FAULT LINE

Bikash Choudhury

Events in Assam had its repercussion in Mumbai and little later in Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad; with mass exodus of students & workers from North East. As reported in the media; there was threat to life and property of people of North East from some unknown extremist forces largely spread through social media and internet tools.  Biggest tragedy was none of our intelligence forces could get a wind of such an act. This is one of the biggest failure of intelligence after 26/11 and most dangerous among all; as it pose direct challenge to our Nation hood, its unity and integrity. What ever happens; Govt. should and must go after the perpetrators behind the act and annihilate them silently. The important message & learning from the incident are: there are some known & unknown adversaries of our country who work in land, air and in the seas round the clock and 24x7 and more importantly, below the surface there are deep fault lines in our society and between various regions of our country; this is some thing which is not unknown to politicians and administrators. Frightening thing is this fault line is deepening with growing economic disparity and social inequality which could pose serious challenge to our security and economic prosperity. What is the solution? The solution lies in Political Unity at the highest level on important National issues and a firm resolves by all concerned, not to politicize sensitive matters for short term political gains. Further, it is imperative to work systematically to bury the fault lines sooner than later. Both Govt. at the centre and States could encourage social dialogue among regions, religions, communities and languages. This social interaction, over a period of time would certainly fortify inter & intra community relations despite the disparity and inequality. Eventually, it is for the Govt. to unleash sustained and equitable development of the country through good Governance to eliminate the fault line for good.