THE LAW OF GUERILLA ENTROPY
more they descended into criminality. There are those who have yet to accept this law of guerrilla entropy.
Ibotombi Khuman of the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangliepak, a byproduct of Manipur’s history of alternating independence and subjugation, speaks of continuing the fight. He talks of coal and oil reserves that would provide for an independent Manipur.
Ranjan Daimary, head of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, “the most ruthless and violent group in the Northeast” demands a Bodo homeland “within the Indian Constitution” yet his organization continues to kill and pillage. Daimary, presently on trial, targeted Bangladeshi Muslims, but his fight was not driven by religion or independence but the more intractable issue of immigration and demographic change.
Langer complains how an apathetic political leadership has allowed the migration issue to fester. Though from a distinguished army family, he is critical of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. While there were legitimate reasons for imposing it, the longer Indian security forces function under its sweeping powers the more they become prone to abuse and arbitrariness – a mirror of what happens to insurgencies over time.
Northeast specialists will not find all that much new and there are gaps. The United Liberation Front of Assam and the Mizos get only a passing mention. The fighters are one-by-one accepting talks and AFSPA has been withdrawn from Meghalaya. A different Northeast is emerging.
“In five years, a new generation had obviously come of age. A post-conflict generation. The ceasefire had given rise to youths who hadn’t grown up in active conflict, hadn’t lived through the killings…For them, those were just stories...”