Tackling the Tensions in States

Several ethnic conflicts raged in different parts of the country when Rajiv Gandhi took over as prime minister. Some of these were settled but others continued to cause trouble.

Punjab was a burning problem. Akali leaders were freed and an agreement was signed by the Akali leader Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal and Rajiv Gandhi in July1985. But in August Longowal was shot dead. However, state elections were held in September and in what was seen as a vote against extremism, the Akali Dal came to power with a comfortable majority. But militancy was not to end so easily. It reared its head soon and the Golden Temple was once again being used by militants. This time round, strong—in fact, even ruthless—action by the police under J.F. Ribeiro and K.P.S. Gill brought the situation under control, after Operation Black Thunder was launched in May 1988 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple. It was a smoother and cleaner operation but then there was no charismatic leader like Bhindranwale this time round to whip up emotions. Even so, militancy did not quite die down for quite some time in the state. The Chandigarh issue continues to rankle.

Assam was torn by violent agitation in the 1970s and the 1980s over the influx of foreigners. Rajiv Gandhi and the All Assam Students Union (AASU) signed an accord on August 15, 1985. President’s Rule was removed and elections held in December. The AASU became a political party—the Asom Gana Parishad—and contested the polls; it emerged victorious leaving the Congress far behind.

Yet another agreement was that between the Centre and the Mizos in 1986 whereby the Mizo rebels surrendered their arms. Mizoram was granted statehood. The Mizo National Front under the leadership of Laldenga—once a fiery rebel calling for secession from India—came to power as chief minister of Mizoram which became the 23rd state of India in February 1987.

Problems, however, arose in other parts of the country as well as in the same states later. The Gorkha National Liberation Front under Subhash Ghisingh represented the interests of the Nepali-speaking population in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal and began demanding a separate state for themselves. Ghisingh after meeting Rajiv Gandhi was persuaded to accept an autonomous district council.

Tripura was torn by agitations and clashes between the tribals and Bengalis who had come into the state after Partition. The Tripura National Volunteers (TNV) adopted the way of terrorists intimidating civilians and the police with kidnappings and murders. In August 1988 a memorandum of understanding was signed under which TNV decided to abjure violence, give up secessionist demands and to hold negotiations for a peaceful solution of all the problems of Tripura within the Constitution of India. It was agreed by the Indian government that the seats for the tribals in the legislative assembly would be increased and that some more villages would be brought under the purview of the autonomous tribal councils. The terms of surrender were chalked out through talks between the Centre, the Tripura Government and the TNV. The troubles were not, however, quite over.

In Assam there was a violent agitation led by the Bodo

tribals against local Assamese. The leadership was given by the All-Bodo Students Union. Some kind of resolution of the problem lay some years in the future.

In Jammu and Kashmir, a different kind of problem arose. On Sheikh Abdullah’s death, his son Farooq Abdullah had become the chief minister of the state, but Indira Gandhi had removed him. Now, with Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister, the Congress and the National Conference formed a coalition caretaker government in Jammu and Kashmir in 1986. Elections were held in 1987. The Muslim United Front (MUF) formed by a group of Kashmiris who sought greater autonomy from the Centre was also in the fray. There was wide ranging rigging in the elections to favour the Congress- National Conference so that the results went overwhelmingly in favour of that group. This was a most unfortunate thing to happen; even in fair and free election the Congress-NC group would probably have won, but now the unfair practices

created disappointment and anger and alienation from the Indian State. This was the beginning of the militancy in Kashmir with some of the Kashmiri youth turning to Pakistan for help.