Goodwill is not enough

Prime Minister I.K. Gujral's visit to the North-East, not long after his predecessor's, seems to underline the importance the United Front ...

Prime Minister I.K. Gujral8217;s visit to the North-East, not long after his predecessor8217;s, seems to underline the importance the United Front attaches to the region. At any rate, it must be the hope that a confederation of regional parties, as the UF is regarded by some of its own leaders, will be more sensitive to problems in the NE and more willing to resolve them than the previous governments at the Centre.

A whirlwind tour, taking the Prime Minister in five days from Guwahati, where the AGP is celebrating the first anniversary of its return to power, through five other State capitals, can only be taken as a goodwill mission.

But it is valuable even as a token of the UF8217;s concern. Neglect by the Centre 8212; apart from its capacity to misunderstand the real issues in the region 8212; has been the perennial complaint of the North-East leaders. The UF is now trying to say that out of sight is not out of mind; the presence of the AGP in the coalition, if nothing else, will ensure that.

But after decades of half-hearted implementation of Central promises on the political, law and order and economic fronts, Gujral should not be surprised if he meets with a certain amount of scepticism about the UF8217;s intention to do better. For being forthright enough to concede that the people of the region have genuine grievances and the Centre has been negligent, Gujral can at best hope to win some temporary friends. What remains to be seen is how the UF proposes to make a difference. In essence the UF8217;s approach makes no major departure from that of the Congress: development plans plus tough law and order measures. In the Rs 6100 crore-worth of development projects announced earlier by Deve Gowda and a forthcoming new industrial policy, there is the offer to provide greater economic opportunities. But if the UF has given serious thought to how the existing corrupt and inefficient delivery mechanism can be improved, it is keeping its ideas to itself. Unless steps are taken to ensure that the mass of people benefits from the harnessing of the region8217;s resources, the UF will do no more than pacifying the political elites. Unrest and insurgency are in part the result of being excluded from the fruits of development and the aim, therefore, should be to bring about the widest possible participation of the people.

Bridges, power stations and new industries are all essential but are not in themselves the panacea for all the troubles in the North-East. It is a truism that violent insurgencies and ethnic conflicts in many areas of the region must be dealt with by a combination of law and order and political measures. Talking to 8220;misguided youths8221; as Gujral has offered to do is part of the process. What has been lacking at State and Central levels is a systematic and sustained effort to make talks productive. They will lead nowhere without clarity of purpose. And law and order measures must be seen to go along with a concern for justice and legality. The UF cannot hope to make a fresh start in the North-East without giving its foremost attention to some of the draconian laws in operation there and the alleged misuse of them by the security forces.