As a communicator for the Government of India, I have had the experience of exposing the activities of militant groups working against the unity and integrity of the country ever since the country attained freedom from colonial rule.
Initially, militant groups became active in the north-east, especially in Nagaland and Manipur. They were influenced by Christian missionaries in the initial stages.
The Government of India took steps to counter their activities by entrusting the task to the Assam Rifles. Efforts were made to have an interaction with militant Naga groups, and in this effort, Christian missionary leaders, led by the Reverend Michael Scott, were helpful.
However, after the Chinese aggression in 1962, militant groups started receiving assistance from China. The Government of India took firm steps to fight the militants. To rehabilitate the militants, the government decided to raise the Naga Regiment, and militants from Nagaland and Manipur were inducted into it.
Also, the north eastern region, which was ruled from Shillong, was divided into separate states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur. The North East Frontier Agency also became a separate province i.e. Arunachal Pradesh.
The militant groups are still active in north eastern India. Elements in Pakistan want to keep India engaged with the militants, and to ensure this, some form of aid is extended to them. The ULFA, which has been active in Assam, is now engaged in negotiations with the Government of India, but, this has given birth to too many other groups.
The situation in western India went through a turbulent period following occupation of Afghanistan by the then Soviet Union in the eighties. To counter the Soviets in Afghanistan, the United States conceived of an 'Islamic movement' in the eighties.
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Pakistan became the training ground for these groups that were raised to fight Soviet forces in Afghanistan.
Pakistan received massive assistance from the United States to raise these militant groups, and, the main motivation for them was that 'Islam' was in danger.
The United States, with experience of conducting a proxy war against the Soviet Union in Europe, imparted techniques to Pakistan. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) became an active participant in the training of 'Jehadis' in Pakistan and inducted these groups into Afghanistan. A part of the resources given by the United States to raise these Jehadi groups to fight in Afghanistan was diverted to raise militant groups to fight proxy wars in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
By the early 1990s, the Soviet Union became a victim of this proxy war, including 'psychological warfare' conducted against it by the United States.
President Mikhail Gorbachev presided over the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Having achieved its aim, the United States withdrew from the region.
Pakistan, which was the training ground for Islamic militant groups, thought of 'extending its strategic depth' by encouraging the Taliban to take over Afghanistan.
It also aided 'Khalistani' forces in Punjab and militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan also aided many militant groups in India.
The broad objective was to weaken India, take over Jammu and Kashmir and establish a 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan by assisting the Taliban to take over the country.
The effort nearly succeeded, except for the events that followed the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York by fundamentalist forces on September 11, 2001. The attack was planned by Osama bin Laden.
The United States decided to fight Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and the effort has been going on now for over a decade.
Pakistan, which had sought to establish a Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, became a victim of Jehadi forces.
President General Pervez Musharraf, who had assisted the Jehadi forces, became a victim. Today, Pakistan is fighting many militant groups.
This book gives details of major militant groups in the region, their strengths, their sources of finance and weapons. The militant groups are now home to Pakistan's many unemployed youth.
The Islamic 'Arc', which was the motivating force to fight the Soviet Union from West Asia to South Asia, is now home to forces that seek to disintegrate countries of the region.
Surinder Kumar Sharma, who has had a ringside view of the militancy phenomena in Pakistan as a Cabinet Secretariat officer, has given us a view of terrorism surrounding the country, with a special focus on Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
Dr. Anshuman Behera , who has studied insurgency movements in South Asia, has given us details of militant organizations which have multiplied in the 'Red Corridor' of India, which are the greatest threat to the unity and integrity of the country.
We also have an insight into the growth of militant organizations due to the failure of both the central and state governments to eliminate them before they have become a threat to the unity and integrity of India.
The book also enables us to have a glimpse at the aims and objectives of international forces that have helped these militant organizations.
In many cases, militant groups have become strong and don't obey the directives of their erstwhile masters. Will we ever learn from our past experience?
Book review: Militant Groups in South Asia by Surinder K. Sharma and Anshuman Behera. Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, Pentagon Press.Pages-302.Price Rs.995/-
The author is a former Principal Information Officer of the Government of India. His email is:raoramamohan@hotmail.com I. Ramamohan Rao. By I.