Nation in turmoil   Grim law & order situation
T.V. Rajeswar   23rd July 1998  
THE BJP government at the Centre has just completed 100 days in office. It carried out the nuclear tests at Pokhran on May 11 and 13, and this was more or less universally welcomed by the people as the demonstration of India’s technological capability as well as willingness to stand up to the bullying neighbours. However, as Home Minister Advani ruefully admitted, the Pokhran tests are possibly the only achievement of the BJP government so far.
The most alarming development during the past three months has been the deteriorating law and order situation touching the security of the average citizen of the country. Nothing illustrates this more vividly than the Home Ministry’s 43rd report on internal security presented recently to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. Of the 535 districts in the country, as many as 210 are affected by insurgency, ethnic strife, extremist activities, caste clashes and other crises. Of the 69 districts of the North-Eastern region as many as 48 are suffering from insurgency and ethnic violence while 10 districts of Jammu and Kashmir are plagued by militancy. In Assam, as many as 23 districts are badly affected by violence. In short, life in nearly 40 per cent of the country is not normal from the law and order point of view. The spurt in terrorism and militancy needs to be particularly taken note of. The Pokhran-II euphoria was reflected in needless jingoistic utterances on the part of even some of our senior leaders. Kashmir militants and Pakistan were given dire warnings. This did not prevent the Pakistani militants from resorting to gruesome murders in places like Prankot village in Udhampur district and Chapnari in Doda district. Foreign mercenaries, who are increasing in number, are likely to pose a continuing long- term threat to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It appears that before the summer is out several hundred more foreign mercenaries may be infiltrated from across the border. There is a clear danger from them to the tourist traffic and normal life which have come back to the Kashmir valley after a long time.
In Punjab, there are persistent efforts for reviving militancy. With the Khalistan Liberation Force, the Kamaghata Maru Dal of Khalistan and the Babbar Khalsa, mostly funded and operated from abroad, getting active again with Pakistan’s ISI playing a coordinating role, a spurt in militancy is clearly indicated. Fortunately, the Punjab Police has been effective in apprehending ring leaders, followed by large scale recoveries of RDX and sophisticated weapons. Notorious terrorists like Amarjit Singh Sohal, Darshan Singh and Jaswant Singh Jassa are active even when they are in jail. The Punjab Police DG, Mr P.C. Dogra, disclosed recently that some of these militants lodged in Tihar, Burail and Jammu jails were able to communicate with one another on the cell phone. Clearly, something drastic has to be done in the matter of jail administration in these states. Also, the fact that Amarjit Singh Sohal was let off on bail before he was re-apprehended speaks of the poor understanding of the Punjab situation by the limbs of the judiciary.
The most alarming aspect of the arrest of these and other militants and the recovery of powerful explosives and dangerous weapons are not confined to Punjab only. Such arrests and recoveries have also taken place in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, etc. All these arrests and recoveries are not isolated events but are interconnected in a tangled web. The ISI operatives arrested in Hyderabad had their links and associates in Delhi, who were also apprehended recently and recoveries made. The kingpin of this ISI network, Mohd. Saleen Junaid, had comfortably settled in Hyderabad with business connections — running a truck agency and operating a terrorist network involving metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi.
Hyderabad witnessed a sudden and deliberate outbreak of communal riots on June 5 when a group of rioters, coming out of a masjid after the Friday prayers, going on the rampage, setting fire to shops and buses and knifing people indiscriminately. This was said to be in retaliation to an anonymous pamphlet, derogatory to Islam, which was distributed by some unknown persons three days earlier. The arrest of the ISI agents disclosed that the communal riots were instigated by them. They also revealed their plans to organise serial bombings in the city during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in August, on the lines of the Mumbai blasts of March, 1993. The same gang members and their associates were also preparing for similar bombing activities, including the targeting of VIPs, in Delhi and Mumbai. It is not known how many more such dangerous agent provocateurs are still at large.
Andhra Pradesh has another serious ongoing problem in Naxalite violence. Periodic killings due to landmine explosions and ambushes against policemen continue. The police has also been on the offensive, but the Naxalite menace, which has spread to the neighbouring states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, has not been contained. Home Minister Advani held a meeting of the Chief Ministers and senior police officials of the states concerned in Hyderabad in mid-June and several coordination measures were decided upon. This is not a new development since the coordinating mechanism has been in position for many years. In Tamil Nadu, Islamic militancy, which burst forth in Coimbatore in February, has been contained somewhat. This is a classic example of failure to take preventive action against dangerous religious militancy going out of control, with the entire police force chasing it without much success. On July 3 the Tamil Nadu government put out an official announcement running to a full half page in several national dailies offering a reward of Rs 2 lakh for information leading to the arrest of any of the 18 wanted accused fundamentalists, which included a woman. The notification said that there were as many as 175 accused persons involved in the Coimbatore bomb blasts of February 14, of whom 132 had been arrested and eight had died in police action or explosions set off by them. The wanted woman militant, Ayesha, and her husband Ibrahim are said to be moving about with belts of explosives and can pose a threat as human bombs unless taken in custody early.
Moving from the South to Mumbai, the spurt in underworld gang rivalry has led to a series of killings. The Mumbai police recently expressed grave concern over the increasing inflow of fire arms from states like UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. There is a large number of illegal fire- arms factories at several places in UP and Bihar. The Intelligence Bureau had carried out a series of studies on this menace several years ago.
The deteriorating law and order situation in UP and Bihar has shown alarming trends. Bihar is witnessing a steady exodus of businessmen, particularly Marwaris, from its urban centres, including the capital city of Patna, since they are unable to withstand the increasing pressure from criminal gangs. Apart from the nexus which flourishes between the criminal gangs and politicians, the kidnapping for ransom trade has recorded an alarming increase in recent months.
In Bihar there were as many as 1,472 kidnappings in 1997, while in 1998 at least 600 cases were reported during February, March and April. Much has been written about the all-round chaos in Bihar for many years, but the problem of kidnappings for ransom, which is becoming a cottage industry, is tragic in many ways. In the far off districts like Champaran, adjoining Nepal, even teachers are said to be kidnapped for sums as low as Rs 5,000. The tragic part of it is that many of the teachers have not been receiving their salaries for months, and they are surviving on private tuitions. If such people are victimised, with the statemachinery unable to provide protection, what is the administration for and what is the state forn UP, where the BJP is in power, Lucknow, which also happens to be the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Vajpayee, seems to be becoming the crime capital of the state as well. It is known that the Prime Minister’s constituency has become a happy hunting ground for all sorts of criminals, with quite a few ministers and legislators, having a criminal background, patronising them. There was an extensive report about a notorious gang leader, Mr Prakash Shukla, who had reportedly organised the kidnapping of a Lucknow businessman from the heart of the city for ransom. His movements, touching several cities in UP, were extensively reported in the Press. Why the UP police is unable to take action against him is not known. The adverse remarks made by the BJP President, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, during his recent visit to UP, in the very presence of Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, speak volumes of the state of affairs in the premier state of the country.
The national Capital, Delhi, witnessed as many as a dozen robberies on the night of July 12-13, with one of the leading dailies coming out with the caption, “Robbers’ Day in Capital”. The Delhi Police is said to have recently pressed into service several more police control room vehicles which are supposed to be on patrol duty round the clock. If this were really so, the occurrence of such a large number of robberies in one night was inexplicable. The fact that a number of PCR vehicles are tied up on static duties near the residence of VIPs, including senior bureaucrats, may be one reason.
The overall picture of law and order is depressing. Are we slowly sinking into a state of anarchy? A serious decline of civilisations begins like this, and after some time the situation becomes irreversible. India should guard against such a turn of events.
The writer is a former Governor of West Bengal and Assam

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The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy: The Tribune: 23rd July 1998