
the Indian dictates and impinging on Indian hegemonic designs in the region.
India too played a
defining role in the launching of Nepal’s insurgency. While Maoists did
criticize India’s intervention in Nepal at the beginning of the insurgency, the
criticism was only verbal. There was suspicion that India’s ties with Maoists
caused them to remain silent after Indian troop placement at the India-Nepal
border in 1996 led to a 1998 border dispute. While this dispute was heightened
by the political elites in Kathmandu, the Maoists were explicitly absent from
the conversation. According to Puskar Gautam, a former Maoist who
abandoned the insurgency, “India might have expected more from the Nepali
democrats on the basis that Nepal’s democratic and communist movements were
made possible only thanks to India’s support. However, its expectations may not
have been met in the new political scenario that emerged after 1990, hence it
may have decided to use the Maoists as a bargaining tool.” Additionally, while
there were multiple reports of Nepalese Maoist leaders
meeting Maoists in India, they were overlooked by Indian intelligence agencies,
despite many of the Nepalis being on Nepal’s terrorism list.
In fact, under the garb of the so-called
democratization measures, the Maoists were actively encouraged to collect arms
to resort to open rebellion against the legitimate Nepalese governments. The
contrived rebellions provided India an opportunity to intervene militarily in
Nepal, ostensibly to control the insurrections which were masterminded by the
RAW itself. It was an active replay of the Indian performance in Sri Lanka and
Maldives a few years earlier. RAW is particularly aiding the people of the
Indian-origin and has been providing them with arms and ammunition. RAW has
also infiltrated the ethnic Nepali refugees who have been extradited by Bhutan
and have taken refuge in the eastern Nepal. RAW can exploit its links with
these refugees in either that are against the Indian interest. Besides the
Nepalese economy is totally controlled by the Indian money lenders, financiers
and business mafia ( RAW's Machination In South Asia by Shastra Dutta Pant,
Kathmandu, 2003).
India
has been openly meddling in Nepal’s internal affairs by contriving internal
strife and conflicts through RAW to destabilize the successive legitimate
governments & prop up puppet regimes which would be more amenable Indian
mechanization. Armed insurrections were sponsored and abetted by RAW and later
requests for military assistance to control these were managed through
pro-India leaders. India has been aiding & inciting the Nepalese to
collaborate with the Nepali Congress. For this they were supplied arms whenever
the king or the Nepalese Government appeared to be drifting away from the
Indian dictates & impinging on Indian hegemonic designs in the region. In
fact under the garb of democratization process, the Maoists were actively
encouraged by the RAW to collect arms to resort to open rebellion against the
legitimate Nepalese governments. The contrived rebellions provided India an
opportunity to intervene militarily in Nepal, ostensibly to control the
insurrections which were the brain child of the RAW. RAW is particularly aiding
the people of the Indian-origin who have been made settled in Nepal and
recently have acquired the right of citizenship are also being provided arms
and ammunition to look after the vested interests of India. RAW has also
infiltrated in the ethnic Nepali refugees who have been extradited by Bhutan
and have taken refuge in the eastern part of Nepal. RAW can easily exploit its
links with these refugees to create turbulence in Nepal if the situation
clashes with the Indian interests. Besides this the total economy of Nepal is
being controlled by Indian money lenders, financiers & business tycoons in
Nepal.
Nepal
is the only Hindu Kingdom in the world. King Bhirendhra ran afoul of India
because of his independent stance on regional policies. Previously known as an annex
of India, Nepal opened out to the world in the late 70s and early 80s. RAW was
mandated by the Indian Government to bring Nepal into line. The first set was
that India used a pretext to halt all supplies of food, medicine, oil etc. from
going to this land-locked country. In the meantime RAW agents fanned out among
anti-monarchist elements and as the economic blockade took hold, riots broke
out all over Nepal escalating into full fledged political confrontation between
the monarchy and the electorate. Acts of terrorism, including the explosions of
bombs, sabotage of installations, attacks on prominent personalities, etc.
proliferated. Faced with the possibility of large-scale anarchy and even
take-over by India on the Sri Lanka pattern, the King opted to become a
constitutional monarch and a 'friendly' government came to power in Nepal. This
was a blatant interference in the internal affairs of another nation; RAW was
used as the terror weapon.
Recent
irritants are the result of the fact that Nepal signed an additional protocol
on transit with China, which would give the country an access to Chinese ports.
It is legitimate for any country, especially for a landlocked one, to seek to
diversify its options. But the fact that this happened within an overall
context of China’s increased political and economic presence in Nepal raised
eyebrows in New Delhi. Second, Nepal — after having signed on to a joint
military exercise of Bimstec, which kicked off in Pune — pulled out because of
an internal political criticism. An upset New Delhi told Kathmandu that this
was not appropriate and has put the grouping in an embarrassing position
In
2017, the Left Front of Mr Oli and Mr Prachanda won the Nepal polls on a strong
nationalist platform — with the declared intent of redefining the “special
relationship” with India, which meant diminishing ties with India, but
deepening it with China. "Oli’s fundamentals — skepticism of India,
willingness to cater to the ultra-nationalist sentiments at home, and desire to
deepen ties with China — remain the same
Afghanistan
Since December 1979, throughout Afghan War, KGB,
KHAD (WAD) (former Afghan intelligence outfit) and RAW stepped up their efforts
to concentrate on influencing and covert exploitation of the tribes on both
sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There was intimate co-ordination
between the three intelligence agencies not only in Afghanistan
but in destabilization of Pakistan
through subversion and sabotage plan related to Afghan refugees and mujahideen,
the tribal belt and inside Pakistan Pakistan to create panic and hatred in the minds
of locals against Afghan refugee mujahideen for pressurizing Pakistan to change its policies on Afghanistan
RAW along with NDS the Afghan secret service has
used the Pakistani Taliban now residing in Afghanistan to create terror
incidents in North Pakistan and Baluchistan. Kulbushan Yadav, a serving
commander of the Indian Navy was captured deep inside Pakistan, he was involved
in funding and sponsoring terror activities in Karachi , Baluchistan and
elsewhere .
Raw considers Sindh as Pakistan
RAW is also being blamed for confusing the ground
situation is Kashmir so as to keep the world attention away from the gross
human rights violations by India
in India occupied Kashmir . ISI being almost 20 years older than RAW and
having acquired much higher standard of efficiency in its functioning , has
become the prime target of RAW's designs, ISI is considered to be a stumbling
block in RAW's operations, and has, therefore, been made a target of all kinds
of massive misinformation and propaganda campaign. The tirade against ISI
continues unabated. The idea is to keep ISI on the defensive by fictionalising
and alleging its hand is supporting Kashmiri Mujahideen and Sikhs in Punjab . RAW'S fixation against ISI has taken the shape of
ISI-phobia, as in India
RAW over the years has admirably fulfilled its
tasks of destabilising target states through unbridled export of terrorism. The
India Doctrine spelt out a difficult and onerous role for RAW. It goes to its
credit that it has accomplished its assigned objectives due to the endemic
weakness in the state apparatus of those nations and failure of their leaders.
Pakistan
figures promptly as a major RAW target, with special emphasis on the separatist
Sindhu Desh movement. A wing of the Indian Special Services Bureau (SSB) has
established terrorist camps across the border from Sindh in Rajasthan in eight
major locations, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Udhampur, Kishangarh, Bikaner India Afghanistan
and Libya Sri Lanka Pakistan
Pakistan's
main claim to fame with respect to being judged guilty of State terrorism is
Kashmir, there is widescale speculation that the US may declare Pakistan a
terrorist State because of supposedly ISI-organised camps organise guerrillas
to cross into Indian occupied Kashmir. The ISI learnt most of its expertise
from close collaboration with the CIA during the 80s decade Afghan war when
Afghan Mujahideen were trained in guerilla warfare in camps in the border
region to liberate Afghanistan Kashmir is mostly
indigenous, the people's will being spontaneous does not need orchestration.
The ISI and other Pakistani covert agencies are also accused of providing help
to Sikh militants demanding a separate homeland. Most of the Sikh militants are
ex-Indian Army personnel who mutinied after the Golden Temple Pakistan Kashmir is
another matter, it is freedom struggle and the ISI need not organise camps
since Kashmiris on both sides of the border are committed to freedom from
Indian tutelage and thus would be crossing the border without official
sanction. Even if the sanction is denied, the borders will remain porous, in
the circumstances imposing a clamp down would be next to impossible.
India went on to violate
other aspects of the Simla agreement, specifically the undertaking that neither
side shall change the ground situation, by occupying the Chorbat La, Siachen
& Qamar sectors, an area over 2500 sq. kilometers between 1972 to 1988.
INTERNAL TERRORISM
Many
people wrongly believe that RAW is used by India India
Many
people in the outside world are not aware of the Hindu class system, almost 53%
of the population is of the lowest class, the Untouchables. With about 17%
Muslims and 3-4% Christians of various denomination, only about 25-27% of the
population is really enfranchised. Most of the government jobs go to this
minority with a sprinkling drawn from the majority for purposes of window
dressing. The only government employment really open to the majority population
are the menial jobs, even in the Armed Forces Untouchables, Muslims and
Christians are few and far between. Control of the government at all levels and
of the Armed Forces thus gives the Hindu minority upper class dictatorial
authority over the rest of the population. When VP Singh was PM he tried to
overcome this inequity by enforcing a Quota system, riots broke out all over
the country, mostly fanned by the civil administration. In Delhi India
To
start with is the grey area of Kashmir which is legally not a part of India Sri Lanka Kashmir . While the BSF and CRP were known
for their penchant to resort to atrocities against non-combatants particularly
old men, women and children, the commando units were trained by Israelis to
combat the urban guerillas on the counter-Intifida pattern. Most infamous among
these special units are the so-called Black Cats (they wear black uniform). The
prime modus operandi is to surround a locality and line up all the men held in
that swoop. Hooded men, who are obviously either informants or guerillas who
have been tortured and thus forced to cooperate, are then brought to identify
possible dissidents. Some of those that are held simply disappear, in most
cases their bodies turn up after a few days. There is no sanctuary, churches
and/or mosques are entered at will, in many cases there has been gun-battles on
the premises. A form of ethnic cleansing is in process in Kashmir ,
the country is being rid of Muslim Kashmiris. There have been as many as 40,000
documented deaths in the last 2/3 years, over double that have crossed over the
LoC to become a fresh wave of refugees in Azad Kashmir.
Almost
a similar modus operandi is followed in Khalistan (Indian Punjab). Operation
Blue Star in 1984 aimed at getting the Sikh militants out of the Golden Temple
at Amritsar India ,
while before Bhindranewala the Sikhs were for greater autonomy within India Kashmir , the province is in a state of virtual internal
siege and the guerilla attacks are matched by the State's law enforcement
agencies in the context of terrorism. Like in Kashmir ,
draconian laws ensure that fundamental rights remain suspended.
Over
the broad mass of Central India , extending to
the South is the shadowy Naxalite movement. Originating in a village called
Naxalbari in West Bengal in the late 60s, this
is essentially a revolt of the downtrodden class against the injustice of the
rich and ruling, particularly the landlord class and government functionaries.
At the beginning the movement was not really terrorist-oriented but the
reaction of the civil administration forced them to respond with vengeance, now
it is all out war with the Naxalites beheading their targeted enemies.
Naturally the Indian Government's response, both Federal and State, has been to
fight fire with fire with only lip-service given to civil liberties.
In
the South is the land of the Tamils. In the 60s and 70s there was a budding
secessionist movement, however with Indian moves on Sri Lanka Jaffna Sri Lanka India
Most
of India
a. GorkhalandThe areas around
b. Bodoland
Just west of
c. ULFA
United Liberation Front of Assam envisages an independent
d. Nagaland
The Nagas have been fighting for their independence since almost 1947. The British had promised them an independent homeland for their active support against the Japanese in World War 2. After the emergence of
e. Mizoram
Like the Nagas, the Mizos are mainly Christians and their guerilla movement has followed the same route. Laldenga, their leader, had to come to terms after the emergence of
f. Manipuris
One of the greatest shocks of 'democratic' India that awaited tea planters of West Pakistani origin who moved into India while escaping from East Pakistan in 1971 (and were incarcerated in Indian Jails) was to find Manipuri children in many jails of Tripura State, particularly Agartala Jail. Under the Maintenance of India Security Act (MISA), a large number of Manipuri children of Manipuri influentials were kept as hostages for their good behavior. For a time after
Modi Regime record
The
Narendra Modi government’s neighborhood policy began exceptionally well with
Mr. Modi reaching out to the regional capitals and making grand foreign policy
commitments. But almost immediately, it seemed to lose a sense of diplomatic
balance, for instance, when it tried to interfere with the Constitution-making
process in Nepal and was accused of trying to influence electoral outcomes in Sri Lanka. While India’s refugee policy went against its
own traditional practices, it was found severely wanting on the Rohingya
question, and seemed clueless on how to deal with the political crisis in the
Maldives. Despite their characteristic bravado and grandstanding, the BJP
government’s foreign policy mandarins looked out of their depth.
The
perception of the neighboring State of India is summed up by a book titled
“Machination of RAW in Transitional Nepal” authored by Nepalese scholar Dr
Shastra Dutta Pant provides a deep insight into the RAW’s covert and overt
onslaughts against the strategically-located Nepal, compelling it compromise
its sovereignty in subjugation to the Indian hegemony in South Asia. This book
suggests that not only Pakistan but almost all other neighboring states are
fed-up with the overt and covert operations of RAW. Published in 2017, it also
partially figures out RAW’s engagement in espionage, subversion, sabotage, and
psychological warfare against the South Asian neighbors including, Pakistan,
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and the regions of Kashmir and Tibet.
The book dwells at length at RAW’s micro-management of the Nepalese affairs,
specifically after the 1990 political change in Kathmandu, by deepening its
dependency exclusively on India.
India
must shed its aggression and deal with tricky situations with far more
diplomatic subtlety and finesse.. The reason why South Asia is the least
integrated region in the world is because the economic linkages are shockingly
weak among the countries of the region. The lead to correct this must be taken
by India even if this means offering better terms of trade for the smaller
neighbors. While it is true that long ‘sensitive lists’ maintained by South
Asian countries are a major impediment in the implementation of SAFTA, or the
South Asian Free Trade Area, India could do a lot more to persuade them to
reduce the items on such lists. Second, several of India’s border States have
the capacity to engage in trading arrangements with neighboring counties. This
should be made easier by the government by way of constructing border
infrastructure and easing restrictions on such border trade and there should be more attempts at forging
multilateral arrangements, including by resurrecting the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
India
has used terrorism, deceit and underhand means to grab territory and to
destabilize neighboring countries. South Asia have the largest number of poor
outside Africa, this underdevelopment can be directly traced to Indian
aggression which have interfered in States around it and even destabilized
governments that are deemed inimical to Indian designs. For South Asia to
progress, India will need to give up its Gugral doctrine.
Separatists Movements in India: Indian
Occupied Kashmir: Feb., 9, 2019: Indian Republic Day
January 26, 2019 was observed as “Black Day” by the residents of Indian
Occupied Kashmir (IOK). Pakistani flags were hoisted on roof tops by the
Kashmiris. On February 3, 2019, Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi
visited IOK, but the entire Valley was in a state of lockdown. On February 5,
2019, Kashmir Solidarity Day was observed throughout the world with speeches,
rallies, photo-exhibitions depicting Indian brutality and seminars condemning
Indian atrocities were organized in various capitals of the world. It appears
that with the renewed efforts by Pakistan, the cause of the Kashmiris is likely
to gain impetus and bring international censure on India for its dismal human
rights records.
Maoists: In the intervening night
of February 1 and 2, 2019, two villagers, identified as Nirmal Goswami and
Samru Kosmi, were shot dead by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
cadres, over suspicion of being ‘Police informers’, near Markegaon village in
Dhanora Tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District. On January 30, 2019, a
villager, identified as Wale VanjaKudyami, who was abducted by CPI-Maoist
cadres over suspicion of being a ‘Police informer’, was found dead at Pengunda
Phata under Bhamragad taluka (revenue sub-division) in Gadchiroli District.On
January 27, 2019, another villager, identified as SansayTanuBeig (32), who was
abducted by a group of CPI-Maoist cadres over suspicion of being a ‘Police
informer’, was also found dead in Jaravandi village under Etapalli Tehsil in
Gadchiroli District.On January 22, 2019, three villagers were shot dead by
CPI-Maoist cadres on suspicion that they had passed on tip-offs to the Police
that led to a massive anti-Maoist operation in which 40 rebels were killed in
2018, in Gadchiroli District. A group of around 150 armed Maoists from
Chhattisgarh, who entered Kasansoor village near KosfundiPhata in the Bhamragad
taluka of the District, abducted six villagers. Later, their bodies were thrown
near the Kosfundi diversion on the Tadgaon-Bhamragarh Road.
The
spurt in civilian killings is an indicator of growing unrest amidst the
Maoists. The third hotspot is in Tripura. On January 29, 2019, the Indigenous
People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a Tripura based tribal political party, an
ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), along with another ten
political parties of the Northeast, met in Guwahati, the capital of
neighbouring Assam, to announce their opposition to the Citizenship Amendment
Bill (CAB). CAB was approved by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of India’s
Parliament) on January 8, 2019. The bill is yet to be passed in the Rajya Sabha
(Upper House of Parliament). On January 27, 2019, the head of the erstwhile
royal dynasty of Tripura, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, criticised the
Government over CAB. Debbarma was speaking at a protest CAB, organized by the Tripura
United Indigenous People’s Council (TUIPC), a joint body of 48 formerly
militant organisations’, who had given up violence and whose cadres had
surrendered over the past several years.
On January 22, 2019, TUIPC had also announced a series of joint
movements in coordination with Tripura-based tribal parties and organisations,
to be initiated from January 26, against CAB. Earlier, on January 8, 2019, at
least six Tripura Students Federation (TSF) activists were wounded in a clash
with the Police during an anti-CAB demonstration at Madhav Bari in the Jirania
area of West Tripura District. On the same day, the State Government suspended
mobile internet and SMS services in the entire State for two days, following
the clashes. Later, on January 8, the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura
(INPT), a Tripura-based tribal political party, along with four other tribal
parties, including IPFT-Tipraha group, Twipra State Party (TSP), National
Conference of Tripura (NCT), and Tripura People’s Party (TPP), called for a
general shutdown on January 12 to protest the incident.
Another issue which plagues the State is the renewed demand by indigenous
tribals for a separate state ‘Twipraland’.
IPFT, one of the three tribal based political parties in Tripura [the others being
the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) and National Conference of
Tripura (NCT)], which is an ally of the BJP led State Government, had called
for a dawn to dusk general shutdown in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous
District Council (TTAADC) area on December 5, 2018, demanding separate
statehood for the tribal areas and withdrawal of CAB. The main impetus of the
insurgency in Tripura was the influx of refugees from East Pakistan (present
day Bangladesh), which reduced the indigenous population to a minority in the
State. The local population’s ire over CAB must be seen in this light, and any
destabilizing impact of this hasty legislation could result in a resurgence of
violence in the State. Mizoram and Nagaland are also simmering. India will have
to take cognizance of the demands of the separatists.
India repeals
370: Aug., 5, 2019: With an
indefinite security lockdown in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) and elected
representatives under house
arrest, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stripped
Kashmiris of the special autonomy they had for seven decades through a rushed
presidential order on Monday. By repealing Article 370 of the
constitution, people from the rest of India will now have the right to acquire
property in occupied Kashmir and settle there permanently. Kashmiris as well as
critics of India’s Hindu nationalist-led government see the move as an attempt
to dilute the demographics of Muslim-majority Kashmir with Hindu settlers. Article 370 had also limited the
power of the Indian parliament to impose laws in the state, apart from matters
of defence, foreign affairs and communications. As India's parliament debated the move, 8,000 Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) from different parts of the country were moved to IoK. The
Indian army and air force were also placed on high alert. Home Minister Amit Shah also moved a
bill to bifurcate the state into two union territories – Jammu Kashmir as one
and Himalayan Ladakh region as the other – directly ruled by New Delhi. A
statement issued by the home minister said that "Jammu and Kashmir will be
a union territory with legislature while Ladakh will be a union territory
without legislature Late on Sunday night, the Indian government imposed
curfew-like restrictions in the restive region while sending in tens of
thousands of additional troops. Former IoK chief ministers Omar Abdullah and
Mehbooba Mufti were placed under house arrest. Communications were cut, with
private mobile networks, internet services and telephone landlines cut "There shall be no movement of public.
All educational institutions shall also remain closed. There will be a complete
bar on holding any kind of public meetings or rallies during the period of
operation of this order. Identity cards of essential services officials will be
treated as movement passes wherever required," read an Indian government
order, but added: "there is no curfew in place". The State is to be
divided into three parts as well.
Naga History
Therefore, a brief summary of racial origins or political history shows that Nagas originated from Shem and in the course of migrations, ultimately settled down in the present lands of the Nagas. This land is situated in the geographical location of 25˚60’ and 27˚40’ latitude north of the equator and between the longitudinal lines 93˚20’ E and 95˚15’ E. Their migration route started from Mesopotamia (Iraq) and came across the Middle East via Mongolia Tibet and the Yunnan province of China like many other Asian nations.
Naga history in non-Biblical secular records.
Nagas learned how to read and write only in the late 1870s from the American missionaries. Prior to this, all records of Naga history was oral history passed from fathers and elders to sons and grandsons through the educational institutions of the Naga Morungs. Some of these oral historical accounts even trace our Naga origins to very cold snowy regions of the world. But on top of all these records our immediate neighbours like the Manipuris and the Ahoms and also distant Indians and Chinese have also recorded our presence as a people and nation inhabiting our present geographical lands. For example, Indian historical records like the Rig Vedas and the Mahabharata makes many mentions of the non Aryan hill tribes’ people inhabiting the Himalayan foot hills and the North Eastern regions of the Indian sub continent. These records date back to the 10th century B.C. This implies that hill tribe Nagas had also been living in their lands prior to the 10thcentury B.C. As for Chinese records “Nagas” means “The people with pierced ears” who fled from the Chinese oppression of forced labour in building the Great Wall of China. Corresponding to this fact, in our own oral history which, (fearing that some Chinese kings might come searching for us to take us back to China), Naga forefathers like the Aos told their descendants to say that as for their origins, they had simply crawled out from some holes under the earth. As for Kachin and Karen records, our forefathers along with our Kachin and Karen kinsman together migrated to our present habitation from China between the 12th to the 7th century B.C. Then there is the records of Claudius Ptolemy who mentioned the Nagas as “Nagaloi” in A.D. 150 in his travel accounts. HiuenTsang, the Chinese traveller who came to India and the Varman dynasty in Assam during the Gupta Empire also gives a detailed account of the Nagas in his travel accounts Si-Yu-Ki in A.D. 643.
Besides these ancient documents, the many battles that the Nagas fought with their Manipuri and Ahom kings from the 3rdto the end of the 19th centuries are all recorded in the Manipur and Ahom Royal Chronicles called the Chietharol Kumbabu and the Buranjis). The Nagas also fought many battles with their neighbour kingdoms like Tripura and the Cachar Kingdoms. Then again, when the British Colonial power stepped into Naga territories in the early 19th century, the Nagas defied and intermittently fought against this Imperial power from 1832 to 1947. In this 115 years of spirited resistance, Nagas ceded to the British Empire only 30% of their over 100,000 sq.km. Geographical territory. The rest 70% remained as “Un-administered” and “Excluded” areas till 1947. It is also clearly recorded in the British records that “No written treaties or agreements have ever been made with any of the Naga tribes. (C.V.Atchinson-Treaties, Engagements and Sanads-Vol. X11, 1931, p 19). Therefore, in a sense, the Nagas were even never conquered by the British during the Colonial period.
The Indo-Naga Burma conflict in modern Naga history.
When the British left their South Asian Empire in August 1947, India claimed that the Naga territories now belonged to the modern India that the British had created and left. Subsequently, after many skirmishes, India moved her armed troops into Nagaland in October 1955. In 1954, hostilities broke out between India and Nagaland and the Indo-Naga Burma war has ever since been raging on for the past 65 years. However, the actual conflict had started right from 1947 itself. All these events have taken place despite the fact that beginning from 1929 Nagas had made their clear political stand for sovereignty and had submitted 6 lengthy memorandums to the departing British power before the transfer of power took place in 1947. Naga leaders of the NNC also met all important Indian politicians like Gandhi and Nehru and also submitted more than 10 memorandums to India before India became a republic in 1953. Nagas also raised their National Flag on August 14, 1947 and conducted a national plebiscite on May 16, 1951 to declare to India and the world that we would remain an independent nation in the comity of nations in the world. But the Indo-Naga-Burmese conflict has remained unresolved till date.
All these historical, political and geographical facts clearly show that the Nagas did not hoist their Independence flag on August 14, 1947 so that they can become a state under India or have a shared sovereignty with India or any other neighbouring countries. Therefore, any negotiated solution that bypasses these political facts of Naga history will never bring any solution to the Naga problem of occupation by India and Burma.
Also, any Naga national group that would betray Naga national and geographical identity to any other country would be committing treason against the Naga nation. Such an act would also amount to a treasonous act against God and our ancestors who have given us both our national and geographical identities.
In conclusion, the Indo-Naga-Burma conflict comes down to this International question as to whether a Caucasian nation like Britain can without consulting the Nagas, dissect their Mongolian Naga lands and gift it to India and Burma as presents? The corollary question for India and Burma also boils down to this question: Can these two nations just occupy these Naga lands which had never been a part of their territories all down the centuries of human history? Until these questions are politically and legally resolved from an international level, the Indo-Naga-Burma conflict will continue to shed Naga, Indian and Burmese blood for all times to come.
NB. Details of the many of the above mentioned memorandums, historical records and accounts of the political history of the Naga nation can be found in the book: “Nagaland and India, the blood and the tears or “The Naga Saga” which are one and the same book.
