Heard of Tashi Namgyal or Tsering Morup? But for the two yak-herds, India would have lost Kargil.
These two Ladakhis went up a Batalik hill to look for a missing yak early May 1999 and spotted Pakistani intruders perched up there. They thought it odd, and alerted the Army. The next day, they guided a patrol party up the craggy hill and showed them what they had seen the previous day. The rest is history.
The folk on the frontiers are the eyes and ears of the Army. They alert the Army if strangers have strayed into the sector, if the enemy had sent night patrols, and more. Rulers of mighty kingdoms have always ensured their frontier chiefs, called wardens of the marches, and their folk stayed loyal and happy.
We seem to be forgetting this vital lesson of statecraft. Look at our frontiers. In the east the Manipuris have been up in arms for three years, and our rulers are clueless as to how to deal with them.
Next it was the Ladakhis. They had cheered when they were freed from the misrule of Srinagar and their region made a UT. They thought Delhi rule would get them jobs, preserve their culture, promote their language, and let them live their lives their way.
Sadly, Delhi rule was found to be worse than Srinagar rule. It didn’t give them jobs, it let outsiders into Ladakh causing fears of a cultural invasion and an environment disaster, and it hasn’t given them a representative government. Unrest has been growing in Ladakh, leaving worry lines on the furrows of the men charged with guarding the grounds.
Now it is the turn of the tribes of Arunachal. China is planning a massive 66GW power project upstream of the Siang, which flows into India’s Brahmaputra. The dam will enable China to block the water flow into Arunachal or to flood the valleys at will. Engineers suggest India build a Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), a string of 43 dams that will generate power, and store water for people to use when the Chinese deny it, and block the flow if the Chinese flood the downs.
The native Adi, Memba, Khamba, and Idu Mismi tribes fear the SUMP will sink their fertile farms, hunting haunts, grazing grounds and sacred groves, disperse the people, and kill their culture. Ecologists worry that 27 rare plant species, 25 mammal species, and 50 types of birds will vanish. Geologists say Himalayan quakes may shake up the dam, melt glaciers and flood the valleys.
Protests have started, and so has repression. A police station and the dam-building National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s office have been torched; protesters arrested, and paramilitary troops deployed.
Look up the places on a map—the western sector and the eastern sector of our China border are restive. Force isn’t the solution. Delhi needs to send empowered men to undertake frontier missions—understand the fears of the local people, explain the national needs, and seek meeting points. Sadly, we don’t have them. Otherwise, Manipur, Ladakh or Arunachal wouldn’t have happened.
Delhi sees the trees, but misses the woods. From Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, India’s rulers have been mistaking border security for national security. A boundary is a line; a border is the land up to the line; a frontier is the vast marches on both sides of the line. Boundaries are manned by the paramilitary. Borders are guarded by the military. Frontiers need strategists and statesmen to manage.
We guard the borders and boundaries, but neglect the frontiers. In the process, we turn loyal frontier folk into resentful rebels—on the Naga hills, in the Manipur valley, and now on the Ladakh and Arunachal hills!
prasannan@theweek.in
