While political parties have the right to differ on a host of issues, national interest warrants that they are united on the matter of security, of both the people and the leaders. Democracy is at risk if we overlook with this real threat
As the nation gears up for the lok Sabha election, with political controversies, attacks and counter-attacks by parties hogging the national headlines, it is important to reflect on the state of security, as the poll results are bound to have implications for the region and the world at large. Vested interests and anti-India forces within and outside are keeping a close tab on the political developments in the country and assessing the impact that different dispensations may have on their activities in the future.
Though India has survived and prospered as a democracy notwithstanding the emergence of dictatorships in its neighbourhood, violence, including assassinations, have been an integral part of its politics since the country attained independence in 1947. Barely six months into independence, Mahatma Gandhi had fallen to an assassin’s bullet in the heart of New Delhi, in what was an outcome of political opposition to his policy towards Pakistan.
Enraged over her decision to storm the holiest Sikh Shrine, the Golden Temple, in 1984, to crush separatists holed up there that had spread terror in Punjab, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her own security guards outside her New Delhi residence in 1984. In 1991, her son and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bomb attack at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by the liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for sending Indian troops to Sri lanka and trying to eliminate the Tamil rebel group.
In May last year, Maoists attacked a convoy of leaders belonging to the Congress in Chhattisgarh ahead of the Assembly election, causing 27 deaths including that of former State Minister Mahendra Karma and State Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel. Vidya Charan Shukla, a senior Congress leader also later succumbed to his injuries.In the past, left-wing extremists have ruthlessly enforced calls for boycotting polls in the areas of their influence, including key States like Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, despite the huge presence of paramilitary and police forces. Out of fear, many voters do not vote. Quite a few have begun to opt for the ‘None of the Above’ button in the electronic voting machines to register their protest — as was witnessed in the recent Assembly poll held in Chhattisgarh.
Political violence involving murders and serious injuries are commonplace in States such as Kerala where the communists are engaged in a perennial ideological war with the RSS and the BJP, in Tamil Nadu between Hindu and Muslim groups, in West Bengal between the communists, the Congress and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Militants in the North-East too have in the past given calls for boycotting local and national elections and even punishing those who defy the call. The Kashmir valley has witnessed boycott calls by separatist outfits for a long time now. However, except in some downtown areas of the State capital Srinagar, there has not been much of an impact in other parts of the State, though elections have always taken place under the shadow of the gun. The State also faces the threat of increased infiltration of militants, aided and abetted by Pakistan, ahead of the poll.
The serial blasts that took place near Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on October 27, 2013, hours before a public rally was addressed by BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, has added a new dimension to the security scenario in the country ahead of the election. As Mr Ajit Doval, former Director of the Intelligence Bureau, put it, “The event heralds a new genre of terrorist threat, where the objective was not so much to cause depredations as to prevent the people and the leaders from pursuing their lawful right of assembly and speech. The trend, if unchecked, could derail democratic process, undermine constitutional freedoms and seriously destabilise the country. If the terrorists even marginally improve upon their Patna performance, democracy in the country will get a body blow with no political party or political leader remaining safe enough to carry out their legitimate political activities.” Though the ruling UPA Government itself has acknowledged the enhanced threat perception to Mr Modi, some are keen to use it more as a ploy to project him as a hate figure and even to scare away possible participants from his public programmes, which are attended often by lakhs of people.
While so far there has been a political consensus on the issue of providing security to even bitter political rivals, the latest entrant in the political arena, the Aam Aadmi Party, has made ‘VIP security’ itself an election issue, with newly-elected Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal refusing all overt personal security despite recent threats that he may be abducted to secure the release of some dreaded terrorists. This party has been projecting VIP security as status symbols which need to be done away with. While there is an element of truth in what the AAP is saying, it is also true that many leaders such as Mr Modi and Mr Rahul Gandhi face threats to their security.
Unfortunately, taking a cue from the success of the fledgling party and its much-hyped proximity to the common man, leaders of many established political parties are trying to reach out to the disillusioned masses in a major way by often ignoring their security. One recently saw Mr Gandhi riding atop a four-wheeler and being mobbed by the people. Earlier too, the young Gandhi had breached the security cordon, causing confusion among the security personnel. In fact, ominously, both Mr Modi and Mr Gandhi have expressed apprehensions over the safety of their lives in what was dismissed by critics as emotional rhetoric aimed at winning votes.
Anti-India terrorist outfits based in Pakistan have often threatened large-scale violence in India, and there are fears among intelligence and security agencies that these elements may try to create mayhem during political rallies and public meetings ahead of the election. The security forces are also preparing for a possible flare up of violence in the volatile border State of Jammu & Kashmir. Over the years, the Maoists have spread their tentacles across key States and there is genuine apprehension, both among the political class (in the wake of Darbha Ghati killings) and the security agencies, that left radicals may try to hit hard around election time.
With the lok Sabha election nearing, political observers in the country also apprehend an upsurge in communal violence, as was seen in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh in August-September 2013. There are fears that with an eye on community vote-banks, political parties may trigger sectarian clashes in politically-sensitive States with a view to polarise voters on religious lines.
India is passing through a transition period and it is important that the Union and State Governments remain vigilant against external and internal threats to vitiate the political atmosphere during the election. While political parties have the right to differ on a host of issues ranging from economics to international relations and agriculture to defence, national interest warrants that they are united on the issue of security, both of the people and the leaders, as at peril would be India’s democracy itself.
(The author is Senior Fellow and Editor with the Vivekananda International Foundation)