Clear And Present Danger

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsThe latest strike by Maoist at Kakarvitta in Nepal was just a few kilometers away from Siliguri in North Bengal. Clearly the theater has shifted much nearer to India. Not that North Bengal and Sikkim were so far untouched by the 'red tide' ( reports say Maoists routinely infiltrate India through Bihar and Siliguri corridor) but this attack near India's border could have deeper implications.

And there many questions to answer. Will the Maoist movement limit itself to Nepal? Maoism by all means is an ideology and there sympathizers on this side as well. Working in North Bengal and Sikkim, we often discussed how the Maoist insurgents could actually use North Bengal if they wanted to for their activities given the geopolitical conditions in the region.

People on our side of the border may not appear as desperate as those on the other side. Nepal has been a nation rocked by political instability and an overbearing monarchy; those who took to Maoist insurgency have had it bad. But there are the similar people on this side and similar conditions in the making.

The entire Indo-Nepal border area beginning from parts of Bihar to North Bengal has predominantly Nepalese origin population. And there are instances of unrest. The memories of Gorkhaland agitation led by GNLF supremo Subash Ghising are still sharp in North Bengal hills.

Ask those in security business and they will tell you what saved the day for India on the Gorkhaland agitation front. In those days Subhash Ghising and his men never had access to modern fire power like the northeastern and Kashmiri insurgents. The fall outs would have been serious otherwise. Nevertheless the Gorkhaland agitators managed to strike a deal from the Union of India.

But discontentment is brewing. Most of North Bengal's tea gardens are ailing and there simmering unrest in the whole tea belt. Untouched by industrialization the whole region has alarming rate of unemployment. Most leave for bigger cities after college but there will be saturation soon.

Add to that lakhs of Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese origin on the international border. India, Nepal and Bhutan, none of them will take them in. And they have waited for a homeland for years.

There is a clear pattern. Much has been said about the red corridor extending right up to Andhra Pradesh. Here again, Andhra Pradesh and rest are landlocked areas that restricts movement and the Naxalites are not that well equipped. But, in case of a Maoist or Naxalite resurgence in North Bengal the scene will be different and the situation beyond control. Don't we all remember Naxalbari movement?

And also let's not forget the North eastern groups who clearly identify India as their enemy no 1. The porous Indo-Bangladesh border and the rising fundamentalism in Bangladesh. Already there are some splinter Islamic terror groups in the northeastern border too. There will more action on this side. It will be a war if all of these groups decide to attack India on one single day. And lets not imagine that they havent started talking with each other. Mark my words.
first published:March 23, 2006, 21:36 ISTlast updated:March 23, 2006, 21:36 IST
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