Separatist movements of India
Secession in India typically refers to state secession, which is the withdrawal of one or more states from the Republic of India. Whereas, some have wanted a separate state, union territory or an autonomous administrative division within India. Many separatist movements exist with thousands of members, however, some have low local support and high voter participation in democratic elections. However, at the same time, demanding separate statehood within under the administration of Indian union from an existing state can lead to criminal charges under secession law in India.
The Naxal-Maoist insurgency began in India with the Naxalbari uprising in 1967 in West Bengal. Later it also spread to the southern states of India. Currently, it is led by the Communist Party of India and are active in some areas of the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The areas where Naxals operate is known as the Red Corridor or Laalstan. Their support mainly lies with the tribal population of India who have often been neglected by the elected government.
The Khalistan movement in Indian Punjab was active in the 1980s and 1990s, but was suppressed by the Indian Army. Secessionist movements in Northeast India involve multiple armed separatist factions operating in India's northeastern states, which are connected to the rest of India by the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land as narrow as 23 km wide. Northeastern India consists of the seven states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland. Tensions existed between insurgents in these states and the central government as well as amongst their native indigenous people and migrants from other parts of India. Insurgency has seen rapid decline in recent years, with a 70% reduction in insurgency incidents and an 80% drop in civilian deaths in the Northeast in 2019 compared to 2013. The 2014 Indian general election the Indian government claimed it had an 80% voter turnout in all northeastern states, the highest among all states of India. Indian authorities claim that this shows the faith of the northeastern people in Indian democracy. Insurgency has largely become insignificant due to lack of local public support and the area of violence in the entire North East has shrunk primarily to an area which is the tri-junction between Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and north Nagaland. In contrast with the other insurgencies in Northeast India, Manipur-based militants are characterized by a low level of defections and a well organized intelligence network. They have also avoided targeting local police personnel, thus aiming to secure popular support.
Extortion remains the main source of funding for militant groups. Hindu Temples, educational institutions and businesses are known to have been targeted with illegal taxation. As many as 26 permanent tax collection checkpoints have been set up on the NH-39 and NH-53 National Highways. Militants have also resorted to abducting children and later employing them as child soldiers. On 3 May 2023, ethnic violence broke out in the state of Manipur between the Kuki and the Meitei people which killed more than 120 people and injured more than 3000 people and led to a resurgence of insurgent groups in the region.
Jammu and Kashmir has long been wracked by the insurgency since 1989. Although the failure of Indian governance and democracy lay at the root of the initial disaffection, Pakistan played an important role in converting the latter into a fully developed insurgency. Some insurgent groups in Kashmir support complete independence, whereas others seek accession to Pakistan. More explicitly, the roots of the insurgency are tied to a dispute over local autonomy. Democratic development was limited in Kashmir until the late 1970s and by 1988 many of the democratic reforms provided by the Indian government had been reversed and non-violent channels for expressing discontent were limited and caused a dramatic increase in support for insurgents advocating violent secession from India. In 1987, a disputed State election which is widely perceived to have been rigged, created a catalyst for the insurgency. In 2019, the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked. Since then, the Indian military has intensified its counter-insurgency operations. Clashes in the first half of 2020 left 283 dead. The 2019–2021 Jammu and Kashmir lockdown was a security lockdown and communications blackout that had been imposed throughout Jammu and Kashmir which lasted until February 2021, with the goal of pre-emptively curbing unrest, violence and protests. Thousands of civilians, mostly young men, had and have been detained in the crackdown. The Indian government had stated that the tough lockdown measures and substantially increased deployment of security forces had been aimed at curbing terrorism.
India has introduced several laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Acts to subdue insurgency in certain parts of the country. The law was first enforced in Manipur and later enforced in other insurgency-ridden north-eastern states. It was extended to most parts of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1990 after the outbreak of an armed insurgency in 1989. Each Act gives soldiers immunity in specified regions against prosecution under state government unless the Indian government gives prior sanction for such prosecution. The government maintains that the AFSPA is necessary to restore order in regions like Indian territories of Kashmir and Manipur. The act has been criticized by Human Rights Watch as a "tool of state abuse, oppression and discrimination". On 31 March 2012, the UN asked India to revoke AFSPA saying it had no place in Indian democracy.
Causes
While the causes of the many insurgencies are varied, they can usually be explained by a few broad problems. Mainly, lack of development and democratic initiatives by the elected government and land, especially forest mismanagement. Also a lack of a consolidated unifying identity lead to exploitation of caste, ethnic, language or religious barriers. The counterinsurgency measures taken by the government have also often backfired leading to a mistrust in the state.The lack of industrial initiatives and the half-hearted implementation of land reforms by the elected government has yielded negative results. The people feel alienated and excluded which often leads to anger and resentment. In addition, local elites often engage in exploiting, harassing and even torturing the tribal populations. The insurgent group often take up the role of the government by providing housing, medical assistance, etc. The Naxalites also provide a monthly salary and uniform for recruits As a result, they have become popular amongst the unemployed youths.
According to an ex-Naxalite who was interviewed by the Economic Times
The MCC received funds in the form of levy, donations or grains and part of it was spent on the “welfare" of people. We opened schools, built dams. This gave me the feeling, I was indeed working for the people.This is why the Naxalite and other insurgent groups are popular among the Dalit and Adivasi communities who are said to be socially, politically and economically marginalized.
In Kashmir, democratic development was limited until the late 1970s and by 1988 many of the democratic reforms provided by the Indian government had been reversed and non-violent channels for expressing discontent were limited and caused a dramatic increase in support for insurgents advocating violent secession from India. In 1987, elections in Jammu Kashmir which have been widely perceived to be rigged caused mass civil unrests and demonstrations.
Religious or ethnic differences have also played a role in amplifying the insurgent movements. For example, after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, many Islamic "Jihad" fighters had entered the Kashmir valley and several new militant groups with radical Islamic views emerged. Militant groups like Hizbul mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba asserted that struggle of Kashmir will continue till an Islamic Caliphate is achieved in Kashmir. Murder of Kashmiri Hindus, intellectuals, Pro-Indian politicians and activists were described necessary to get rid of un-Islamic elements. In Assam, tension exist between the native indigenous Assamese people and immigration from Bangladesh. The ULFA has attacked Hindi-speaking migrant workers. MULTA on the other hand seeks to establish an Islamic state in India via jihadist struggle of Muslims of both indigenous and migrant origin.
Geographical terrain also plays a major role as many militants are most active in the remote forest areas of India.
Finally, the various counter-insurgent movements initiated by the government has often backfired and resulted in more insurgency. A vicious cycle often happens where the government resorts to the use of excessive force resulting in even more people joining insurgent groups. Like, in the case of the Aizawl airstrike, Pu Zoramthanga, who went on to become the Chief Minister of Mizoram in 1998, once said that the main reason he joined the MNF and became a rebel was the "relentless bombing of Aizawl in 1966". In Kashmir, Human Rights Watch has stated in a 1993 report that Indian security forces "assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks"; according to the report, militants had also targeted civilians, but to a lesser extent than security forces. Rape was regularly used as a means to "punish and humiliate" communities. In response, the Indian Army claims that 97% of the reports about the human rights abuse are "fake or motivated" based on the investigation performed by the Army. However, a report by the US State Department said, "Indian authorities use Armed Forces Special Powers Act to avoid holding its security forces responsible for the deaths of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir." These human rights violations are said to have contributed to the rise of resistance in Kashmir. According to the Home Ministry, "A total of 120 incidents have been reported till July 15 this year while 188 incidents were reported last year. But what is causing a serious concern is the number of local terrorists getting killed indicating that recruitment is on the rise in the valley."
Acts intended to curb terrorism like the Armed Forces Act and Unlawful Activities Act has been criticized by many human rights organizations. The South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre argues that the governments' call for increased force is part of the insurgency problem.
This reasoning exemplifies the vicious cycle which has been instituted in the North East due to the AFSPA. The use of the AFSPA pushes the demand for more autonomy, giving the people of the North East more reason to want to secede from a state which enacts such powers and the agitation which ensues continues to justify the use of the AFSPA from the point of view of the Indian Government.