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Not ISI alone, but economic backwardness too fuels insurgency in NE, says Advani

Home Minister L K Advani on Wednesday admitted in the Rajya Sabha that insurgency in the North-East was not the result of Inter Services Intelligence alone but also due to simmering discontent at the backwardness of the region.

"It is wrong to blame ISI alone for insurgency in the area. It is the result of discontentment among the people who feel alienated," he said, while replying to a short duration discussion on the grave situation arising out of increase in subversive activities in the North-East.

Advani assured the members of the government's resolve to speed development in the region by implementing various schemes to assuage the feeling of alienation among the people.

The home minister also talked of the need to take a holistic and comprehensive approach to tackle the problem of insurgency, terrorism and militancy which in fact had not been confined to the North-Eastern region but also in other parts of the country, and said behind all this was the feeling of alienation over lack of development and infrastructure. Besides, there was also a need to update policing to contain the menace, he added.

While admitting that there had been an increase in insurgency in the area, he claimed that the situation in the region had improved of late and the recent destruction of three insurgent bases was proof of his claim. He, however, expressed his concern over the internal security environment.

The home minister said with a view to tackle the ISI's activities the Centre was alerting the intelligence agencies and would coordinate with the state governments.

He said the government already has a plan to modernise the police force.

Advani claimed that the government's success in tackling terrorism in Punjab and to some extent in Jammu and Kashmir should help the states to eliminate terrorism in the North-East also.

He said the Union government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladesh government to deal with the existence of ISI training camps in that country. He said there has been a considerable difference of approach in the present government in Dhaka in comparison to the previous government on this issue.

Advani said a similar memorandum is to be signed with Mynamar.

The home minister said he wanted countries to understand that if they encourage terrorism in other countries, it might boomerang on them.

Advani said fencing on international borders of Punjab and Rajasthan has helped checking smuggling, infiltration and drug trafficking. Steps are also being taken to complete fencing along the Gujarat border and also the Bangladesh border.

The home minister advised the states to make use of the National Security Act to arrest identified terrorists.

Jaswant Singh (BJP), deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, in his maiden speech said the people of the North-East, because of the geographical distance, suffer from an acute sense of emotional separatism and have a deep urge for articulation and recognition of their identity.

He said the ISI was fishing in troubled waters down the years. Had the economy of the region thrived, problems of such magnitude as we see today would not have been there, he added. He said the prime minister has stressed that allocations would have to be related to specific implementation.

He said the rich water and forest wealth need to be properly exploited. There has to be a project-wise approach as mere allocation of funds would not serve any purpose.

Singh said the government has decided to bring the entire region on the information network with video conferencing facility besides providing additional airlinks.

W Angou Singh (Congress) said the economic condition of the region has to be improved or the people would be left with no alternative but to join hands with smugglers and the insurgents. He wanted to know the status of the border area developmental programme and demanded that security related expenditure of the region be disbursed by the Centre.

Drupad Burohain (CPI) blamed the central government for unrest in the North-East, saying the region was badly neglected in terms of infrastructure, roads and railways.

Although the water resources of the Brahmaputra could be readily tapped, no investments were being made resulting in floods and other problems, he said.

On top of all that, there were the problems of the linguistic, religious and ethnic minorities and the unfulfilled aspirations of Assamese, all of which contributed to the creation of fertile soil for armed militancy.

He emphasised that the problems of the North-East were not merely one of law and order but also one of development and could be sorted only across the negotiating table.

Viduthalai Virumbi (DMK) said much of the problem in Assam was due to mass unemployment and to the untapped potential of the region including an estimated 70,0000 megawatts of hydro-electric power.

Asom Gana Parishad member Parag Chaliha dwelt at length on the problems of the North-East, but blamed successive central governments for neglecting ''multi-faceted'' problems of the region.

Margabandhu (AIADMK) said militancy in the North-East was due to a nexus between armed groups and politicians.

He also argued that there was no need for any resolution in the Rajya Sabha for invoking Article 356 on any state where there were serious law and order problems.

Sanjay Nirupam (Shiv Sena) said insurgents had their camps across the border and the government should have some provision to permit the police and paramilitary forces to go beyond the border to demolish these camps.

Dr Arun K Sarma (Himachal Vikas Party) said without development of the region, insurgency in the North-East could not be contained.

B B Dutta (Congress), painted the situation in the area as grave, and said the people were in quandary whether they should be loyal to the government for protection or to the underground groups for their security. He said the government did not have a proper strategy to tackle problems of the region like connectivity, and infrastructure.

John F Fernandes (Congress) said unless the government had a dialogue with neighbouring countries, it was difficult to check insurgency.

UNI

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