200 years of agony & 63 years of freedom : When will we learn ???

On the account of India's 63rd year of Independence, I would like to reflect upon India's glorious past which was disgraced by "Sick countries", its present which is still bearing those marks of disgrace and its future, which is quite scary, if the country keeps on moving on its path of "Redestruction". I have no intentions to malign this joyous occasion for the country, but how long would we keep ignoring our "real" surroundings, the "real" facts and the "real" state of the country.

NOTE : This Hub contains real facts, information and statistics and has, not at all, been tailored to suit the purpose. This Hub is working in coordination with my blog (http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/), so feel free to check out the links mentioned in the Hub. If any fact, figure or information contained in this Hub, provokes you or generates interest within you, then feel free to act or comment, because "that is my soul purpose behind writing this Hub, ie., to provoke you to take ACTION"

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1. Why is it that history, especially the one related to Indian freedom struggle, always remains confined to the books with little or no effort from its readers to delve deep into the subject and to find out the reason, as to why a particular event occurred ? 
2. Why is it that only historians bother about the past ? 
3. Isn't it something which every citizen of the country should know if not care about ?

These are the questions which always plague my mind. And when I put these questions in front of people I meet often, they say : "Why are you so bothered about it ?" , "Leave it, its a thing of past now.", "Oh Man, we are free now, let's enjoy." And these replies, put my mind in a "highly disordered state" as I feel angry and disappointed, all at the same time. "Why is the country taking its freedom for granted ?", I wonder......And this takes me back to those 200 years of agony, which India faced and which made her paralyzed :

India's Timeline (1600 - 1947)

This Timeline marks the period when India's face was entirely disfigured. It lost its prestige of yesteryears. Lets have a look at these years :

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/timeline-of-indian-history-1600-1947.html

Pre - Independence Casualties

India, finally, got freedom on 15th August 1947. But it came at the cost of millions of lives, which were lost during the colonial rule of British. Here, I am discussing three major events : Sepoy Mutiny, World War I and World War II :

1. Sepoy Mutiny / Revolt of 1857 / First War of Independence : The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh, and the Delhi region. The rebellion posed a considerable threat to Company power in that region, and it was contained only with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The rebellion is also known as India's First War of Independence, the Great Rebellion, the Indian Mutiny, the Revolt of 1857, the Uprising of 1857, the Sepoy Rebellion and the Sepoy Mutiny.

2. World War I : World War I was a military conflict centered on Europe that began in the summer of 1914. The fighting ended in late 1918. This conflict involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centered around the Triple Entente) and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history.

3. World War II : World War II, or the Second World War (often abbreviated as WW II or WW 2), was a global military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945 which involved most of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilised.

Post 1950 : Planning Period begins

When India gained independence, its economy was groveling in dust. The British had left the Indian economy crippled and the fathers of development formulated 5 years plan to develop the Indian economy. The five years plan in India is framed, executed and monitored by the Planning Commission of India. Currently, India is in its 11th five year plan. Let's see the journey of five year's plan in India and the objectives in each plan.

1st Plan (1951-56)

• The first five year plan was presented by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951. The First Five Year Plan was initiated at the end of the turmoil of partition of the country. It gave importance to agriculture, irrigation and power projects to decrease the countries reliance on food grain imports, resolve the food crisis and ease the raw material problem especially in jute and cotton. Nearly 45% of the resources were designated for agriculture, while industry got a modest 4.9%.The focus was to maximize the output from agriculture, which would then provide the impetus for industrial growth.
• Though the first plan was formulated hurriedly, it succeeded in fulfilling the targets. Agriculture production increased dramatically, national income went up by 18%, per capita income by 11% and per capita consumption by 9%

2nd Plan (1956-61)

• The second five year plan was initiated in a climate of economic prosperity, industry gained in prominence. Agriculture programmes were formulated to meet the raw material needs of industry, besides covering the food needs of the increasing population. The Industrial Policy of 1956 was socialistic in nature. The plan aimed at 25% increase in national income.
• In comparison to First Five Year plan, the Second Five Year Plan was a moderate success. Unfavorable monsoon in 1957-58 and 1959-60 impacted agricultural production and also the Suez crisis blocked International Trading increasing commodity prices.

3rd Plan (1961-66)

• While formulating the third plan, it was realized that agriculture production was the destabilizing factor in economic growth. Hence agriculture was given due importance. Also allotment for power sector was increased to 14.6% of the total disbursement.
• Emphasis was on becoming self reliant in agriculture and industry. The objective of import substitution was seen as sacrosanct. In order to prevent monopolies and to promote economic developments in backward areas, unfeasible manufacturing units were augmented with subsidies. The plan aimed to increase national income by 30% and agriculture production by 30%.
• The wars with China in 1962 and Pakistan 1965 and bad monsoon in almost all the years, meant the actual performance was way of the target.

4th Plan (1969-74)

• At the time of initiating the fourth plan it was realized that GDP growth and rapid growth of capital accumulation alone would not help improve standard of living or to become economically self-reliant. Importance was given to providing benefits to the marginalized section of the society through employment and education.
• Disbursement to agricultural sector was increased to 23.3% .Family planning programme was given a big stimulus.
• The achievements of the fourth plan were below targets. Agriculture growth was just at 2.8% and green revolution did not perform as expected. Industry too grew at 3.9%.

5th Plan (1974-79)

• As a result of inflationary pressure faced during the fourth plan, the fifth plan focused on checking inflation. Several new economic and non-economic variables such as nutritional requirements, health, family planning etc were incorporated in the planning process. Investment mix was also formulated based on demand estimated for final domestic consumption.
• Industry got the highest allocation of 24.3% and the plan forecasted a growth rate of 5.5% in national income.
• The fifth plan was discontinued by the new Janata government in the fourth year itself.

6th Plan (1980-85)

• The Janata government moved away from GNP approach to development, instead sought to achieve higher production targets with an aim to provide employment opportunities to the marginalized section of the society. But the plan lacked the political will.
• The Congress government on taking office in 1980 formulated a new plan with a strategy to lay equal focus on infrastructure and agriculture.
• The plan achieved a growth of 6% pa.

7th Plan (1985-89)
The first three years of the seventh plan saw severe drought conditions, despite which the food grain production rose by 3.2%.Special programmes like Jawahar Rozgar Yojana were introduced. Sectors like welfare, education, health, family planning, employment etc got a larger disbursement.

8th Plan (1992-97)

• The eighth plan was initiated just after a severe balance of payment crisis, which was intensified by the Gulf war in 1990.several structural modification policies were brought in to put the country in a path of high growth rate. They were devaluation of rupees, dismantling of license prerequisite and decrease trade barriers.
• The plan targeted an annual growth rate of 5.6% in GDP and at the same time keeping inflation under control.

9th Plan (1997-2002)
It was observed in the eighth plan that, even though the economy performed well, the gains did not percolate to the weaker sections of the society. The ninth plans therefore laid greater impetus on increasing agricultural and rural incomes and alleviate the conditions of the marginal farmer and landless laborers.

10th Plan (2002-2007)

• The aim of the tenth plan was to make the Indian economy the fastest growing economy in the world, with a growth target of 10%.It wanted to bring in investor friendly market reforms and create a friendly environment for growth. It sought active participation by the private sector and increased FDI's in the financial sector.
• Emphasis was laid on corporate transparency and improving the infrastructure.
• It sought to reduce poverty ratio by 5 percentage points by 2007and increase in literacy rates to 75 per cent by the end of the plan.
• Increase in forest and tree cover to 25 per cent by 2007 and all villages to have sustained access to potable drinking water.

11th Plan (2007-2012)

• The eleventh plan has the objective to increase GDP growth to 10%.
• Increase agricultural GDP growth to 4% per year to ensure a wider spread of benefits. Create 70 million new work opportunities. Augment minimum standards of education in primary school.
• Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 and malnutrition among children of age group 0-3 to half of its present level. Ensure electricity connection to all villages and increase forest and tree cover by five percentage points.

Post 1991 : Liberalization

Considered to be a golden period for Indian economy. Lets have a look at what the media said about it : (Look up under the tag "Liberalization" in my blog)

Just like a coin has two sides, liberalization too, had its fallacies. It severely impacted the domestic productivity and wage structure. Below is a thorough study of the impact of liberalization on Indian economy, prepared by a student of ICRIER : (Look up under the tag "Liberalization" in my blog)

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Social Diseases plaguing India

1. Corruption

Official Statistics

Corruption Perceptions Index 2008: 3.4 (85th out of 180 countries)

Conventions

ADB – OECD Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia-Pacific (endorsed November 2001) UN Convention against Corruption (signed December 2005; not yet ratified) UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (signed December 2002; not yet ratified)

Legal and institutional changes

● Although the Competition Act was enacted by parliament in 2002, it remained largely a non-starter because of court cases filed by lawyers, mainly over the composition of the Competition Commission. The Supreme Court of India stayed the implementation of the provisions of the act in January 2005 and asked the government to amend the law. The government, after much deliberation and delay, amended the Competition Act in August 2007. With the passage of the amendments by parliament, it is expected that the commission will become fully operational by the end of 2008 or early 2009. In addition to its advocacy role, which it already performs, the Competition Commission will be able to check corporate malpractice and abuse, the misuse of dominant positions and cartelisation. It will also have the power to inquire into mergers and acquisitions and prevent the formulation of conglomerates to the detriment of consumers. The act will assist the government in probing cartel-like behavior. It will put pressure on industry groups not to raise or lower prices for goods and services to their benefit in a pre-determined manner that incurs costs to consumer or user groups. The law will empower the government to refer complaints to the commission for inquiry and necessary action and it will have the power to investigate complaints, pass orders against companies and impose monetary penalties of up to Rs100 million (US$2.2 million). There is also a provision for three years in jail for offenders.

● In 2008 the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), published guidelines for recovery agents. They prescribe a code of conduct and procedure for recovery agents’ training, and are intended to ensure that banks refrain from hiring disreputable people to recover debts and to prevent bad practice in the offering and management of loans by banks. They require the banks to follow the procedure prescribed by the law to recover loans and warn that, if the banks fail to mend their ways, the RBI as regulator will take action against the erring banks.

Stealing certificates: Corruption in private education

Strong economic growth in recent years has resulted in the proliferation of institutions for technical education in India. Their conduct is not always above board, however. Some institutions, particularly those managed by private individuals or trusts, use the absence of adequate regulations in this area to exploit the situation of students by adopting unethical and coercive methods. The problem with these institutions arises when they admit students to their courses well ahead of the beginning of the academic year and charge them the full tuition fee in advance. Students then may achieve better grades than predicted, thus entitling them to attend school elsewhere, or they may simply change their minds and wish to attend an alternative institution. In this case, the institutions are reluctant to refund the fees. Moreover, institutions often ask students to deposit their original educational certificates so as to prevent them from joining other institutions. As a result of such coercive actions, students are stuck with one institution. These practices amount to trapping students and making unlawful gains, as the students forfeit full course fees amounting to hundreds of thousands of rupees. In a recent case, for example, a student sought admission onto a course only to learn later that it was not recognised by the government. The student did have the fees refunded, however, after the case moved to the consumer court. In order to prevent the exploitation of students by technical institutes, the regulator, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), issued a public notice asking institutes to refund fees if a student decides to leave an institution before beginning the course. Similarly, the AICTE asked the institutes not to keep students’ original certificates in order to ‘force retention of admitted students’. The public notice, which was issued with a view to checking the commercial practices of technical education, would prevent institutions from adopting unethical methods to confiscate fees and force students to join a particular institute. Students already have the right to seek redress in court. Often it is not possible for students to seek legal recourse, however, as the process is cumbersome. Many students therefore forgo their claims, resulting in financial gains for the institutions.

Some Basic Facts on Corruption in India

1. Total money common citizens paid as bribe last year while availing one or more of the eleven public services: Rs. 21,068 crores

Public Services surveyed: Police (Crime/Traffic), Judiciary, Land Administration, Municipal Services, Govt. Hospitals, Electricity (Consumers) PDS (Ration Card/Supplies), Income Tax(Individual Assesses), Water Supply, Schools (upto 12th) and Rural Financial Institutions (Farmers)

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2. Most Corrupt Public Service: Police

Second Most Corrupt: Land Administration

Followed by: Judiciary

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3. In Judiciary, of those who paid bribe,

41 % had paid to influence judgment,

31 % to speed up or delay judgment,

28 % for listing of case/ to get copy of documents.

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4. Least Corrupt State: Kerala

Most Corrupt State: Bihar

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Fighting Against Corruption in India - 5th Pillar's Initiative

Recently, I read about 5th Pillar, a Chennai based, non profit, non governmental organization aimed at fighting the evils of Corruption in India.

Few important statistics about Corruption in India

— India regularly joins China and Russia at the top of the global bribery index

— Ordinary people pay bribes worth £2.5 billion a year for public services

— Civil servants are poorly paid and open to temptation. Police are the most corrupt, followed by lower courts and land administration

— Traffic police pay to be posted at junctions that are fertile ground for kickbacks

— Every bag of cement that goes into Indian roads has involved a bribe

(Sources: Transparency International, Times research)

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As a Global Indian, I welcome the initiative of 5th Pillar, who have recently launched a zero rupee dummy note which are distributed free of cost in a nation wide campaign.

‘‘People have already started using them and it is working. One auto-rickshaw driver was pulled over by a policeman in the middle of the night who said he could go if he was ‘taken care of’. The driver gave him the note instead. The policeman was shocked but smiled and let him go. The purpose of this is to instill confidence in people to say no to bribery.”

- Vijay Anand, the president of 5th Pillar, on their 0 “rupee” notes, intended to help normal people make a statement when asked for bribes.

With India about to celebrate its 63rd Independence on coming Aug 15th, every Indian should join in the movement to fight against the Corruption in India.

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2. Poverty

55 % of India's population poor : Report

India's abysmal track record at ensuring basic levels of nutrition is the greatest contributor to its poverty as measured by the new international Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI). About 645 million people or 55% of India's population is poor as measured by this composite indicator made up of ten markers of education, health and standard of living achievement levels.

Developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) for the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) forthcoming 2010 Human Development Report, the MPI attempts to capture more than just income poverty at the household level. It is composed of ten indicators: years of schooling and child enrollment (education); child mortality and nutrition (health); and electricity, flooring, drinking water, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets (standard of living). Each education and health indicator has a 1/6 weight, each standard of living indicator a 1/18 weight.

The new data also shows that even in states generally perceived as prosperous such as Haryana, Gujarat and Karnataka, more than 40% of the population is poor by the new composite measure, while Kerala is the only state in which the poor constitute less than 20%. The MPI measures both the incidence of poverty and its intensity. A person is defined as poor if he or she is deprived on at least 3 of the 10 indicators. By this definition, 55% of India was poor, close to double India's much-criticised official poverty figure of 29%. Almost 20% of Indians are deprived on 6 of the 10 indicators.

Nutritional deprivation is overwhelmingly the largest factor in overall poverty, unsurprising given that half of all children in India are under-nourished according to the National Family Health Survey III (2005-06). Close to 40% of those who are defined as poor are also nutritionally deprived. In fact, the contribution of nutrition to the overall MPI is even greater in urban than rural India.

A comparison of the state of Madhya Pradesh and the sub-Saharan nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which have close to the same population and a similar MPI (0.389 and 0.393 respectively), shows that nutritional deprivation, arguably the most fundamental part of poverty, in MP far exceeds that in the DRC. Nutritional deprivation contributes to almost 20% of MP's MPI and only 5% of the DRC's MPI. MP's drinking water, electricity and child mortality levels are better than that of the DRC.

Multi-dimensional poverty is highest (81.4% poor) among Scheduled Tribes within India's Hindu population, followed by Scheduled Castes (65.8%), Other Backward Class (58.3%) and finally the general population (33.3%).

There is significant variation between the poverty incidence in various states as per the MPI and as per the Indian Planning Commission's official figures. Based on the MPI, Bihar has by far the most poor of any state in the country, with 81.4% of its population defined as poor, which is close to 12% more than the next worst state of Uttar Pradesh.

As per the Planning Commission's figures, 41.4% of Bihar and 32.8% of UP is poor. In a possible indication of inadequate access to health and education facilities which do not show up in income poverty, almost 60% of north-east India and close to 50% of Jammu & Kashmir are poor as per the MPI, while the Planning Commission figures are around 16% and 5% respectively.

The findings would provide further ballast to the argument of some economists that India's official poverty estimation methods are too narrowly focused to capture the real extent of deprivation in the country.

(Source : Rukmini Shrinivasan, TNN, 15 July 2010)

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3. Inflation

The shocking picture of inflation in India !

Today, the biggest concern facing the country is rising prices. There is uproar in Parliament as political parties jostle to grab as much mileage as possible from the government's apparent failure to curb runaway inflation, as they try to sidle up to the aam aadmiwho has been worst hit by skyrocketing prices.

Food inflation is hovering near 20 per cent. Everyone is facing the brunt of rising prices. Food prices are soaring . . . all essential items like vegetables, oil, milk, sugar are getting costlier. Rentals and real estate rates have almost doubled in just a few months in most cities. The real estate prices are at record highs making life miserable, especially for people who have migrated to cities for jobs.

Inflation hits you badly as prices keep rising. You end up spending more money for things that you could buy for les earlier. What you could buy for Rs 100, some months ago, would now cost you nearly double. As a result, your savings will come down. As prices rise, the purchasing power of money goes down too.

Inflation hits retired folk and people with fixed incomes very badly. Inflation destabilizes the economy as consumers and investors change their spending habits.

Economists attribute inflation to a demand-pull theory. According to this, if there is a huge demand for products in all sectors, it results in a shortage of goods. Thus prices of commodities shoot up.

Another reason for inflation is the cost-push theory. It says that labour groups also trigger inflation. When wages for labourers are increased, producers raise the prices of products to make up for salary hike.

The rising prices of food products, manufacturing products, and essential commodities have pushed inflation rate further in India

This is how food prices have risen since 2007:

• Food articles: 7.02% (in 2007) to 17.41%in January 2010.
• Food products: 3.43% (in 2007) to 22.55%in January 2010.
• Food commodities: 5.60% (in 2007) to 19.42% in January 2010.
• Food grains: 6.27% (in 2007) to 17.89% in January 2010.
• Cereals: 6.27% (in 2007) to 13.69% in January 2010.
• Pulses: 2.14% (in 2007) to 45.62%in 2007 in January 2010.
• Rice: 6.05% (in 2007) to 12.02%in January 2010.
• Wheat: 6.77% (in 2007) to 14.86% in January 2010.
• Dairy products: 6.08% (in 2007) to 12.87% in January 2010.
• Eggs, fish and meat: 6.38% (in 2007) to 30.71% in January 2010.
• Sugar: (-) 14.69% (in 2007) to 58.94% in January 2010.

Price Rise : Hitting the Common Man Hard

Price hike in essential commodities has been a norm in our country. The pattern is very frequent, for instance, the petrol prices have been hiked ten times in the last 6 years. The hikes have become a nightmare for the “aam aadmi”. The ever increasing cost of living has once again proven the age old theory of Survival of the Fittest.

Interestingly, we discover an array of exciting facts when we dig in the depths of the issue. It is quite a common phenomenon that when the prices get hiked, substantial control measures have to be employed to check it. Paradoxically, government has seldom made efforts to curb it as it considers hike a part of the game. Recently in the President’s address, it was quoted that “higher prices were inevitable”. Rather, it was made inevitable. Hike is a nice and easy tool for the govt. to fill in the gaps of revenue. Whenever, the govt. is in any kind of trouble, it makes us bare the burden.

Petrol price hike is an epitome to show govt.’s incapability or lack of accountability. Though, the international fuel prices have fallen sharply by almost 100% in 2009, the Indian govt. shows no signs of reducing the price in the domestic market. Petrol, diesel and other petroleum products have an enormous impact on almost all the other commodity prices.

Black markets also contribute massively to hike. Sugar prices prove to be a fitting example. The recent price rise of sugar seems to be in a rat race with its sweetness. The profits of 33 sugar companies have rocketed by 2900% to 900 crores, along with a gigantic increase in the sugar prices. The reason being crop shortage which was in turn created due to uncontrolled exports last year. We could have built buffer stocks, when we had the bumper crop, but we didn’t. This facilitated a raise in profits of all the export and import companies, while consumers were forced to pay much more than what they need to pay for sugar.

The strategic failure of agricultural departments, which failed to create proper awareness among the farmers regarding selection of crops, which eventually lead to price rise of pulses, cereals and vegetables drastically.

Standard of living of common man has been taken to the limit. In 2009, 13.6million people freshly joined the list of BPLin our country, according to a report by U.N Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The hikes have made the lives of people miserable, forcing them to cut on luxuries and lead an austere life. Govt. has eventually made people unhappy and provoking suicidal tendencies in many who are fed up with this continuous price rise.

Politicians have been pro-commercial rather than pro-people for they have eased this hike with their malign usage of political influence in economic interests. Govt. is trying to justify that the conditions have been similar throughout the world. But, a comparison of the consumer price index with the other G-20 nations shows that India has the highest consumer price inflation at 14.97%, making it evident that the domestic policies are responsible for this.

The need of the hour is to set up specifically dedicated departments to study the trends in economy, which analyze the exports, imports and domestic agriculture conditions and propose new policies to check the price hike in our country.

(Source : YouthKiAwaaz, 25 Feb 2010)

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4. Delhi Metro : You must all be wondering why have I mentioned Delhi Metro as a disease. Well, its not exactly your fault here, because DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) only shows us what we like to see : AC coaches, Hi-Tech Security Systems, etc. But, there is something which is constantly kept away from our eyes....But first lets have a brief introduction of Delhi Metro :

The Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of five lines with a total length of 125.67 kilometers (78.09 mi). The metro has 107 stations of which 17 are underground. It has a combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines and uses both broad gauge and standard gauge rolling stock.

Delhi Metro is being built and operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC). As of April 2010, DMRC operates more than 100 trains daily between 6:00 — 23:00 with a frequency of 3 to 4.5 minutes.

For all my Indian Hubbers / Readers who know Hindi language, following are the links to all those truths which are kept hidden from us by DMRC :

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_111.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_1696.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_8446.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_3736.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_8868.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post_11.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-post.html

(Source : Bigul Akhbaar)

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5. North - Eastern Insurgencies

The Curious Case of North Eastern States

India’s north-east has seen more violence in the last 50 years than any other part of the country. Yet the outside world knows virtually nothing about the crisis there.

More than half of all Indians killed in political violence in the 1980s and 1990s died in the north-east. The region is bedevilled with armed insurgencies or secessionist movements from over 50 groups. Thousands of people have died, and hundreds of thousands more are internally displaced, living in unhygienic, makeshift camps; every year, hundreds die from disease.

Yet little is known about conditions in a region the size of the UK. ‘Quasi-martial’ law makes it difficult for journalists – Indian and foreign – to work in the region, while security concerns, government obstruction and the highly sensitive political situation hamper aid and protection efforts.

Seven states (also known as the Seven Sisters) constitute the Indian north-east: Assam (the largest and most important), Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Together, they cover a total of 255,000 square kilometres, with a combined population of over 30 million. The region is connected to the rest of India only by a narrow neck of land, the 21km-wide Siliguri corridor. It borders China, Burma, Bhutan and Bangladesh. With the exception of Assam, this is a region of huge mountains and fierce rivers. It is home to over 200 tribal groups and sub-groups. Christianity is the majority religion in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland, and there are substantial Christian minorities in the rest of the region.

The roots of the insurgencies

Although each of the region’s many and complex conflicts has its own roots and history, together they raise common issues to do with language and ethnicity, human rights, tribal rivalry and ethnic resentment, migration, under-development, control over local resources, access to markets, the decay of political institutions and a widespread feeling of exploitation and alienation from the Indian state. There is little industry in the north-east, and agriculture is backward.

Although the north-east has substantial reserves of oil, natural gas, limestone-dolomite and coal, political violence means that much of these resources go unexploited. There is also huge potential for hydroelectric power, but harnessing this raises environmental and political issues. In 2001, the Indian prime minister announced a $2 billion development package for the area, but in the short term insurgency and the trade in small arms and narcotics will remain attractive options for the region’s young people.

The oldest insurgency is in Nagaland. The main Naga militant group, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isaak–Muivah), claims a territory six times the size of present-day Nagaland, including most of Manipur, as well as parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Burma.

Assamese nationalism emerged in the late 1970s as a protest against immigration from West Bengal and the influx of ‘foreigners’ from Bangladesh. The most prominent Assamese insurgent group is the secessionist United Liberation Front for Asom (ULFA). While the ULFA has lost some of its mass appeal, it is still a major source of violence and instability.

The Bodos, the largest plains tribe of Assam with an estimated population of 1.1m, are fighting for indigenous rights and tribal empowerment in a majority non-tribal state. They mobilized in 1987 to demand the creation of a separate state, Bodoland, and have since been driving away non-Bodos, especially the Santhals, to make their strongholds into exclusively Bodo areas. The Bodos have a pattern of ethnic cleansing that is missing from the ULFA, and India’s response to their insurgency has been predominantly military.

The Indian response

The Indian government’s political and military efforts to deal with these various insurgencies have met with mixed results. In the mid-1980s, the government signed a peace deal ending the 20-year insurgency in Mizoram, and making the Mizo leader chief minister in the newly-pacified state. Mizoram has since benefited from significant funds from the centre as part of a ‘development package’.

Mizoram is often viewed as the model of a successful anti-insurgency policy, and its positive outcomes are attributed to the Indian government’s willingness to allow an insurgent leader to emerge as an officially recognized figure within the political system.

The Indian government appears to be trying the same approach in Nagaland, where it has accepted the NSCN (I–M) as its exclusive negotiating partner. The territorial ambitions of the Nagas have, however, complicated the picture because they infringe on territory belonging to other states. Moreover, the NSCN (I–M) does not represent all the Naga tribes. Although a ceasefire is in place, New Delhi’s intensive counter-insurgency operations and the militarization of daily life in the region have only compounded the problem.

The local population is trapped between a repressive government and intolerant militants, against the backdrop of a shambolic democratic process. Delhi-appointed governors in the north-east play a dominant and meddlesome role in local political life, much to the irritation of local leaders.

The insurgencies also have a complicating regional aspect. Dissident groups have sought refuge in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Burma, and have received training in Pakistan and China. New Delhi views the insurgencies in the north-east not as expressions of local discontent but as part of wider efforts at destabilization by China and Pakistan. For New Delhi, the north-east is a hotbed of Pakistani intelligence activity.

A more stable future?

The key to a safer future for the north-east lies in a better mix of Indian policies, the principal ingredients of which are: economic development, focusing especially on the needs of the poor and socially neglected; greater tolerance of local control; a willingness to work with local leaders; a strengthened democratic process and stronger civil society institutions; and more intensive efforts at reconciliation.

Ultimately, the humanitarian situation in this region will only improve if peace is realized. As with Afghanistan today, peace must be ‘bought’ in India’s north-east with the promise of genuine development that meets the aspirations of poor people and does not discriminate against any group or locality. This may be the only way to address the humanitarian impact of decades of violence in the region, which has caused so much human misery and devastation. Only then will the people of India’s north-east be noticed by the international community, and given the attention they deserve.

(Source : Siddharth Deva, Policy Advisor, Oxfam GB, South Asia)

Child Trafficking growing in North East

After decades of political tumult, India’s northeastern region is shattered, disadvantaged. The region is a hotbed of violence but recent years have brought a tenuous peace.

Through the prism of human rights, though, things are far from OK. Nearly 20 percent of the region’s children between the ages of 11 and 17 are involved in prostitution, a 2008 report by Global Organization for Life Development, an organization that helps trafficking victims, said.

That figure is believed to have grown at a rate of about 5 percent per year, leading experts to identify the region as a major center of human trafficking. And that’s not likely to change anytime soon, they said. Poverty, often due to the region’s violence, is the catalyst that usually forces children into the flesh trade, according to the organization.

Most of the young girls who are forced into prostitution are from Assam state, followed by Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and the border disputed state Arunachal Pradesh, the report said. Some are sold to brothels in Pune, Mumbai and other metropolises.

“While any violence, sexual or otherwise, exacted on children is condemnable, abject poverty is the root cause,” said Gopi Venkataraman of Give India, a non-profit focused on human rights.

Destitute parents are often made to sell their own children, she said.

“Educating parents and providing them means to earn a living can reduce this evil,” she said. “Vigilance by parents or community is important to prevent trafficking.”

Impulse Asia, another organization in northeast India, reports large-scale sexual exploitation of children in the region.

“Human trafficking is an abuse to human rights, with women and children being the predominant victims,” said Shoma Chatterji, an activist and author of “Gender and Conflict.”

Traffickers have shown interest in girls from India’s northeastern regions because of their distinctive features, experts say. The region shares major international borders, which facilitate trafficking to other Asian nations and beyond.

“Cross-border trafficking can be controlled with strict monitoring,” Chatterji said. “The corrupt officials of the Border Security Force serving as accomplices to the felony need to be punished and the government should form bodies specifically looking into this.”

The region has seen a steady rise in the AIDS count, too, AIDS awareness group AVERT, Catholic Relief Services and other organizations say.

Though prostitution isn’t the only reason why AIDS has spread profusely in the region – use of drugs via injections has spurred much of it – human rights groups are working to raise awareness among sex workers. The majority of the prostitutes participate in unprotected sex, which increases the chance of HIV infection.

“Children are sold to parts of India (often brothels) as parents cannot feed them,” said Susenjit Guha, a nationally known columnist. “Government should be able to ensure education for all."

(Source : Abhirup Bhunia, 19 April 2010)

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6. Communalism : Communalism is used in South Asia to denote attempts to promote primarily religious stereotypes between groups of people identified as different communities and to stimulate violence between those groups. It derives not from community but from "tensions between the (religious) communities. The sense given to this word in South Asia is represented by the word sectarianism outside South Asia.

In South Asia, "communalism" is seen as existing primarily between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians. In contemporary India, "communalism" designates not only the conflicts between extremist religious communities, but also those between people of the same religion but from different regions and states.

Political parties are generally considered to play an important role in stimulating, supporting and/or suppressing communalism.

Communal Riots in India (1947 - 2003)

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/communal-riots-in-india-1947-2003.html

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/communal-riots-in-india-1947-2003_11.html

Also, many people were killed due to some illegal & corrupt practices, two of which are mentioned below :

Sati (from time immemorial to 1829)

• Sakuntala Narasimhan, Sati: widow burning in India

• 7941 widows burned alive in the Bengal Presidency, 1815-28
• According to Rammohun Roy, almost ten times more incidents in Bengal than elsewhere

Thuggee (13th C. to ca. 1838)

• 13 Oct. 2001 Toronto Star: 1M people strangled. (Points out that some modern scholars doubt the full, legendary extent of the cult, perhaps even its existence. This debate has quashed the publication of a new book, The Wayfarers: Human Sacrifice Throughout Time And Around The World by Daniel Wood, which is too bad because you can never have too many children's books about human sacrifice.)
• 6 Jan. 2001 Birmingham Post: Worst known serial killer in history was Indian Thug Behram, who strangled at least 931 victims in the Uttar Pradesh district of India 1790-1840
• 14 May 2005 Daily Telegraph (London) review of Thug: the True Story of India's Murderous Cult by Mike Dash: "James [Sleeman] calculated that Thugs had killed 50,000 people a year for up to 700 years, [but] Dash arrives at a more reasonable figure of perhaps 50,000 victims in total."
• Michael Newton, Holy Homicide (1998)

• British authorities’ est. 40,000 Thug-related homicides in 1812 alone.
• 4,500 Thugs convicted, and 110 executed, 1830-48

George Bruce, The Stranglers: The cult of Thuggee and its overthrow in British India (1968)

• 40,000 travellers died in India in 1812, "as indeed they had done every year that records had been kept."
• Estimated 4-5,000 Thugs in India, early 19thC
• Individual tallies

• Thug Rumzam: 604 killings in 21 years

• He led gangs of 30-40, and saw 80-90 murders/year

Thug Buhram: 931 killings in 40 years One gang of 125 in 3 months of 1831 murdered 108 victims. Another gang of 60 in 8 months of 1831 murdered 201 victims. unnamed gang of 50 members in Jubbulpore Dist. Thug Feringeea spent some time with one gang of 100, another gang of 150. In one grove, randomly selected as a campsite by Capt. Sleeman, the Brits found 17 bodies from 3 different attacks.

Martyrdom in World Religions Since Origin (persons regarded as martyrs by their own religion)

Muslims - 80 Million

Christians - 70 Million

Hindus - 20 Million

Buddhists - 10 Million

Jewish - 9 Million

Ethnic - 6 Million

Others - 5 Million

Sikhs - 2 Million

Baha'i - 1 Million

(Source : 2001 World Christian Trends, David Barett & Todd Johnson)

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Adivasis : Do you know them ?

Ādivāsi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups believed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India.

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/adivasis.html

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Future : Bright or ????

The future will be highly uncertain if we keep on moving along the lines (Borders) created by our forefathers. The need of the hour is to initiate a major breakthrough in the administrative and political system of the country. The country requires a leader who can take independent decisions, is proactive and can perform tasks other than shaking hands with every second country. You just simply can't promise / assure other countries of development until and unless your own country is developed or is on the "correct" path of development.

World has seen many examples in which the citizens of the country took initiative to create their own government and run the nation successfully, when their "political counterparts" failed to do their job. India has always been termed as a country where people believe in "Unity in Diversity". Its true, Indians have belief in "Unity in Diversity", but do not live with the same principle. They rather live with "Unity in one's Community"

Lets get down to the hard reality : As long as people give more importance to their religion, castes, creed and cultures, forget the county, the people themselves won't be able to progress in a "true" manner. Each religion of this world, someway or the other, has divided its followers :

Hinduism [Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas & Shudras]

Christianism [Orthodox, Catholics]

Islam [Shiias, Sunnis]

Buddhism [Hinayana, Mahayana]

Jainism [Shvetambras, Digambara]

I am not blaming any religion, neither am I telling you to stop believing in it. Religion is important as it keeps you grounded and makes sure that you always move on the right path. But never let it create divide between you and others. Remember, God never divided his children, religions did.

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Message to the Younger Generation of India

Always remember, my friends, not to take this freedom casually or for granted. It took over 200 years, billions of dollars and several lakhs of sacrifices, for India to achieve this freedom. And many of these sacrifices included people who were as young as you and me are. People like Bhagat Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Sukhdev Thapar, Rajguru, etc sacrificed their lives, only to save India from colonial rule. Today, if we join hands and put in even 20% of their efforts, I am sure, we would be able to save India from its long-borne miseries.

So remember my friends :

"Get up from your deep slumber........so that billions can sleep peacefully"

And don't forget to read this poem, specially composed for this occasion :

http://hridyapal-storyteller.blogspot.com/2010/08/swatantrata-ki-pehli-ladai-1857.html