Bengal on its way to become Kashmir

There are many ways to remain relevant in politics. One way is to make realistic promises before elections and working hard to fulfil them once the electorate handover their trust to you by electing you. But come on, that happens only in Bollywood. So the second way is to make exaggerated promises, offer bribes in form of television sets, laptops, smartphones and so on and win the election. However there is a third way, a time tested one at that. In here you identify the block of voters who can be manipulated, nurture them by offering irrelevant but perceived goodies like a stipend for their religious leaders, land grants for their schools and turning a blind eye to crime emanating from the places they live in. You become so dependent on them for your political relevance that there comes a time when, what seemed like patronising looks more like appeasement but it actually is giving up control.

When fire engulfs your turf.
Picture Courtesy - India Today

This is what has happened in West Bengal. The government of Ms Mamata Banerjee has lost control over a large territory in the state. West Bengal was never a peaceful state. With the first street battles of Naxal bari, culminating into a three decade long stagnation supervised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), yes the same Marx, whose ideology killed millions in Soviet Russia and Maoist China, the state has always been a den of violence. But that discussion is for another day. To get a sense of the level of anarchy prevailing in the state, Indian Affair conducted a simple Google search for “West Bengal blast 2015”. The search yielded a NDTV link siting at least seven instances of blasts where people have been killed or injured. Read the reports here, here, here, here, here, here and here. To top this all was, the now forgotten, Burdwan blast where two women, members of an Islamist terror organisation, were killed. The house was owned by a Trinamool Congress leader, Hasan Chowdhury.

If these seven instances of blasts were not enough there were at least three instances of the police seizing arms cache, read the reports here, here and here. If bomb blasts and illegal arms turning up like soft serve ice cream every now and then is not losing control over territory then what else is? Perhaps it will take something more drastic for Ms Banarjee to see in, which drain her state is drowning. So here is more. As fresh as today, a report from India Today claims 80,000 bigha (32,000 acres) of farm land is being used for poppy cultivation in the district of Malda. The district administration is scared for their lives and do not venture into these pockets and obviously Ms Banerjee has no problems with this small poppy garden in her backyard.

Not many news shops covered Malda in early days of January when an estimated mob of 2.5 lakh people marched the streets, ran a riot, burnt down a police station, set police vehicles on fire and pelted stones at policemen fleeing the scene. Ms Banerjee was at least swift to take action this time. She ordered immediate refurbishment of the police station and ensured no traces of the arson and riot were left behind. She really is the Maa in “Maa Maati Manush”, saving her kids from harm’s way.

West Bengal shares an international border with Bangladesh, a very porous one at that. Forget flinging rice sacks across the fence, cattle and women are trafficked with ease, sometimes one can’t tell one from the other. Then there is the case of fake currency smuggling. Any sensible person heading a sensitive state like West Bengal will do their best to ensure law and order and reclaiming the lost territory. But Ms Banerjee has a different plan. Perhaps she wants to gift India another Kashmir. A border state with worsening law and order situation, large swathes of territory ceded to criminals, smugglers and terrorists. A bomb blast a month, madarsas doubling up as terrorist hideouts. And a flourishing mini Afghanistan in a poppy garden.

West Bengal is slipping away under the supervision of Ms Banerjee and she is not bothered. The bigger question, however is, who else can stop this?

Chinese tents in Ladakh - Back to the sixties?

On this day, fifty one years ago in the events leading up to the India – China war, the directorate of military operations proposed the use of air force to counter increasing Chinese presence along the McMahon line. The situation half a century hence is not as alarming but looks strikingly similar. Back then the Chinese disputed the border treaty and advanced into Ladakh. The five tents that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has pitched in the last two weeks is a reminder of the events of 1961. But much snow has melted since then on the Ladakh glaciers. The socio political situations in both India and China have changed. China is no longer the communist state it was in the 60s with a failed “Great Leap Forward”. India is no longer incapable of fighting a high altitude war. India and China trade goods worth USD 66 billion between them.

We don't crack jokes all the time

India’s external affairs minister Salman Khurshid is scheduled to visit Beijing on 9^th May 2013 and China’s Prime Minister Li Keqiang will visit India later this month. What is a bit difficult to understand is the fact that why China is engaging in aggressive military tactics at a time when high level political visits are on cards? This leaves us with another question, whether these actions are sanctioned by China’s high office in Beijing? Is PLA acting on its own interest by provoking tension (much like the Pakistani army does at times)? We might not get answers to any of these questions yet. Little information is flowing into public domain. Indian media has been reporting the events based on information obtained from unofficial sources (leaks from army establishments) and the government has been playing them down. Words like “localized”, “routine” and “acne” have been used to explain the latest events. On the other side of McMahon, there is hardly any information on the incident. The official news agency “Xinhua” does not give any information on the present situation. Few days ago it was reported that China has accepted the offer made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resolve the border issue peacefully. In the meanwhile Indian media too has reduced its coverage on the subject.

Given the changing socio economic situations in both India and China and growing military strength, it is unlikely that any of the country would engage in a war. However, China has displayed expansionist behaviour in the past with many of its neighbours. The Senkaku/Diaoyu island standoffs are the latest in a long series. International pressure and domestic obligations will also play a role in avoiding any escalations. Having said that, it is now time for India to take concrete steps towards resolving its border disputes. After six decades of independence India has resolved only one of its border disputes (with Bangladesh). The Chinese leadership on the other hand is more interested in leaving the dispute to be resolved by a later generation, which will have wisdom.

Resolving its border dispute with its largest neighbour should not be left for a wiser generation. India needs to take on the issue seriously with China and set a long term timeline for the matter to be resolved. Let’s not forget that China has territorial disputes with almost all its neighbours (the most sensitive ones being in the South China Sea). It will be in the interest of both the countries to strike off the item off the list as soon as possible. As the saying goes, “good fences make good neighbours”. Its time India takes the first step.