Turn Northeast, Mr PC

Ever since he assumed charge as Union Home Minister after the disastrous Shivraj Patil innings, P Chidambaram has to a large extent succeeded in effecting a meaningful shift in the country’s home policy. The element of sensibility in his discourse when faced with political riddles and the unrest they can incite, coupled with hard talk at the right time, is only too conspicuous. And now he has come up with the thesis of ‘‘quiet’’ dialogue to find a ‘‘unique’’ solution to the Kashmir imbroglio. There is now the realization that ‘‘all shades of opinion’’ must find place in peace deliberations and that even groups ‘‘which may be called extremists and are not organized’’ need a patient hearing. Chidambaram has made it clear that the ‘‘quiet’’ dialogue on Kashmir ‘‘cannot take place in the glare of media’’ because it then ‘‘becomes a show’’ and ‘‘there will be no dialogue’’. It is only when the ‘‘broader contours’’ are arrived at that the dialogue process and its direction will be made public, says Chidambaram. And the solution to the Kashmir problem ‘‘must recognize the unique history and geography’’ of that State, for solutions to other problems in the country ‘‘cannot be replicated’’ in Jammu & Kashmir. So, given the Chidambaram narrative, will the UPA-II celebrate democracy anew in the country’s hinterland?

The Northeast is no less a hinterland — and perhaps more than what the Kashmir valley is perceived to be. When the country’s home minister advocates a ‘‘unique’’ solution to the Kashmir tangle that is actually exacerbated by Pakistan’s export of jihad material to the valley (facilitated also by Kashmir’s own pro-Pakistani leaders), there is no gainsaying that the votaries of the Naga cause will only increase their unique-solution-to-the-unique-problem pitch. And so will others in the northeastern region whose notion of a separate nationality stems from their unique histories and ethnicities, all of which, as they would argue, flourished in independent, non-exploitative spaces before the advent of British imperialism. Indeed, were one to jettison the policy stereotype of forcibly mainstream-ing or mainland-ing the northeastern hinterland — unarguably one of the most neglected and underrated regions of the country — he would realize the inevitability of accommodating such uniqueness far more than what Jammu & Kashmir deserves in any new model of governance and administration. And the northeastern States do not have the privilege of Article 370, nor are any groups here any Pakistani or Bangladeshi sympathizers barring some insurgent-turned-militant outfits in the grip of the Pakistan Army’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). It would be better and far more sensible, therefore, if Chidambaram were to experiment his new thesis in the Northeast too. Here are a people who have not only been long left in the lurch for no fault of theirs except for their un-mainland-ly features, but here are also a people, such as those in Assam, who now face an imminent threat of elimination by the undeterred surge of illegal Bangladeshis and the ISI’s greater Islamic state project. So, Mr Chidambaram, heed the Northeast on a priority basis and help douse the fire of resentment and rebellion. And the advantage here is that the civil society today has nothing to do with terrorists masquerading as insurgents, backed by the Pakistan-Bangladesh jihadi combine. The people here, therefore, deserve a grand socio-politico-economic treat. Sooner the better. THE SENTINEL