Insurgencies are defeated by democratic politics, not force

The debate over providing Indian armed forces with special powers to carry out domestic counter-insurgency operations has been rejoined following the terrible killings at Oting, Nagaland. It is an important debate, not only to hold state authorities accountable for their actions, but also, more fundamentally, to review how the democratic Indian republic holds together its mind-bogglingly diverse population. Yet, decades after the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was legislated and invoked, we are no closer to a reconciliation of objectives, a constitutionally defendable consensus, or even a fresh new approach to handling the problem. Since many of the political ingredients of grievance, disaffection and separatism are still out there, the AFSPA has become a lightning rod for popular opposition to the way the Indian republic fights insurgencies, and in the extreme, to the republic itself. We can no longer afford to let such sore wounds fester and proliferate.