Even before he assumes charge, new Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday got down to business and directed Home Secretary Anil Goswami to prepare a detailed presentation on the country’s internal security situation and other key issues.
The 62-year-old Singh, who was elected from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat, succeeds Sushilkumar Shinde in the crucial ministry which handles the country’s internal security and the task of guarding its international border with Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. The immediate issues that the teacher-turned-politician will have to deal with include tackling the Naxal violence, activities of terrorist outfits in the country’s hinterland, infiltration from Pakistan, illegal immigration from Bangladesh and strengthening of the intelligence-gathering mechanism.
The Home Minister will do well to also look closely into the demands of the community from the north eastern region of India living in the capital. In recent times the increasing number of incidents of physical abuse being meted out to the people from the region indicates a far serious malady, that cannot be brushed aside as aberrations. Without the assault on the people from this region there are enough grounds on why the region finds itself alienated from mainland India.
As Home Minister, the two-term BJP president will be part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security, the country’s highest decision-making body on security matters.
The Prime Minister’s Office may think that it has executed a master stroke by appointing former Army Chief of Staff General VK Singh as the Minister of DoNER with Independent Charge , External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs . But there are apprehensions amongst people that the issues of the region and requirements of the area are once again being measured against security concerns and not against the standards of human resource development, by appointing a former Army chief to overlook DonER.
Senior analyst Subir Bhaumik also agrees that in “a region where there is a plethora of governors from military and intelligence background, it is important to change the perception that India’s Northeast is a security issue” . One way of doing it is to not involve people with military or security services background . Symbol is as important as substance in Northeast ,he adds.
Therefore while Modi has inducted two from Northeast into his council of ministers, he might have done well to find a politician with a non military background to head the DONER. Still, General VK Singh though, has enough exposure to the region unlike other BJP politicians in the cabinet which might work to his and the advantage of the people in the region. This however can only happen if he can keep his military bias out of his politics.
