Internal Security Challenges to India

We have stepped into an extremely dangerous and paradoxical time. We have built ourselves a
political fine democracy but in society and economy there is no democracy and there is no
equality. The tension between the inequality in the social and economic terms can explode our
political democracy.
-

Primary architect of Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in his

speech after handing over the draft constitution in Parliament

And today almost 63 years after his speech, we can find he got it absolutely correct. The most
dangerous threat to the internal security of India is the fastest growing inequality in the social
and economic fields. The country is facing the consequences in the form of poverty, hunger,
malnutrition, Naxalism and so on. The challenges are interconnected to each other.
Below are the major challenges to the internal security of India:
1. Fastest growing inequality in income between the rich and the poor
a. The inequality in income between the rich and the poor is increasing at fastest rate
since 1991 i.e., the year of liberalization of India.
b. The benefits of globalization are not percolated to the lower strata of Indian
society and thus they are ignored from the developmental stream.
c. This resulted into extreme poverty, hunger, malnutrition, farmer suicides and so
on.
Measures to be taken:
- To bridge the gap between rich and poor Government has to focus on the
Directive Principles of State Policy (DSPS).
- The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines to the central and
state governments of India, to be kept in mind while framing laws and
policies. These provisions, contained in Part IV of the Constitution of
India, are not enforceable by any court, but the principles laid down
therein are considered fundamental in the governance of the country,
making it the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws
to establish a just society in the country.
- Government scheme to the poor should reach to the last hand
- Self-employment like SHG(Self Help Groups) should be generated in
rural and urban areas
- The most vital thing to reduce the inequality in income in the society is
political will of the politicians

2. Maoist/Naxalites insurgency in the heart of India

a. The deprived and the marginalized sections of the society, unable to survive in the
present system, get alienated from the growth of the country. The militant and
extremist forces thrive in this environment.
b. The most prominent among the groups, that have mushroomed in the recent years,
are the Peoples War Group (PWG) and the Marxist Communist Centre (MCC)
c. The Naxalites have now been going after the innocent civilians after the
Government security forces. Extortion is the only way of funding to Naxals.
Measures to be taken:
- Poverty and livelihood issues should be resolved
- Infrastructure in the Naxal affected areas must be improved
- The intelligence network has to be strengthened significantly
- The issue of Naxalites can be resolved by the only way of peaceful talk
to Naxal leaders since this kind of insurgency is caused due to the
ignorance of government towards these forest dwellers and seizing their
lands for industrialization.
3. Fundamentalist forces (Terrorism):
a. This is the most serious threat to the Indias internal security
b. The organizations, like Al Qaida, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, are encouraging the socalled Jehadis to enter India from outside
c. The break-up of the Indian Union continues to be the main goal of Pakistans
domestic and foreign policy
d. Easy availability of deadly weapons with the subversive groups operating in India
has created new dangers for Indias security.
Measures undertaken by Government:
- Sophisticated Counter-Terror Technology (CCTV cameras)
- Intelligence agencies, state police, customs, border security, cyber and
public health departments to counter terror attacks.
- The states counter-terror mechanism must envision the creation of
Special Forces meant specifically for the purpose of averting terror
networks in India. These Special Forces must be established in
vulnerable states like Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan Manipur
and Assam
- The states land and coastal border security must be strengthened given
the fact that terror attacks have been conducted and planned in the
neighbouring states.
- Cyber specialization should be made a part of the counter-terror
mechanism towards addressing hacking issues, tracing terror links in the

virtual world, locating the computers, and countries where this

transnational nature of terrorism originates, etc.
- India should establish a Federal Counter-Terrorism Mechanism, which
will integrate with above mentioned institutions
4. Corruption and corrosion of public institutions
5. Environmental degradation at rapid pace
a. The Indian rivers on whose banks the Indian civilization was once flourished are
on the verge of diminishing their beauties. They are highly degraded and the
water is polluted due to discharge of the sewages from the industries.
b. The deforestation is taking place at rapid pace since Liberalization of the country
in 1991. Deforestation became the serious threat to so many vulnerable species of
flora and fauna.
Measures taken by the Government:
- Increased the area of Protected Area Networks with the increase in
wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks.
- Enacted Project Tiger and Project Elephant to save these wild-lives
from poaching
- Central Zoo Authority (CZA) provides assistance to various zoos for
better upkeep and health facilities to the zoo animals
6. Illegal immigration to the north-east
a. Estimates of the total population of illegal immigrants in Nagaland or elsewhere
in India is problematic due to the clandestine nature of the immigrants. Illegal
immigration is getting recognised as one of the growing concerns in tribaldominated Nagaland.
b. Most of the alleged illegal immigrants usually possess fraudulent voter identity
cards, driving licenses and ration cards. This made the task of investigation
extremely difficult.
Constraints in preventing the illegal immigration:
Inadequate policing along the border
Demographic dynamics
Indifferent attitude of Bangladesh
Lack of political will
Communal politics
Corruption
Impact of Illegal migration:

Security impact
Communal polarization
Demographic impact
Political impact

7. Armed ethnic insurgencies in the north east (Manipur and Nagaland) and north
(Kashmir)
a. The Naga insurgency started way back in early 1950s. Some insurgent groups seek
b.
c.
d.
e.

secession from the Indian Union, some others seek separate states and yet others
greater autonomy within the existing state.
These insurgencies have affected the economic and social life of the region and posed
a great threat to its stability
The lack of physical, cultural and emotional links has encouraged a feeling of
alienation, which is being exploited by the neighbours to pursue their own agenda.
The NLFT and the ATTF continue to be active in Tripura.
Mizoram is not an exception, there are problems between the Mizos and the
Chakmas, and the Mizos and the Reangs
Measures to be taken:
- Structural conditions like ethic alienation, lack of infrastructure, absence of
land rights should be addressed.

Processes of dialogue and negotiation with armed outfits must be

conducted in a professional manner by people trained in negotiation
techniques and not by generalized bureaucracy
The conflicting issues between the Northeastern states like land
issues/border should be settled at the local level.
India must ensure that countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar
are not used by insurgent groups as launching pads for violence in its
border states. Dialogue mechanism in all three countries need to be
institutionalized and activated on a daily basis
Revenues from these states must be utilized for the development of the
states themselves since they are backward states compared to other more
developed states in India.
Acts like the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 and amended in
1972 should be lifted from the Northeast in a phased manner as the
common perception of this act is that it is unjust and repressive.

8. Fragile, unstable neighbours

a. Pakistan failed state
b. China Border issues
c. Sri-Lanka Had a brutal civil war that does not address the underlying problems
d. Bangladesh fragile democracy, so many times military has overtaken the
government
e. Nepal Maoist insurgency, democratic process is fragile
9. Armed Sena on caste and ethnic lines
a. Affected the police and administration
b. Loss of public confidence in the capacity of the state to protect their life and
property is the primary cause of this dangerous development
c. In the Border States these movements become secessionist because of the support
they receive from the hostile neighbouring states.
10. Communal forces
a. The communal forces are the major challenge which wants to undermine the
democratic secular fabric of the society.
b. Government needs to isolate such extremist forces which disturb the unity of the
nation and its people.
c. The recent Muzaffarnagar riot is one of the example how communal forces play
the bloody game of division in the society.
Measures to be taken:
There is need to strengthen and revitalize local "peace communities" in rural areas
which have representatives from different communities and have in the past been
effective in containing and resolving conflicts.

Measures to be taken at broader level

1. The Internal security issues should not be treated as merely law and order problems
2. There should be work on social, political and economic levels
3. Security requirements should be met by not giving the free hand to security agencies
Name: Sharad Durgawad
References:
1. http://www.idsa.in
2. Ministry of Environment and Forests
http://envfor.nic.in
3. Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com
4. P. Sainath (Magsaysay award winner) Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu.
5. Ramchandra Guha Historian, economist and environmentalist.