Bureaucrats talking in political tongue : Transgressing into political turf
- Sangai Express Editorial :: November 12 , 2013 -

Myanmar not interested in taking action against North East ultras.

No this is not the Prime Minister nor the Union Home Minister nor the External Affairs Minister or even any of the Chief Ministers of the North Eastern States speaking, but a bureaucrat, an official of the rank of Joint Secretary (Home) in charge of the North East, Mr Sambhu Singh.

Not the first time that a bureaucrat has spoken on a subject, which should preferably have come from the political leadership.

The then Chief Election Commissioner Mr Quereshi had more or less 'transgressed' into the political turf, when he remarked that the revocation or repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the North East States would be undesirable in the run up to the election of the 10th State Assembly sometime in 2012.

Or is it a case of the political leadership deliberately passing on the baton to the officialdom, an IAS officer in this case, because it does not want to rock the boat ?

This comes close to a case of domestic issues or internal issues dictating or influencing foreign policies, which is best exemplified by the decision of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh to absent himself from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting scheduled at Colombo, in the face of the stiff opposition raised by political parties from Tamil Nadu.

After the crackdown launched in Bhutan and with a friendly Government at Dhaka, militant outfits from the North East are increasingly finding it difficult to set up camps in the immediate neighbours of India, and as things stand today, Myanmar seems to be the only option.

Viewed against this backdrop, then what Mr Sambhu said can be discerned as some sort of a pressure mounted on Myanmar, a message that India's foreign policy need not be seen in isolation of its internal issues.

However it is open to debate whether it is in the fitness of things, as a democracy, for an official to speak what is expected from the political leadership of the land.

The statement of Mr Sambhu Singh should also be seen in the backdrop of India's Look East Policy, where the North East region, particularly Manipur is going to play a major role.

Not exactly an outburst, but what the official said comes close to saying that Myanmar is patronising the North East militant groups.

How well this will be taken by the immediate neighbour, which will serve as the gate way to the South East Asian countries, remains to be seen and perhaps it is this apprehension which has constrained the political leadership to maintain a studied silence on this point and instead pitchfork an official into the middle.

It will also be interesting to study why militants from the North East continue to find a safe haven in Myanmar.

Apart from its close proximity, with the North East region sharing about 1,643 kms border with Myanmar, the internal political dynamics of the neighbouring country seems to have only worked to the advantage of the North East rebels.

This much was spelt out by Mr Sambhu Singh himself, wherein he was quoted as saying that the North East rebel groups find a safe shelter in the areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army.

Take the Khaplang factor into consideration, which reportedly had signed some sort of an agreement with the Government of Myanmar and here emerges a near perfect situation for the North East rebel groups to find a safe haven in the neighbouring country.

However what should be kept in mind here is that this observation is not so much about the reason why Myanmar is a safe option for the rebel outfits from the North East, but is more about a bureaucrat, a Joint Secretary in the Union Home Ministry, talking on issues which should ideally have come from the political class.