Developmental Imbroglio

PuiA	SonPu	PauPu

“All that glitters are not gold”
[This paper is an outcome of discussion with various concerned individuals, it is not an attempt to castigate Development per se rather an attempt to critically examine into the developmental processes and possible outcome]

 

It is beyond doubt that India in the 21st century, in hasty pursuance of economic growth and an obsession with creating an image within the international community, is doing whatever it takes at any cost including ghastly crimes against its own citizens under the aegis of development; an open secret and a great lie not many fall for but imposed upon all especially the indigenous people who has inhabited the most resourceful areas of the country. This rhetoric has been going on for a while since the 1990s when India started embracing the New Economic Policy (NEP), aspiring in line with many other so-called third world countries in its desire to become a “developed” country.

 

The NEP besides others also resulted in the involvement of the North Eastern states in the process of globalizing its economy through the “Look East Policy”. The Look East Policy (henceforth LEP) is one such policy adopted by the Indian Government during the late 90‘s to realize its dream of an accelerated economic growth, development and a rich country. The policy envisioned an economic homogeneity with the south East Asian countries with whom it had historical relevance when it comes to Trade and commerce as these regions are culturally closer to the North East India.

 

Despising and relating all the issues to underdevelopment, the Babus of Delhi had successfully put forth the psychosis of inferiority underdevelopment feeling to the masses in the region, legitimizing the state action from state sponsored terrorism, human rights violation to corruption and so on and so forth. These gave an ample opportunity to veil the capitalistic nature and the very obsession for high GDP growth which is but only beneficial for those lauding the greatness of the country from their king size arm chairs in the mainland India and certain hamlets in the North East itself.

 

Under the aegis of the Look East Policy, the region has become a part of the global economy turning the region from a land locked area to an important strategic transit point of trade with its neighbors esp. the South East Asian countries (with reference to the International trade centre at Moreh township and the upcoming trade centre at Behiang).  State after state in the region has been conquered by the state aided corporates making it a new resource hub by creating “space” for accumulation with the vague promise of development in the region as a whole. This can be best presented and analyzed through the trend of successive capitalization of resources in every state. A marathon among the state government of the region in signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has become a new trend, which the former MoEF Minister Jairam Ramesh gleefully called the ‘MoU viruses’.

 

At present, a total of 168 major and minor dams have been approved by the Government of India (GoI) with a heavy concentration in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, extensive oil exploration in Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram, Coal mining and a constant tug o war between the state and the people over Uranium exploration in Meghalaya. The latest to join the band wagon is Manipur with a proposal of exploration of oil from 3 districts namely Churachandpur district, Jiribam (Imphal East district) and Tamenglong District and a major dam in the Tipaimukh sub-division of Churachandpur district.

In the case of Manipur, oil exploration like most other so-called development ventures has more or less the same saga, a politics of deceit and a possible ensuing disaster rigged to the very core of the people settling in the proposed areas. Taking into account the present situation, the oil exploration is rather disastrous than bringing the eagerly awaited development to the people in particular and the state or even the whole region. The very inception of the oil exploration saga has already discombobulated the people as the memorandum had been connived between the power mongers of the state and the corporation back in 2010. This has been an outright violation of the rights of the indigenous population whose land/life had been decided over by people whom they would hardly know in their lifetime. The high hopes of development, benefitting the people from the chimneys of factories are a matter of great political concern. Instances of failed corporate led development projects have always been there in and around the state for the people to see. From the Middle East to the African continent or for that matter the resource rich regions of the world, have till date been transformed into a peripheral state from which resources are extracted and transferred to the already rich and developed nations of the world.

 

The resultant of this being an unabated conflict (civil war, ethnic violence), displacement (both internal and external) and impoverishment and pauperization of the people due to the dispossession from their livelihood sources (land, forest, water etc.), In short, where there is Oil there is Turmoil!

 

At the present state of affairs of undeniable identity imbroglio, resource war and political turmoil, the indigenous populations as well as the general public in Manipur are bound to see the wrath of “Development”. The unpreparedness of the people (Kuki/Zomi and all the sub tribes within) who will be the immediate victim is a matter of grave concern which is at stake at the moment if experiences with the counterpart tribes of mainland India be taken into consideration. Bestowed with blessings from above, the mainland tribes had till date paid the heaviest price in India with their lands and resources being grabbed and alienated, civil rights being suspended and their area of habitation being termed “The Red Corridor” followed by militarization through well fashioned names such as “Operation Green hunt” etc for easy operationalization of state sponsored terrorism and corporate favored capitalism. Today, these tribes have been cast down to the very bottom of development becoming the poorest of the poor albeit the presence of abundant resources in their homeland. After 65 years of continuous sacrifice for the motherland, all that these people learned and got in return is the Iron fist which is met with an equally strong resistance (Maoism) teaching a haunting experience for the state itself, who desperately look for greener pasture in the East and North East due to the mounting pressure from such resistances.  

 

It is high time that each one as a concern and aware citizen should stop taking things in their face value and put a critical eye on the way the state has exploited resources and its own people in the name of development. As a denizen, one has to look into the political economy of policies and scrutinize how things have turned out suddenly which may or may not be in favor of the people. The recent perceived development in the political arena of signing a Suspension of Operations agreement with armed groups largely unconcerned with the state armed forces should ring a bell! It is highly questionable how the government so suddenly started taking interest in the political issue of the people particularly the Tribals in the hills of Manipur. Rather than being concerned in the issues of the tribals, the state and its machineries must have all along been paving a way for the entry of corporates by buying peace and keeping the armed groups at bay who more or less carry the sentiment of the people. This puts forth a great lacuna in voicing the people’s concern as they lost a great deal of leverage to the state.  This is an act of treacherous peace politics which blackmails the very sentiment of the people for a cause which is indifferent to them.

 

The recent formation of state sponsored thugs to substantiate the act of violence of the state is another concern which should have been meticulously scrutinized. With the presence of 10,396 strong Manipur Rifles, 5,056 Civil Police Units, 10, 450 Central Paramilitary Police Forces (CRPF) and Border Security Forces (BSF), 10 battalions of Army and 26 battalions of Assam Rifles (approx. 1000 per battalion) 2312 Home Guards and a heavy deployment of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) makes the ratio 1:15. The mobilization of Village Defence Force (VDF) loosely termed “Very Dangerous Force” by the general public which is merely a duplication of the “Salwa Judum” in central India, is not necessarily the need of the hour for peace. The similarity that they are formed by people from the same area poses an equal or even bigger threat of civil war since these new groups of thugs will be the puppet to carry out the dirty works of the state in future.

 

The plight of the people who will be directly affected by the upcoming projects is completely ignored. Once started, the project has more in built threat in store for the people as the formation of a new drilling facility will consequently lead to the entry of migrant laborers in large numbers that will limit the availability of employment, cultivable land and forest resources. While there is an acute scarcity of drinking water and water per se in the proposed area, the projects are estimated to use at least 6750 kilo/kl of water which will drain the water resources of the adjacent villages. The sanctity of Tribal identity which is inextricably linked to land, culture, territory, polity safe guarded by law under the constitution will be the immediate casualty of this development process, In other words, a cultural genocide of the Tribals inhabiting this luscious forest lands.

 

The immediate affects will soon possibly be substantiated by the coming in of railways which will see an exodus of “Indians” in the Tribal lands posing the question whether the Indigenous population will withstand the migrant population. Instances can be seen from the recent Bodo-Immigrant Muslim communal clash in Assam, the state of the Indigenous people in Tripura who were swamped by migrant Bengalis and eventually diminished to a minority in their homeland etc. This fear has been recently expressed even by the larger community such as the Meiteis in Imphal who demanded the implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation act of 1873 or in other words the Inner Line Permit (ILP). The question is, if such larger community feared the exodus of migrants, what would have become of the smaller tribes??

 

This development paradigm which propagates the construction of dams and exploitation of resources has already had serious implications on the culture, survival and the very way of life of the people inhabiting the region. It also posed unwanted yet unavoidable and serious questions which remained unanswered. The total requirement of power in the region is 13000 MW while there is plan to generate 50000 MW and outsource it in large quantity from the same region where there is acute scarcity of power. It is obvious that the revenue generated will directly benefit the exchequer of the Central Government without much benefit to the people. Most concerning is when the Central Government claims that our country is short of power, why sell it to others???

 

“Does the means justify the ends?”

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