Opinion - Letters to the Editor

War against state

This refers to the article “‘War’ against Indian state: real victims & outcome” (June 12). The insurgencies in the northeast have proved beyond doubt that the Indian state cannot control the region without employing brute force. The Mizo insurgency could be suppressed only because the Mizos are a small population of a few lakhs. But even today, Mizoram is virtually sovereign. The youth can impose a non-tribal curfew at will. The failure of the Centre to defeat the Naga insurgency even after 45 years of its formation (1963) should open our eyes to the fact that it is not easy to defeat a large community when it rebels. The large-scale state violence in the northeast raises serious questions about its political authority.

Apurba K. Baruah,

Shillong

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