The Life of Schmitt 289

In the course of its nationwide evaluation of state human rights committees, the Human Rights Law Network observed most state committees had few or no minority, civil society, or female representatives. The HRLN claimed the committees were ineffective and at times hostile toward victims, hampered by political appointments, understaffed, and underfunded. Some human rights NGOs criticized the NHRC’s budgetary dependence on the government and its policy of not investigating abuses more than one year old. Some claimed the NHRC did not register all complaints, dismissed cases arbitrarily, did not investigate cases thoroughly, rerouted complaints back to the alleged violator, and did not adequately protect complainants.



UNHCR registered asylum seekers and conducted refugee status determination for refugees from noncontiguous countries and Burma. Authorities did not permit UNHCR direct access to Sri Lankan refugee camps, Tibetan settlements, or asylum seekers in Mizoram; but it permitted asylum seekers from Mizoram to travel to New Delhi to meet UNHCR officials. The government generally permitted NGOs, international humanitarian organizations, and foreign governments access to Sri Lankan refugee camps and Tibetan settlements but generally denied access to asylum seekers in Mizoram. Authorities required NGOs to secure approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs before organizing international conferences.
But this could be a distant dream with hyper religious polarisation over the usage of loudspeakers, reciting Hanuman Chalisa or demolishing places of worship of Hindus or Muslims that are being sadly witnessed these days blasted 24x7 on all the national TV channels. Like Southern Indian states, Northeastern states also resent Hindi imposition on the masses. To name a few, Mary Kom, Dinko Singh, Kunjarani Devi, Sarita Devi, Sanjita Chanu, Devendro Singh, Mirabai Chanu, etc brought international glory to our country. India played the first-ever Football World Cup in the under 17 World Cup with 8 players from Manipur and 1 from Mizoram. In 1999, Manipur held the National games and managed to produce many quality players. Hima Das shocked the world by winning the 400m race in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

While China aids these destabilizing insurgencies, India’s Quad partners—Japan, Australia, and the United States—share a strategic interest in stability in India’s northeast so that the country can shift focus to providing greater regional security. The security situation in some of the north-eastern states has remained complex for a long time because of a number of militant outfits and their diverse demands. Various political parties of the hill’s tribal population began to feel alienated from Assamese and Bengali residents of the plains. The tribals were afraid of losing their identity and being assimilated by the policy of Assamization in government jobs and other professions, like doctors, traders, etc.
Till eight years ago, the entire northeast was only known for bandhs, strikes, bomb blasts and firing, and the people of the region could not live peacefully due to the activities of different militant groups. Prime Minister Modi, Governors and Chief Ministers, senior officials of several northeastern states participated in the NEC meeting. To overcome insurgency related problems and counter the unlawful activities perpetrated by insurgents groups, Counter-Insurgency Operations are carried out by the Security Forces in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura from time to time. Meghalaya continued to be affected by Garo Militancy which dominates the insurgency scenario. On 9 August 2012, security forces arrested 5 GNLA separatists in Resubelpara, North Garo Hills district, as the mi