Terrorism - "The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims."
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| source: http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/ (The Global Terrorism Database) |
While terrorism in India is not a new phenomenon, there are obvious peaks of terrorist activity which indeed correspond with periods of insurgency in India. Terrorism is not only bomb explosions in public places, any use of violence to advance the political aims of any party against the recognized political setup is terrorism . It's imperative that we know about insurgent movements in India, for the sake of knowing our nation better:
Khalistan movement(1983 to 1993): the movement aimed to create a separate Sikh state, Khalistan. Marked by Operation Blue Star(1984) resulting into assassination of Indira Gandhi(1984) which in-turn led to anti-Sikh riots(1984). It is believed to be successfully suppressed (though a bloody one).
Kashmir insurgency(since 1947, upsurge in 1989) : the longest and the most publicized insurgent movement in India to free Kashmir. The seeds were sown in Indo-Pakistan war of 1947 which defined the Line of Control. J&K did have regular elections however, the 1987 state assembly elections were believed to be widely rigged to favor the Congress government at the center. Several key figures in militant groups fighting against Indian rule took part in the 1987 polls and they lost (at many places due to rigging). This led to disillusionment of Kashmiris with the Indian government and a bloody insurgent movement starting in 1987, continuing through 90s. Though Kashmir is relatively calm now, the jury is still out on whether the Kashmir insurgency has successfully been suppressed.
Naxal movement(since 1967, upsurge in 2005): can be traced back to peasant uprising of 1967 in Naxalbari(which gave the nake to Naxal movement) in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Naxals sought to bring justice to impoverished farmers and tribal people by fighting the nexus of oppressive government and greedy corporates who used the land and mineral resources for their own profit without bringing any benefits to those who had cared for and depended on these land and resources.
Throughout the years, naxalism spread to poor but resource reach parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. As India opened up it's economy in 1990s, swaths of resource rich land were handed over to corporates for extraction by the government which brought naxals in direct conflict with the government. Governments have tried several innovative methods like Salwa Judum (Chattisgarh, 2005) to suppress naxalism which made matters even worse. The steep rise in the terrorism plot since 2005 is driven by naxal incidents with even the Central Government accepting that it's the biggest internal security threat that India faces today.
North-east insurgency(since 1947):As old as Kashmir insurgency but not as publicized, several insurgent groups including ULFA, National Democratic Front of Bodoland, Peoples Liberation Army of Manipur and National Liberation front of Tripura in the 7 sisters of North East India have been fighting for self-rule through armed rebellion against the Indian government ever since they were annexed into India. Several of these groups represent their respective tribal clans and they believe that they must have autonomy to rule their own land, not living under some far-off government which can't/doesn't pay enough attention to these regions. The government has unsuccessfully tried from time to time to end the insurgency by force or by talks.
It is important to note that relatively very few terrorist incidents are perpetrated by foreign national coming to India for the sole purpose of launching terrorist activities. Rather, terrorism is driven by our own people who are dissatisfied with our government in some manner and except the Khalistan movement which was effectively quelled by use of force and a lot of bloodshed, all other insurgencies remain unresolved. This calls for ways other than armed assault to resolve these conflicts.
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