Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—What has made National Security Advisor Ajit Doval say that “the new frontier of war or fourth generation of warfare is civil society?”
By this statement, Doval suggests that danger to India is not from the outside but the inside. Civil society as part of the “fourth-generation warfare” can be used to harm the nation. A very dangerous statement indeed!
Doval made the comments while addressing IPS probationers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Hyderabad on November 12.
His comments are very significant, considering that he is regarded as the third most powerful person, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Elaborating his comments, Doval said that “Wars have ceased to become an effective instrument for achieving political or military objectives. They are too expensive and unaffordable, and at the same time, there is uncertainty about their outcome. But it is the civil society that can be subverted, suborned, divided, and manipulated to hurt the interest of a nation. And you are there to see that they stand fully protected.”
Fourth-generation warfare has been defined as conflicts involving terrorism, attacks on the enemy’s culture, including a genocidal attack on civilians, bringing economic, political, social, and military pressure. Even non-violent resistance against Britishers by Mahatma Gandhi and marches taken out against racism by Martin Luther King Jr in the US are described by many experts as part of the fourth-generation warfare. Both wanted to de-escalate the conflict by using their moral power, not violence, against their opponents, that is, the contemporary rulers and the government.
Why does Doval call the Indian civil society “the new frontier of war or the fourth-generation warfare”? Why should Doval, or, for that matter, the Modi government be afraid of civil society? Civil society in India is not known to have backed violent actions against the establishment or the government.
However, the civil society in India has always defended the human rights of the people, irrespective of their caste, creed, gender, community, or economic status. Civil society has also opposed the policies of the government or the actions of the government that are considered against the larger interest of the people. Indian civil society offered the strongest resistance after Independence, when Indira Gandhi declared Emergency in June 1975. But even this resistance was peaceful, and no violence or insurgency was involved in it.
If political experts are to be believed, Modi is on the path of authoritarianism. He wants complete obedience to his authority and is not at all bothered about the opinion or concerns of others. India has been a vibrant democracy since 1947, and the people have used their democratic rights to oppose the government policies if it was found to be anti-people. Political analysts say that there will be a massive protest if any effort is made to replace democracy with autocracy or one-party rule as it is in China. Some analysts say that the weakening of democratic institutions that began in 2014, increasing the budget of the intelligence department from Rs. 17 crores in 2012 to over Rs. 700 crores, now coupled with the use of Pegasus technology to keep surveillance over Opposition leaders, journalists, human rights activists, etc., is a sign of India progressing towards authoritarianism. They say that this is an irreversible project of the current political dispensation. And the government will complete it by all means.
And they argue that this is why IPS officers at the top of the police management are being indoctrinated against civil society that can have dangerous consequences. Experts say that this is the final nail in the coffin of Indian democracy. According to experts, any collective opposition to the government’s policies and actions will be considered divisive, subversion, and unlawful, and police will have the license to suppress it with full force.
If we go by what has happened in the country in the last seven years, we will find how all the laws have been thrown to the wind to suppress dissent or opposition. No actions are taken against those spreading hatred and violence against Dalits, Muslims, and other vulnerable groups. Muslim youths- particularly university boys and girls- have been booked in sedition and terror cases in connection with Delhi riots to create awe and terror among Muslims, who happen to be the single largest group to resist the policies of the BJP government at the national level. The government has not paid any attention to agitations from Anganwadi to government doctors, teachers, and university professors. The government has also not paid any attention to protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and farmers demand to withdraw three farm laws. The government also booked Left-leaning activists hailing from universities in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
After Muslims and Dalits, even Hindus from the upper caste, are being targeted if they happen to be an obstruction to the government’s plan. This indicates where the country is headed to.
In April 2015, Modi asked the judiciary to be cautious of “five-star activists”. This indicated his contempt for activists who influence society. It was after this speech that actions were taken against Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Subsequently, the “Urban Naxal” term was invented to stigmatize Leftist politicians and activists. The government also amended FCRA rules to starve the NGOs of funds and curb their activities about human rights etc.
Modi’s contempt for human rights can be gauged from the fact that in a speech on October 12 this year, the 28th foundation day of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Modi alleged that some people were using human rights to defame the country. He asked people to be cautious of such people. Among the audience were NHRC chairman Justice(retd) Arun Mishra and members of the commission. They all applauded Modi for his remarks.
