DOCSLIB.ORG

CENTRE for LAND WARFARE STUDIES ISSUE BRIEF No

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CENTRE for LAND WARFARE STUDIES ISSUE BRIEF No CENTRE FOR LAND WARFARE STUDIES ISSUE BRIEF No. 206 December 2019 Anashwara Ashok is a Research Assistant at the Challenge of Narcotics Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). She has completed her post-graduation in International Trafficking in Northeast Relations from O.P. Jindal Global University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the India University of Delhi. Her area of research at CLAWS includes Transnational Organised Crimes along Northeast India and Radicalisation. Key Points Introduction • Northeast India is geographically lying close to the The World Drug Report 2019 released by the United Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand and Laos) and is Nations (UN) revealed that India accounts for 30 one of world’s largest drug producing region. • Northeastern states have become easy transit routes percent of narcotics drug-using population in Asia for the drugs produced in the Golden Triangle, to join 1 alone. Narcotics drugs are defined by the World Health the international market. This has serious political, Organisation (WHO) as “any substance that when economic, security, health and environmental taken into a living organism, may modify its perception, ramifications on the society. 2 • The rough terrain consisting of high mountains, hills, mood, cognition behaviour, or motor functions.” rivers and forests pose huge challenge to security With over 35 million people suffering from drug use agencies in guarding the border, providing safe havens disorders globally, illicit drug trafficking is increasingly to criminals for trafficking drugs, people, weapons and undermining the human capital of various countries contraband. • This has the potential to undermine national security including India. This has political, economic, military, by creating a nexus between drug traffickers, criminal health, environmental and psychological consequences networks and terrorists and increasing probability of and threatens the sovereignty and political stability of infiltration of arms and explosives in the area. many societies. Due to the geo-strategic location of • There have been numerous socio-economic, cultural and educational consequences of northeastern states India, the global narcotics industry is a major concern with large number of people, especially youngsters, for the national security of the country. indulging in substance abuse. Intravenous Drug Use (IDU) involving usage of infected needles has further India is wedged between two of the world’s most augmented prevalence of HIV/AIDS. notorious drug-producing regions. Northeast India • The issue brief aims to examine the prevalent drug is bordered by the ‘Golden Triangle’ consisting of menace in northeast India and suggests certain plausible actions that can be taken to overcome this challenge. Myanmar, Thailand and Laos while on the northwest lies The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, is an independent think-tank dealing with national security and conceptual aspects of land warfare, including conventional and sub-conventional conflict and terrorism. CLAWS conducts research that is futuristic in outlook and policy-oriented in approach. CLAWS Vision: To establish as a leading Centre of Excellence, Research and Studies on Military Strategy & Doctrine, Land Warfare, Regional & National Security, Military Technology and Human Resource. Website: www.claws.in Contact us: [email protected] 2 CLAWS Challenge of Narcotics Trafficking... the ‘Golden Crescent’ with three contiguous countries, tropical rainforests in the south. Moreover, many namely, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. According to sympathisers of these criminal gangs due to their the UN, the majority of the world’s opioids (heroin and tribal and ethnic affinities provide information to the morphine) are produced in Afghanistan with Myanmar criminals about the security arrangements prevailing in as the second-largest producer. India has become an the area. Many ethnic war groups in Myanmar including easy transit for these drugs to join the international the Kachins, Karens, Mons, Shans, Chins, Kayah, narcotics market along with serious ramifications on the Rakhine and Wa have integrated insurgency with drug internal security of the country. production and trade. These insurgent groups maintain near-permanent facilities along the ungoverned Northeast India and the Golden Triangle frontiers bordering India and develop linkages with local insurgent groups of northeast India for trafficking The infamous Golden Triangle represents the region illegal arms and drug trade. Authorities have noticed an coinciding with the rural mountains of Myanmar, alarming nexus between local ethnic insurgent groups Thailand, and Laos. Not only is it the main opium- of northeast India with their counterparts across the producing region in South East Asia but also one of border. They have also asserted that these groups are the oldest narcotics supplying routes to Europe and funded by the illicit trade in drugs and fake currency North America. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) as the smugglers pay protection money to the insurgent recognises the Myanmar-Northeast nexus as the major groups to carry out their unhindered subversive source of heroin and chemical drugs like Yaba (a activities.4 Such interlinkages between insurgents and combination of many stimulants), Methamphetamines, criminals have become a potent threat in the form of and Ketamines. narco-terrorism with terror groups using trafficking routes with assistance of well-entrenched criminal India and Myanmar share a 1,643 km long border networks to penetrate arms and explosives in the region, along with the states of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), hence challenging the security of the borders. Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km). Myanmar produces around 80 per cent of By taking advantage of the gaps found in the prevailing the heroin in the world which is trafficked into the security apparatus along with the border areas, international markets, mainly the US and European smugglers have developed infallible channels for the countries, through Thailand, China, Laos, Vietnam and drug trade, hence undermining India’s national security. India.3 With the increasing surveillance and crackdown Drugs produced in the ‘Golden Triangle’ region enter on drug cartels in most of the South East Asian countries, India mostly through Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland there has been a surge in using northeast India as the from Bhamo, Lashio and Mandalay in Myanmar. The exit route for such narcotics. Factors such as highly route bifurcates and one channel moves northwards porous borders, proximity to the Golden Triangle, through Moreh in Manipur while the other moves ethnic conflicts, unemployment, poverty and easy southwards to enter Champhai in Mizoram.5 Dimapur access to the international market have led to growing (Nagaland) and Guwahati (Assam) are also focal points narco-trafficking in northeast India. for narcotics trafficking. The inhospitable terrain and dense forest cover, has A surge has been observed in the illegal flow of high increased the porosity of the India-Myanmar border, Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride (PH)-content drugs providing criminal groups safe havens. The region from New Delhi to Myanmar and China via Guwahati consists of diverse topography with high mountains by conduits based in Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram in the north along with hills, river channels and dense where these are regenerated into heroin and other CLAWS 3 Map 1: Drug Trafficking Route along the Golden Triangle Source: Namrata Goswami, ‘Drugs and the Golden Triangle: Renewed Concerns for North-east India’, IDSA, 10 February 2014, available at https://idsa.in/idsacomments/DrugsandtheGoldenTriangle_ngoswami_100214 psychotropic drugs.6 Moreover, these drug smuggling abuse and many of them suffering from AIDS. The routes, in turn, facilitate the trafficking of people, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare attributes the weapons and contraband. In recent years, it has been rise in the occurrence of AIDS to the increasing cases found that India’s northeast is being used to transport the of Intravenous Drug Use (IDU) involving the usage synthetic drugs from Myanmar to Bangladesh through of infected needles. The India HIV Estimation Report the 1,880 km long border between India’s northeast 2017 by National AIDS Control Organisation indicates and Bangladesh. There are two commonly used routes that the highest estimated adult HIV prevalence was in for this purpose.7 One of the routes passes through Mizoram (2.04 per cent), followed by Manipur (1.43 Champhai in Mizoram which is very well-connected to per cent) and Nagaland (1.15 per cent), all being higher cities in Myanmar like Tiddim and Mandalay and also than the national average (0.22 per cent).8 The Report connects to different locations on the India-Bangladesh also stated that the annual new HIV infections are border. The second route is through Manipur, adjacent rapidly increasing in Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya. to Myanmar’s Sagaing Division, providing access to It further notes the variation in the prevalence trend areas near the India-Bangladesh border (Map 1). in the northeastern states. In Manipur, the prevalence trend declined after reaching a peak in 1999; in Impact of Narcotics Trafficking Nagaland it is stable; and in Mizoram, it continues to rise after being stable for a while. In rest of the region, Narcotics trafficking has affected the socio-economic, though prevalence levels are low, the trend seems
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The State Strikes Back: India and the Naga Insurgency
    Policy Studies 52 The State Strikes Back: India and the Naga Insurgency Charles Chasie and Sanjoy Hazarika About the East-West Center The East-West Center is an education and research organization estab- lished by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and under- standing among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous, and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education, and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the gov- ernments of the region. About the East-West Center in Washington The East-West Center in Washington enhances U.S. engagement and dia- logue with the Asia-Pacific region through access to the programs and expertise of the Center and policy relevant research, publications, and out- reach activities, including those of the U.S. Asia Pacific Council. The State Strikes Back: India and the Naga Insurgency Policy Studies 52 ___________ The State Strikes Back: India and the Naga Insurgency ___________________________ Charles Chasie and Sanjoy Hazarika Copyright © 2009 by the East-West Center The State Strikes Back: India and the Naga Insurgency by Charles Chasie and Sanjoy Hazarika ISBN: 978-1-932728-79-8 (online version) ISSN: 1547-1330 (online version) East-West Center in Washington 1819 L Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, D.C. 20036 Tel: 202-293-3995 Fax: 202-293-1402 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.eastwestcenter.org/washington Online at: www.eastwestcenter.org/policystudies This publication is a product of the project on Internal Conflicts and State-Building Challenges in Asia.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Groups in Northeast India
    Recurring Conflicts in Northeast India An Analysis at the International, Federal and Group Level Master thesis in Political Science Department of Sociology and Political Science NTNU, Trondheim (Spring 2013) Nikoline Fon Holmøy i ii Acknowledgments There are several people who deserve an honorable mention after this thesis finally is completed. The first among them, my supervisor Scott Gates, I thank for guidance and feedback along the way. The VIP-group at ISS, NTNU I want to thank for useful advice and comments. Thanks also to those who have answered my emails and given me tips on literature and research questions. To my fellow students and friends at Kull 19 in Political Science, for many a long lunches and several glasses of wine. Especially Torunn, Line and Annicken deserve thanks for making the days of writing that much more fun. My mum, dad and sister, Kristiane, I thank you for always being there with care, support and hugs when I need you, and of course, to Martin, for practically everything. All mistakes and errors are my responsibility alone. Trondheim, 10 May 2013 Nikoline Fon Holmøy iii iv Acronyms ABSO: All Bodo Student Union AFSPA: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act ATPLO: All Tripura People’s Liberation Organization ATTF: All Tripura Tiger Force BLT: Bodo Liberation Tigers BLTF: Bodo Liberation Tiger Force BSF: Border Security Force CNF: Chin National Front COW: Correlates of War CRPF: Central Reserve Police Force DGFI: Directorate General de Forces Intelligence FGN: Federal Government of Nagaland GoI: Government of India
    [Show full text]
  • India and Its Northeast Exception: from Frontier to Forefront
    Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Spring 2015 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2015 India and Its Northeast Exception: From Frontier to Forefront Akshita Manjari Bhanjdeo Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2015 Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, and the South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Recommended Citation Bhanjdeo, Akshita Manjari, "India and Its Northeast Exception: From Frontier to Forefront" (2015). Senior Projects Spring 2015. 118. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2015/118 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. India and Its Northeast Exception: From Frontier to Forefront Senior Project Submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College by Akshita Manjari Bhanj Deo Annandale-on-Hudson, New York May 2015 Dedication In my last year of high school, while aimlessly searching for something on the Internet, I came across a Google image of a Manipuri woman sitting on the side of the street in New Delhi.
    [Show full text]
  • Trafficking Racket Busted in Northeast Girls to Malaysia
    TRAFFICKING RACKET BUSTED IN NORTHEAST GIRLS TO MALAYSIA A urgent e mail requesting repatriation of five trafficked victims was received by Ms Archana Tamang of UNIFEM from Alana Gomei. The e mail was forwarded to Shakti Vahini. Shakti Vahini at once made investigation in Nagaland and found that the racket was indeed spread across the North East and not confined only to Nagaland. Shakti Vahini contacted Mr Kinderson Pamei of NPMHR Tamenglong who updated the facts of the case. Shakti Vahini then petitioned Shri Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Indian Overseas Affair to immediately launch an investigation into the racket and also to undertake steps for Repatriation of the Trafficked Victims. All other Ministries and all NE States were also alerted about the case.Also Ms Manju Hembrum of National Commission for Women has been alerted. Shakti Vahini then took the support of the National media Coalition in Delhi and circulated the report among all the North East Media Members. The NE Media in Delhi who have been crusading against Human Trafficking took up the matter and the matter was widely reported in all NE Media across North East. Assam Tribune took the lead and carried a editorial on the issue. Stories have been covered in Vernacular Press in North East like Asomiya Pratidn, Asomiya Khobor, Yugantar , Shillong Times etc.The wide coverage prompted the various Govt Department into action and an enquiry has been ordered in Imphal. Already the Nagaland Police had arrested a person in connection with the case on 23rd. The Times of India took up the story and gave it a National Coverage on 26 September.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Core and Peripheral Insurgencies in India's Northeast
    Exploring Core and Peripheral Insurgencies in India’s Northeast M.A. Athul* and Giriraj Bhattacharjee** Internal conflicts in India’s Northeast are distinctly conceptualized within the framework of unique ethnic identities that are threatened by and in altercation with, the nationalist state, with the latter often viewed as an agent of an inchoate cultural ‘mainstream’. While some of the conflicts in the region fit into this general framework of interpretation, few, if any, are absolutely explained by it. Several, in fact, are entirely unrelated to this reductionist scheme of ‘freedom struggles’ by ethnic minorities against the ‘homogenising state’. Indeed, even where militant groups direct their rhetoric and their violence against the symbols of the state, the underlying motives and ideologies are more correctly interpreted in terms of conflicting tribal identities and histories of internecine conflict, based entirely on tribal, sub-tribal, or tribal-outsider rivalries and parallel antagonisms over control of or accesses to limited resources, especially land.1 * Athul M A, is a researcher at the Institute for Conflict Management. ** Giriraj Bhattacharjee, is a researcher at the Institute for Conflict Management. 1 Ajai Sahni, “Survey of Conflicts and Resolution in India’s Northeast”, Faultlines, May 2002,Volume 12, http://old.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/ faultlines/volume12/Article3.htm. M.A. Athul and Giriraj Bhattacharjee Have the ethnic insurgencies of India’s Northeast entered their long waited final phase, as insurgency related
    [Show full text]
  • Needs Assessment Study to Identify Gaps in the Legal Empowerment of People in Eight States of the North East
    |Page Page| Department of Justice Ministry of Law and Justice NEEDS ASSESSMENT STUDY TO IDENTIFY GAPS IN THE LEGAL EMPOWERMENT OF PEOPLE IN EIGHT STATES OF THE NORTH EAST Impulse NGO Network Lower Lachumiere, Near Horse Shoe Building Access to Justice Project Shillong-793001 Meghalaya, India Email: [email protected] North East and Jammu and Kashmir [email protected] Phone: 91-384-2503140 Website: www.impulseasia.org 2015 |Page Page| Access to Justice Project, North-East and Jammu & Kashmir NEEDS ASSESSMENT STUDY TO IDENTIFY GAPS IN THE LEGAL EMPOWERMENT OF PEOPLE IN EIGHT STATES OF THE NORTH-EAST Sponsored By Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, New Delhi |Page Page| TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. Message i Foreward iii Acknowledgements v Deinitions 1 Abbreviations 3 Executive Summary 4 Chapter 1: Introduction and Background 6 Chapter 2: Methodology of the Study 12 Chapter 3: Key Findings 16 Chapter 4: Awareness Of Legal Rights And Services And Common Legal 24 Issues in he North-East States: An Analysis Chapter 5: Recommendations And Way Forward 37 Conclusion 45 Annexure 1 - Arunachal Pradesh 46 Annexure 2 - Assam 55 Annexure 3 - Manipur 65 Annexure 4 - Meghalaya 73 Annexure – 5 Mizoram 81 Annexure 6 - Nagaland 88 Published : January 2015 Annexure -7 Sikkim 97 This study was conducted by the Research team of the Impulse NGO Network under the guidance of Department of Justice, Government of India. Annexure 8 - Tripura 104 Disclaimer All Rights reserved, no part of this research document maybe reproduced in Annexure
    [Show full text]
  • Is Northeast Poised for Lasting Peace ?
    MP-IDSA Issue Brief Is Northeast Poised for Lasting Peace? Pushpita Das July 08, 2020 Summary Almost all major insurgent groups in the Northeast have abjured violence and are engaged in peace talks with the Government of India. This has raised hopes that all contentious issues that plunged the region into decades of violence and poverty will finally be resolved, ushering in all-round peace and development. However, the indeterminate nature of the peace talks, active cadres of anti-talk factions, poor implementation of ceasefire rules and persistent anti-foreigner sentiments can potentially damage the fragile peace achieved in the region. IS NORTHEAST POISED FOR LASTING PEACE? Since the beginning of the year, the Northeast has witnessed several positive developments which seem to harbinger peace in the region. To begin with, the decades-old Bodo insurgency came to an end with the signing of a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) by the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in January 2020 and complete disbandment of its armed cadres two months later in March.1 Further, on January 23, at least 644 cadres belonging to eight different militant outfits including the United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I), the NDFB, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) and the Rabha National Liberation Front (RNLF) surrendered in Assam.2 This trend of insurgent groups abjuring violence and participating in peace parleys was witnessed last year as well when the National Socialist Council of Nagalim - Khango (NSCN-Khango) re-entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Union government and participated in the Naga peace talks.3 Similarly, the National Liberation Front of Twipra - Subir Debbarma (NLFT-SD) too agreed last year to renounce violence and enter the national mainstream.4 In fact, during the past few years, violence levels in the Northeast have reduced with many insurgent groups either entering into ceasefire agreements with the government or signing peace accords and subsequently disbanding themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • For Want of “India Narrative” Scourge of Insurgencies in North-East India
    MANEKSHAW PAPER No. 81, 2019 For Want of “India Narrative” Scourge of Insurgencies in North-East India D W LAN ARFA OR RE F S E T R U T D N IE E S C Gautam Banerjee CLAWS VI N CT IO OR VIS Y THROUGH D W LAN ARFA OR RE F S E T R U T D N IE E S C CLAWS VI N CT IO OR VIS Y THROUGH KNOWLEDGE WORLD Centre for Land Warfare Studies KW Publishers Pvt Ltd New Delhi New Delhi Editorial Team ND WA Editor-in-Chief : Lt Gen (Dr.)LA V K Ahluwalia RFA OR RE F S E T R U ISSN 23939729 T D N I D WA LAN RFA E OR RE F S E T R U T D N IE E S C E S C CLAWS VI N CT IO OR VIS Y THROUGH Centre for Land Warfare Studies RPSO Complex, Parade Road, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi 110010 Phone: +91.11.25691308 Fax: +91.11.25692347 email: [email protected] website: www.claws.in CLAWS Army No. 33098 The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, is an independent think-tank dealing with national security and conceptual aspects of land warfare, including conventional and sub-conventional conflicts and terrorism. CLAWS conducts research that is futuristic in outlook and policy-oriented in approach. CLAWS © 2019, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi V Disclaimer: The contents IofC this paper are based on the analysis of materialsN accessed from open sources and are the personal TviewsO of the author.
    [Show full text]