Maharshi Valmiki College of Education

University of Delhi

Book Reviews
1. My Experiments with Truth by M.K. Gandhi The

2. Power Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy

3. Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok

Kumar IPS and Vipul Anekant DANIPS

Submitted by Santosh Sen

Section C

Roll No. 2020 B.Ed. 020

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 Review of the 1st Book

The Story of My Experiments with Truth

By Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

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 The Story of My Experiments with
Truth is the autobiography of
Indian activist Mohandas K.
“Mahatma” Gandhi. Published in a
weekly journal, Navjivan, between
1925 and 1929, it covers the span
of time between Gandhi’s early
childhood through roughly 1921.
Gandhi was compelled to write the
autobiography by his close friend,
Swami Anand, who would become
his literary manager. The
autobiography seeks to explain the experiential roots of Gandhi’s
activist vocation. The book has been recognized as one of the most
important spiritual works of the twentieth century.

In the book’s introduction, Gandhi disclaims that the opinions and ideas
expressed in his autobiography are subject to change and that its
purpose is not to relay a static picture of himself, but to show how
personal truths evolve over time. He also claims that the book is moral
and spiritual in nature, mostly straying from politics. Gandhi expresses
ambivalence about the usefulness of the typical autobiography, a
Western literary invention.

The beginning of the autobiography traces Gandhi’s childhood and

young adult life in Rajkot and Porbandar. Gandhi recalls eating meat, a
practice he later renounced, and relates that he had a rather hedonistic
lifestyle in general. He admits to stealing and drinking excessively – all
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actions from which he now aspires to redeem himself. He explores
some of his first favorite books, including the
plays Harishchandra and Shravana Pitrabhakti Nataka. The latter play,
in which the central figure Shravana realizes a deep respect for his
parents, moved Gandhi to do the same. Gandhi married when he was
only thirteen, and expresses deep regret for it, calling it
“preposterously early” and fully denouncing its moral basis. Another of
Gandhi’s most formative experiences was the early death of his father,
Karamchand Gandhi. His later activist work was heavily informed by his
early losses and mistakes.
After the death of his father, Gandhi decided to study at a local college
in Bhavnagar, Samaldas College. He remained there only for a
semester; then, he traveled to England, with the intention of doing
three years of prerequisite coursework to become a barrister. Gandhi’s
mother disapproved of his plan, and he tried to placate her by
renouncing wine, women, and meat while in England. He completed his
studies, passed the barrister exams, and enrolled in the Indian courts.

Once he was back in India, Gandhi lost some confidence in his decision
to practice law. His education and credentials ultimately failed to repair
or prevent many of the mistakes he and others made. He tried to
provide legal mediation between an acquaintance and his brother, but
their relationship only worsened. The acquaintance then became
England’s Political Agent, which meant that he was in charge of
deciding the outcome of the same legal appeal in which they were all
involved. Gandhi decided to move to South Africa to take an offer to
work for a law firm on a lengthy and complicated case. After a year
there, he committed to remain and work on behalf of its struggling
Indian population. He lived there up until 1914, just two weeks before
the beginning of World War I.

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At the beginning of the war, Gandhi became involved in the
recruitment of soldiers for the British Army. His followers were
confused about his sudden expressions of affinities for war, having
fallen in love with him based on his speeches advocating pacifism,
religious tolerance, and nonviolent revolution. Finding his work
unconscionable, Gandhi returned to India. He continued his work as a
public lawyer for vulnerable populations. This time, he was preceded by
his good reputation in South Africa, and therefore had much more
choice about the type of work he could take on. Up until the time of
writing his autobiography, Gandhi worked on civil disobedience cases,
becoming a prominent advocate for non-violent resistance.

Gandhi concludes that his life’s good work, so far, has resulted from the
gradual taming of his destructive passions. He states that the desire for
power, which begets ignorance, greed, and violence, exists within every
human being. In his view, even more pernicious than the impulse for
outright physical war are these “subtler” products of the desire to
control people. He argues that the only way to find salvation is to reject
these impulses, embrace a virtuous and spiritual life, and actively work
to create a more tolerant and just world.

In his final “Farewell” section, Gandhi writes that he never imagined

these writings would transform into an autobiography. He hopes that
his readers will look past the genre ascribed to his work and utilize his
experience to generate insights into their own pasts and conceptions of
truth. This idea of truth as an ever-evolving process of developing a
mindset about the world, rather than the study of a static object, is
central to Gandhi’s autobiography.

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 Overview: Childhood and Adolescence

In this first part of “An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments

with Truth”, Gandhi tells about his birth, childhood, religion, marriage,
and all the experiences and tragedies that occurred during this period.

Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, an Indian city. As a

child, he was totally influenced by the practices of his religious-political
father and his devoted mother.
He started going to school at age 7, and he was always regarded as a
very shy and average student. Also, he was never willing to cheat in
front of his friends.

When he turned 13, his parents decided that he should marry, a

practice that wasn't totally supported by him. In addition, he recounts
some tragedies he encountered in his teens.
When his father died, a friend of the family suggested that Gandhi
should study in England. To do so, he had to make serious promises to
his mother, because her greatest concern was that he would lose his
culture and start eating meat, drinking alcohol, and sleeping with other
women.
With that, in 1888 he went to England to study law. He tried to adapt to
the new culture, but it was complicated. So, he preferred to live a life of
intense studies and humility. After 3 years of study, he passed the
exams in order to be able to practice law and returned to India.

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 Overview: Early Career

Upon returning to India, Gandhi discovered that his mother had died.
During the same period, he started his professional life.
He began working in Bombay at the Supreme Court. There he gained
experience and deepened his studies in law. However, his shyness got
in the way of his work, driving him back to Rajkot, where he opened his
own office.
His older brother was always willing to solve his problems and help him
as much as possible. Thus, he had a major influence on the transfer of
Gandhi to South Africa, where he got the position of a lawyer.
During his time in South Africa, Gandhi suffered from various
discriminations because of his skin color.

In “An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth”, he

narrates some of these events, like when he was kicked out of the train,
and when he was invited to dine in his room to not offend the guests in
the hotel. In those moments, he said that he always discussed the
situation, but without violence.
During this experience, he gained confidence in himself and acquired
great knowledge in the legal field, leading him to help found the Natal
Indian Congress, which supported the Indian community to come
together as a political force. Gandhi also began to study Christianity.
Soon after, he returned to India with the purpose of picking up his wife
and two daughters and taking them to South Africa, where he
continued his work as an activist.

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 Overview: Development of Political Power

When he arrived at the port of South Africa, the white citizens were
furious with him and attacked him, accusing him of false imputations.
But Gandhi proved his innocence to the press and said he did not want
to sue anyone who attacked him.
Gandhi increased his public work with the Indian community there, and
each day he developed an affection for cooperation and simplicity.
During the Boer War, he honed these qualities and created an
ambulance corps to take the wounded.
After the war, Mohandas Gandhi returned to India through a long
excursion. His goal was to understand the difficulties of third-class
passengers. So he decided to leave his family in India and returned to
South Africa to solve the main problems.

Overview: The Beginning of the Fight

On his return, South Africa was experiencing an epidemic of racial

discrimination and the government laws put Indians in a difficult
situation.
According to Gandhi, he was heavily influenced by a book called “Unto
This Last”, and the teachings of it changed his life. At the same time,
Gandhi founded the “Phoenix Settlement”, a farm where he would live
with his supporters and later became a small village.
As he explains in the book “An Autobiography: The Story of My
Experiments with Truth”, in 1906, the British government declared war
on the Zulus, and Gandhi was there again. He worked with his
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ambulance corps, with the aim of helping to transport and care for the
innocent and wounded.
When the war was coming to an end, Gandhi's next step was to live the
lives of the poorest people, practicing fasting and eating a restricted
diet that contained only fruit.
Even when he fell ill, Gandhi explains that he did not abandon
vegetarianism and kept the vow he made to his mother.
During all this time in Africa, Gandhi developed what would be called
“Satyagraha”. It translates as “holding onto truth” and refers to non-
violent protests and resistances.

Overview: The Peak of His Political Power

In 1914, Gandhi returned to India and made major changes there: he

opened primary schools in six villages and improved their sanitary
conditions. He also shared the “Satyagraha” in India, that is, the non-
violent civil disobedience, and obtained expressive results, increasing
his popularity.
Despite this, many peaceful Indian civilians were killed by the British,
but this made the movement stronger.
With that, Gandhi's real entry into Congressional politics took place,
leading to the organization of a new constitution that boosted the
country's complete independence.
For Gandhi, one of the ways to achieve independence is by fighting
poverty and manufacturing products that India was dependent on.

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At the end of “An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with
Truth”, Gandhi says that his achievements in Congress still left history
under construction, with nothing final.
Now, history confirms that Indian independence has been successful
and has influenced movements for egalitarian rights around the world.

During the work of Mohandas K. Gandhi, “Autobiography: My Life and

My Experiences with the Truth”, he indirectly presents us with several
ways of seeing obstacles and how to exercise leadership based on
moral values:

Forgiveness: Gandhi practiced it simply and directly. Not to forgive is to

be stuck in the past, causing only suffering;
Commitment: For Gandhi, the main commitment that can exist is with
the truth itself, as it leads to happiness and fulfillment, without needing
external approval;
Respect: Choose non-violence, both in physical form, as well as through
discussion and judgments. We cannot see our opponents as enemies;
Love: Gandhi never showed changes in his mood, always remaining
calm and loving everything. According to him, we can only overcome an
opponent through love.

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 After reading this book what did I get?

Five life lessons by Mk Gandhi

1. Power of vows and promises.
2. Silence is the best teacher.
3. Never compromise your ethics.
4. You must raise yourself above all your fears.
5. Lust kills love.

You must add all these to your life because these are the demand for
today’s world if you lack them then you’ll suffer everything in your life.

1. Power of vows and promises.

Every one of us takes vows and make promises to people. Seldom with
“family” and infrequently in “relationships” but only a few try to keep
those promises and pledges.
Those who keep their promises and vows they get filled with the power
of self-confidence and bliss.
In the story, Mk Gandhi’s promised her mom that he’ll not touch three
things while pursuing his education in London.
These three things were Women (because he was already married),
alcohol and Meat (because he belongs to a Brahmin family).
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He further explains, he was failing to keep those vows and promises
which he had given to his mother because of the conditions in London,
but God helped him to keep those promises and made him strong.
Mk Gandhi’s story solely defines why one must keep his promises that
he had made with people. Because keeping promises makes one more
reliable and trustworthy, plus it purifies the soul.
In the present world, people are cheating each other, so they’ve
created different lines, like “Promises, are meant to be broken”, and
because of this mindset, we are failing in building better relationships
and intense bonds.
Promises and vows are the roots of every relationship. It’s a myth that
relationships are mounted on looks and physical beauty, but the truth is
relationships and bonds always strengthen by promises that we make
with each other and keeps them.
Physical beauty is not long-lasting, but vows are for forever.

2. Silence is the best teacher

As Mk Gandhi was an introvert, he believed in “talking less” because

people who talk more “do not have power in their words” and most of
the times they utter stupid things from their mouth due to lack of
awareness.
He also mentions how he used to listen to everyone and always
remained quiet. He had never delivered unnecessary opinions;
furthermore, he registers that this habit of remaining silent improved

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his way of thinking. And only because of that he was capable of writing
speeches which were free from useless words.
There are so many events of his life in the book which thoroughly
explains why one must listen more and speak less because listening
offers you the gift of learning and good writing. And by learning and
good writing, you can penetrate the heart of people.
quote;
Without infinite patience, it is impossible to get the people to do any
work.
Silence is the key to patience, and practice is the key to leadership.

3. Never compromise your ethics

We all are lacking this because everyone is ready to compromise their

ethics when it comes to money.
Currently, we are treating money as “God”, and we are ready to do
anything to get more money and property in our pockets.
MK Gandhi offered his services but never demanded rewards for his
services; moreover, when people tried to push rewards towards him
through gifts and other means. He refused to take them, and when
some people forcefully lent gifts to him, he just formulated a trustee
rganization for poor people.
He deposited all donations and money into that organization. He said to
use this money for the welfare of people.
One of his quotes is as follows;

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One must not take rewards for his Sewa (service) because service
comes with its own reward.
These lines of Mk Gandhi clearly explain why one must not take
rewards for his service. And must not do service in the influence of
awards.
You know that today world is facing all kind of problems, natural
calamities, social and political problems.
All these issues are offspring of the greed of the people.
How?
Because somewhere someone has compromised with his ethics and
morals and allowed others to make false rules and regulations, that
allowed people to do awful things like racism, discrimination, cutting
plant, killing animals, selling humans e.t.c. And now we are facing a
humanitarian crisis, nature crisis and economic crisis all at the same
time.
In my views there are no problems on the planet earth, the only
problem on earth is “humans”.
As a reader, you must answer this: what is the difference between
human and an animal?
The only difference is “ethical values”.

4. You must raise yourself above all our fears.

M.K Gandhi’s life was full of dangers and conflicts because he was
fighting against British rule.

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He always used to get life-threatening warnings from British officers,
but he never allowed this fear of death to stop him from doing good
work that he wants to do for people of India and people of South-
Africa.
The same goes for you and me if you want to do something in this
world and wish to change anything in this world than we must give
away all our fears and do things fearlessly.
Quote;
The only hurdle between you can your success is your fear.

5. Lust kills love

M.k Gandhi was married at the age of 13, and he says that his
relationship with his wife was more of lust based than love-based.
He says pure love was getting killed by carnal.
It’s completely true, and today relationships are lust based because of
that they are not lasting longer. People are turning into lust freaks due
to which crimes are also increasing.
If you look at the crime list most of the crimes like sexual abuse, eve-
teasing, child abuse, rape and women abduction, all these are the
progeny of carnal (high lust).
In my views, if one wants to experience real love, then he must raise
himself above all sort of “lusts”.
Pure love is different than the lustful desire.

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Love do not have definitions and explanations. All relationships
established on “love” continues forever; relationships based on lust are
temporary.
It’s like love for Meat “when Meat is fresh” everyone wants to eat it,
and when “it’s rotten” everyone wants to avoid it.

Conclusion

One must always keep his promises; ethics are vital for a good life;
silence can teach you the best things of life; fears stop you from
progressing. And high lust is killing your love.

How will I pay tribute to Gandhi Ji?

Well instead of posting a status on social media platforms on 2nd of
October I will recommend all of my friends and family members to go
through this book at least once.

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 The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
Author Dr. Joseph Murphy

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About Joseph Murphy
Joseph Murphy was an Irish-
born American author with a
degree in Psychology from the
University of Southern
California. In the mid-1940s,
he moved to Los Angeles. In
Los Angeles, Murphy met
Religious Science founder
Ernest Holmes and was
ordained into Religious
Science. Subsequently, he
taught at the Institute of
Religious Science. A meeting
with Divine Science
Association president Erwin
Gregg led to him being preordained into Divine Science. He became the
minister of the Los Angeles Divine Science Church in 1949, which he built
into one of the country’s largest New Thought congregations. Murphy
specialized in using the subconscious mind to treat diseases.
“The law of the subconscious mind works for good and bad ideas alike.
This law, when applied in a negative way, is the cause of failure,
frustration, and unhappiness. However, when your habitual thinking is
harmonious and constructive, you experience perfect health, success,
and prosperity.” About Joseph Murphy
Joseph Murphy was an Irish-born American author with a degree in
Psychology from the University of Southern California. In the mid-1940s,
he moved to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Murphy met Religious Science
founder Ernest Holmes and was ordained into Religious Science.
Subsequently, he taught at the Institute of Religious Science. A meeting
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with Divine Science Association president Erwin Gregg led to him being
preordained into Divine Science. He became the minister of the Los
Angeles Divine Science Church in 1949, which he built into one of the
country’s largest New Thought congregations. Murphy specialized in
using the subconscious mind to treat diseases.

“The law of the subconscious mind works for good and bad
ideas alike. This law, when applied in a negative way, is the
cause of failure, frustration, and unhappiness. However, when
your habitual thinking is harmonious and constructive, you
experience perfect health, success, and prosperity.”
– JOSEPH MURPHY

What I Got to know after reading this book?

Repetition Can Train Your Subconscious Mind

Learning a new skill initially takes considerable conscious effort. For
example, the first time you learned to ride a bike, it would have been
challenging. However, repetition meant that riding a bike started to
require less conscious effort. Your subconscious mind then began to
grasp the task better, and riding a bike became automatic.
This repetition can be used to overcome personal challenges. Joseph
Murphy provides the example of Enrico Caruso, who was an Italian opera
singer in the late nineteenth century. Enrico was incredibly nervous
before shows and would subsequently suffer from throat spasms before
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performances. This nervousness was his conscious mind impairing a skill
that had become subconscious for him. Joseph Murphy explains that the
conscious mind took over as he was bogged down with negative
thoughts. He was worried about the performance going badly and the
crowd reacting in a hostile manner. Despite this, he was able to conquer
these physical reactions by repeatedly telling his conscious mind to stop
interfering with his subconscious mind. This meditative practice allowed
him to reduce his fears and perform naturally and automatically.
Positive Thinking and Visualization Are Integral to Achieving
Your Dreams
Positive thinking and visualization can heal. In the eighteenth century,
priests would heal the sick by persuading them to believe God would
make them better. Some would attribute the success of this practice to
the existence of God. However, it is more likely that these practices
recruited the subconscious mind.
In this book, Murphy gives an anecdote about his own life. When one of
Murphy’s relatives developed tuberculosis, the relative’s son was
determined to help him get better. His relative’s son picked up a piece of
wood off a sidewalk and gave it to his father. The son explained that this
was a cross bought from a monk who had recently worked at a healing
shrine. He also stated that the cross had been used to heal many people.
The father held onto the piece of wood tightly overnight, and the next
morning he was completely healed. Principally, if you visualize or
imagine what you hope to be true, sometimes it does come true.
Importantly, you should not then break the illusion for the healed
person. Breaking the illusion can cause the disease to resurface.
This ‘miracle’ is not a unique circumstance. Joseph Murphy taught the
subconscious mind’s power to millions of listeners on a weekly radio
show called the Church of Divine Science. On this radio show, he

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described the mental movie method. This method involves creating a
mental image that you desire. Then, you hold it in your mind until your
subconscious makes it a reality. Many listeners used this approach to sell
their property for the right price and to the right buyer. Several listeners
sent in thank you letters to the author since this technique worked so
well for selling their homes.

Utilize Your Natural Ability to Self-Heal

You can activate your subconscious mind by allowing your body to self-
heal. One of the most effective self-healing approaches is to sleep over
things when you cannot decide which choice to pick.
Joseph Murphy provides an example of how giving your brain time to
consider options can allow your subconscious mind to communicate the
best option. Joseph introduced readers to a woman who was given a job
opportunity on the other side of the country. Although the salary was
double what she was currently earning, she was unsure whether it was
worth the money. Therefore, instead of making a rash decision, this
woman went to bed early and slept on the decision. Subsequently, she
was letting her subconscious mind influence her decisions. In the
morning, her sixth sense told her that she should not accept the offer.
She listened to her subconscious mind and rejected the offer. Three
months later, she came to realize that she had made the correct decision
as the other company had filed for bankruptcy. Sometimes we need to
give our subconscious room to improve our lives.
Joseph explains that the subconscious mind processes data faster and
through different methods than the conscious self. Therefore, letting
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your gut work overnight will help you think clearly and with more
confidence the following day. Also, we need to rely on belief. The
unconscious realm feeds off of belief. Therefore, if you believe you are
in good health, this will activate your unconscious’ ability to self-heal.
Joseph also talks about a universal process of self-healing, which is called
faith. All sickness, ailments, and traumatic events can be healed by
placing healing thoughts into our unconscious realm. Joseph does not
discount the importance of science. Instead, he explains that our
unconscious mind can complement medicine and science. For example,
even pseudoscientific historical approaches, like healing through touch,
have healed multiple people. In these instances, it is not the healers who
are healing. Instead, it is the individual’s unconscious mind.
Self-healing is also how placebo effects are established. Placebos occur
when an individual gets better or feels better after being given a
substance that is not a real treatment. The most famous example is
giving participants sugar tablets rather than real medication. However,
placebos often work as well as the genuine medication. Even though
taking placebos is not a real treatment, doctors have found that this
effect has various physical and psychological benefits. Several placebo
experiments have produced better results for heart rate, blood pressure,
and other aspects of health. The main thing is that our mind in health
and well-being is stable. Joseph Murphy would attribute this effect to
our unconscious mind.
Joseph Murphy also explains that you do not even have to believe in the
genuineness of a treatment for it to work. Instead, if we allow our
subconscious field to be open to questioning and challenging standard
views, then this is enough. When you are in a drowsy state, you allow
your subconscious mind to have a more significant influence over your
faith in a treatment. This drowsiness is how praying to God can

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sometimes help individuals be healed. Praying shuts out your conscious
realm and allows the irrational, subconscious mind to work properly.

Let Go of All Negative Thoughts

“What the other person says or does cannot really annoy or irritate
you except you permit him to disturb you. The only way he can annoy
you is through your own thought. For example, if you get angry, you
have to go through four stages in your mind: You begin to think about
what he said. You decide to get angry and generate an emotion of
rage. Then, you decide to act. Perhaps, you talk back and react in
kind. You see that the thought, emotion, reaction, and action all take
place in your mind. When you become emotionally mature, you do
not respond negatively to the criticism and resentment of others.”
– JOSEPH MURPHY
Our natural reaction is to adopt negative thoughts about circumstances.
Instead, we should be attempting to choose happiness.
Negative thoughts are highly detrimental. Not only do they impact on
your emotions, but they also prevent you from succeeding. Joseph
Murphy gives another personal anecdote for this section. One of Joseph
Murphy’s associates worked day in and day out. Working those long
hours lead to him neglecting his family and increasing his blood pressure
to an unhealthy level. However, Murphy’s associate had a negative
viewpoint on why he worked so much. The associate accepted that he
felt guilty about not doing the right thing by his deceased brother, who
had passed away years before. The remorse he felt came from a place of
negativity. These negative thoughts then pushed him to behaviors that

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punished himself, his wife, and children. Plus, it prevented him from
realizing that these long hours were not his boss’ fault; they were the
fault of his negative thoughts.

Fears Are Just False Thoughts

“You grow old when you lose interest in life, when you cease to
dream, to hunger after new truths, and to search for new worlds to
conquer. When your mind is open to new ideas, new interests, and
when you raise the curtain and let in the sunshine and inspiration of
new truths of life and the universe, you will be young and vital.”
– JOSEPH MURPHY
Fear is an emotion that troubles us throughout our lives. When we
were young, we were fearful of monsters under our beds. As we grow
up, we continue to have fears in the shape of worrying about money.
Both these fears are based on false thoughts, and we challenge these
fears by challenging these thoughts.
Joseph Murphy also describes aging as a widespread fear for adults.
However, we can also overcome this fear by changing the way we think
about aging. Aging only happens when we stop learning new skills.
Staying young isn’t about age but about remaining active and doing the
things we enjoy. Joseph provides an anecdote of an executive that lived
near him and retired at 65. The man had spent almost all of his life
learning. He did not view retirement as something to be afraid of, but
yet another opportunity to learn. He started learning new skills, such as
photography. Plus, he sought out opportunities to travel the world.
Finally, this man became a lecturer on how to age well. In this book,
Joseph also talks about his father. At 65, Joseph’s father set out to learn
French. Five years later, he was a specialist. He then started to study
Gaelic. Again, he reached a level that meant he was teaching it until his

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death at 99 years. If we keep positivity and learning at the forefront of
our minds, we will feel younger and, it seems, live longer.

Combining Visualization and Personal Passions Can

Considerably Improve Your Life
As well as helping people sell their houses and potentially heal illnesses,
visualization can also help you attract money. Specifically, if you
combine visualization and your passions, you can attract money. Joseph
Murphy recommends picturing your desired end goal in life. This will
feed your subconscious, which will help you reach this goal.
Joseph Murphy gives an example of a young Australian boy. He wanted
to become a doctor and surgeon. However, the boy did not have the
money to start his journey toward doing so. Every night before he fell
asleep, he would envision a medical diploma hanging on his wall.
Eventually, he got a break when a doctor saw his potential and taught
him how to sterilize instruments and give injections. The doctor paid
him for this work, and the boy used this money for his medical school
tuition. This is a perfect example of combining your passions with
positive visualization, leading to initial success and motivating you to
excel even further.

Your Subconscious Can Help You Find the Ideal

Romantic Partner
Joseph Murphy explained that positive visualization could even be used
to find the perfect romantic partner. From his personal experience, he
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describes how a teacher he knew used visualization for this purpose.
This teacher had three ex-husbands. Each of these ex-husbands was
weak and passive. These were not the qualities that she desired in a
partner. She was a relatively masculine woman with a dominant
personality. She was attracting men with the opposite character to
what she desired. However, she then used her subconscious to
construct an image of her ideal partner mentally. She would do this
every night before falling asleep. She then accepted a job as a secretary
in a doctor’s office and found the strong man of her dreams. The
physician was a healthy, successful man. They quickly married and have
been happily married ever since.

The Three Steps to Success

1. Love Your Work

It might be hard sometimes, but loving your work will hugely improve
your quality of life. If you are doing a job, you genuinely love, it won’t
feel like work. You will be ingrained in your craft and completely
motivated to continue working. You might be struggling to find a job
that you genuinely love. If so, Joseph Murphy recommends asking for
guidance from career experts. However, you must also proceed with
faith and confidence that you will find the job that you love.

2. Specialize
If you manage to find a job that you love, you should look to specialize
in particular areas. Perfecting a craft is a thoroughly rewarding pursuit.

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It allows you to become a leader in your field. Mastering your work will
help make you feel more fulfilled, and economic success will follow.

Altruism
Joseph Murphy describes this as the most crucial step to happiness.
Your love of work cannot be associated with selfish desires. Instead,
you gain the most happiness from your motivations being tied to a
cause beyond yourself. A cause that serves humanity.

3. Desire Happiness
“You must choose happiness. Happiness is a habit. It is a good habit to
ponder often.”
– JOSEPH MURPHY
Joseph Murphy believes that happiness is just a mental construct. This
is not a negative thing, though. It means that we can foster a feeling of
happiness if we truly desire it. However, the majority of people have a
disposition for unhappiness. Those who have a disposition for
unhappiness will search for what is wrong in their environment. It is
always possible to find negatives in our environment. When we find
these negatives, we are only attracting more negative experiences.

What Factors Prevent You from Using Your

Subconscious Mind?
Some circumstances can prevent the unconscious realm from having a
significant impact on your life. Critics will often use these examples as
evidence of the method not working. Still, the reality is that the
environment was not optimal for the subconscious mind to excel.

27 | P a g e
Joseph Murphy outlines two factors that can make our unconscious
realms fail. The first factor is a lack of confidence, and the second factor
is putting too much effort into making it work.
It is essential to understand that your unconscious mind will carry out an
idea as soon as it accepts this idea. Hence, the unconscious mind will
carry out any action planted in it, whether it is good or bad. Similarly, if
we start having doubts about something, then these hesitations will
become rooted in the unconscious realm. Murphy provides an example
of money. Suppose you try and imagine being rich in the future. Even if
you manage to imagine being rich, it is likely that you still won’t believe
that you will one day be rich. In this instance, your unconscious realm is
creating a reality where you have no money. Therefore, you are not using
the unconscious mind for your benefit. The only reason for this
ineffectiveness of the unconscious realm is a lack of self-confidence.
Although it is important to let the unconscious realm influence your life,
it is also crucial you do not force the unconscious realm to help you. If
you force the unconscious mind too much, then you will fail. Rather than
utilizing forced beliefs, utilizing real beliefs allows the unconscious mind
to turn these beliefs into a reality. Forcing things to happen only works
within the conscious realm. Hence, Joseph Murphy recommends relaxing
and putting faith in the notion that the unconscious mind will work for
you. You must maintain this relaxed approach even when you are not
obtaining instant results.

How the subconscious works

Murphy saw the subconscious mind as a dark room in which we develop
images that are to be lived out in real life. While the conscious mind sees

28 | P a g e
an event, takes a picture of it and remembers it, the subconscious mind
works backwards, ‘seeing’ something before it happens.
The subconscious is neutral in a moral sense, so happy to adopt any habit
as ‘normal’, good or bad. We let negative thoughts drop into the
subconscious every minute of our lives, then are surprised when they
find expression in day-to-day experiences and relationships.
Knowledge of the subconscious means we can control the thoughts and
images we feed it. This makes Murphy’s 1963 book, with its instructions
and affirmations that will have the greatest effect on the subconscious,
a tool of liberation. Understanding your subconscious mind as a
photographic mechanism removes the struggle from changing your life;
if it is just a matter of replacing existing mental images with new ones,
change seems easy.

Relaxed faith = results

The subconscious cannot be coerced, responding best to relaxed faith
that it will do its transforming work with ease. Trying hard, which may
work for a task given to the conscious mind, is a cause of failure with its
subterranean other half. It suggests to your subconscious there is
opposition to what you want done.
Along with relaxed faith, the ease with which the subconscious
accomplishes things increases with emotion. An idea or a thought alone
may excite the rational, conscious mind but the subconscious likes things
to be ‘emotionalised’. When a thought becomes a feeling and
imagination desire, it will deliver what you want with speed and
abundance. Yet Murphy said it is less important to know how your
subconscious works than to develop the faith that it can.

29 | P a g e
Believing it to be so
‘The law of your mind is the law of belief itself,’ Murphy noted. In the
West we have made ‘the truth’ our highest value; this motivation, while
important, is weak next to the actual power of belief in shaping our lives.
Whatever you give your subconscious, it will register as fact.

Health and prosperity

In the rituals of ancient times, it was the power of suggestion and
acceptance in the subconscious mind that healed. Miracles of healing,
Murphy said, are simply the body obeying the subconscious mind’s
knowledge of ‘perfect health’ when the questioning nature of the normal
conscious mind is silenced.
The other aspect of mental healing is the premise that our minds are part
of a larger human mind, linked to ‘infinite intelligence’. This is why it is
not crazy, Murphy claimed, to believe you can heal people not physically
near to you, by visualising health, energy and love for them.
As there is a principle of health and harmony in the universe, so there is
a principle of abundance. Those aware of this will not have a nervous
breakdown if their business is lost but understand it as a message to get
reacquainted with the fact of a prosperous universe.
The ‘feeling of wealth’, Murphy said, produces wealth in reality. He
shows how to signal to the subconscious so the abundant images
manifest themselves in real life.

Why prayers are usually in vain

30 | P a g e
Murphy said there should be nothing ‘mystical’ about getting answers to
our prayers. One who knows the workings of the subconscious mind will
learn how to pray ‘scientifically’. Conventional prayer (the pleading,
wishing, hoping variety) involves no faith; real faith is the knowledge that
something is being provided. When prayers become occasions to give
thanks for the fact of assistance (even if it has yet to materialise), they
cease to be mystical.

Final comments
Many people say their lives were not the same after reading this book.
The subconscious is powerful and what you get from Murphy is the
realization that unless you try to understand the non-rational mind, your
rational desires and plans will be forever sabotaged.
Even when I read this book, I was able to relate things and it completely
changed me what I was yesterday to what I’m today. I would suggest
everyone to go through this book once and feel the change inside.

31 | P a g e
 Review of the 3rd Book
By Ashok Kumar (IPS) and Vipul
Anekant (DANIPS)

32 | P a g e
 India was partitioned in the backdrop of large-
scale communal riots, but the partition of the
country on religious lines, without taking into
consideration its multiple identities, instead of
bringing the communal tensions down, in fact,
worsened the situation. The two-nation theory
created Pakistan, and it still survives on this
theory. Pakistan finds it difficult to accept the
reality that India continues to be a democratic, plural, multireligious
society and that India today has more Muslim citizens than Pakistan.
The Government of Pakistan has taken upon itself the responsibility of
not only protecting its own citizens, but also the Indian Muslims. The
power structure in theocratic Pakistan, dominated by the army, the
feudal landlords, the bureaucracy and the religious leaders has been
able to retain its hold over the levers of power by playing the anti- India
and Islamic cards. Pakistan plays the Islamic card in its foreign policy
also. It misses no opportunity to club India as an anti-Islamic country
where Muslims are not safe. The continuing tensions between India
and Pakistan have a direct bearing on the internal situation in India.
They have further complicated the internal security situation.
The management of internal security, therefore, assumes great
importance. If the internal security issues are tackled effectively,
subversion by the external forces to that extent becomes more difficult.
Unfortunately, the rise of contentious politics based on sectarian,
ethnic, linguistic or other divisive criteria, is primarily responsible for
the many communal and secessionist movements flourishing in India.
The presence of hostile neighbours enables the internal conflicts to get

33 | P a g e
external support, which includes money, arms and sanctuaries. The
vested interests exploit these conditions to pursue their own agenda.
In a well-established political system and a developed economy,
conflicts between the various group identities are kept under check as
in due course they get assimilated into the national identity. But that
has not happened in India as yet, where the wounds of the partition
and the colonial rule have still not fully healed. Moreover, the
dependence on the government by a large section of our people for
their very survival sharpens these conflicts among them. The
democratic institutions and the state structures are still not strong
enough to fully harmonise these conflicts in a peaceful manner.
Violence erupts when conflicting interests cannot be consensually
reconciled. The hostile external forces, taking advantage of this
situation through subversive propaganda, further accentuate these
conflicts. They give material and ideological support to aggravate this
sense of grievance to such an extent that a small minority are willing to
become tools in their hands to subvert the stability and security of the
country.
In addition, a number of secessionist and the so-called revolutionary
movements are operating in India today. Their goal could be to
overthrow the government and bring about revolutionary changes in
the structure and functioning of the state, or even secession from the
Indian Union. Ever since independence, India has been facing all types
of violent conflicts based on religion, caste, language, ethnicity and
regional loyalties. Political insecurity further compounds the problem.
Preoccupied with the problem of survival, the governments in some of
the most affected states are not looking at the problem from a long-
term perspective. They have bought temporary peace by compromising
with the subversive forces. Such shortsighted policies can have
disastrous consequences in the long run. Instead of effectively dealing

34 | P a g e
with them in the initial stages when the problem is manageable, they
have allowed these anti-national forces to take roots and spread their
tentacles far and wide. When a state government is unable to
effectively deal with them, instead of strengthening the state police
machinery, it rushes to the Centre to hand over its responsibility at the
first sign of any serious trouble. It is not surprising that in these states
some sections of the police have actually joined hands with the
subversive forces against the central forces. “If you cannot fight them,
join them”. Finding themselves at the mercy of these subversive forces,
the people tend to change sides and start supporting them instead of
supporting the security forces. It would be wrong to assume that all
those supporting, directly or indirectly, these forces are sympathetic to
their ideology. Far from it! For most of them, preoccupied with the
daily battle of survival, this is the obvious choice, because the police are
unable to protect them. Polarisation on caste and religious lines can
further reduce the credibility of the police in the minds of the people.
The police-politician-criminal nexus can embolden the criminal
elements. Their activities can create an environment of lawlessness,
where influential and rich people violate the law with impunity. The
police is not the only component of the criminal justice system that has
suffered because of this nexus. In fact, the entire criminal justice
system is under strain. Not all crimes are being registered and those
registered are not being properly investigated; and even out of those
charge-sheeted, very few are ending in conviction. The conviction rate
in case of heinous crimes is steadily falling. In some North-Eastern
states it has reached almost zero level, where the police have stopped
even submitting the charge sheets in the insurgency-related cases.
When the fear of legal punishment disappears, organised crime finds it
convenient to spread its tentacles. The crime syndicates are finding the
new communication and information technology very useful. Extortion
and payment of the so-called ‘protection money’ is more widespread
35 | P a g e
than we would like to believe. According to some reports, direct
extortion from the government funds runs into hundreds of crores of
rupees. Many of the insurgent and militant groups are not driven by
ideology, but by sheer greed. Money power is a bigger motivating
factor than ideology. Vested interests have developed around these
groups with active connivance of corrupt politicians, police officers and
civil servants. Some politicians even take their assistance during
election times. They have to return their favours when they come to
power. This mutually beneficial relationship has seriously damaged the
quality of governance in the interior areas. The real losers are the
people. The development process gets seriously hampered in a violent
environment. When large development funds are siphoned out by this
unholy alliance between the criminal and corrupt forces, even the
delivery of the most basic services like water, power, healthcare,
education and communications becomes a stupendous task.
A vicious circle starts. The deprived and the marginalised sections of the
society, unable to survive in the present system, get alienated. The
militant and extremist forces thrive in this environment. The rise of Left
extremism is more due to these compulsions than on ideological
grounds. There are media reports about the carving out of a corridor by
the Left extremist forces from Nepal to Tamil Nadu. Even if there is no
truth in these reports, the involvement of hostile external forces in
support of the Left extremist forces to destabilise the country cannot
be ruled out.
The mushrooming of armed ‘Senas’ on caste and ethnic lines in some
parts of the country is a direct consequence of the polarisation of the
society. This phenomenon has also affected the police and the
administration in general. Loss of public confidence in the capacity of
the state to protect their life and property is the primary cause of this
dangerous development. Far from controlling them, a politicised and

36 | P a g e
partisan police actually encourages this development. The tensions in
some parts of the country, especially in the tribal areas, due to a
perceived threat to their identity is not new, but the rise of so many
violent movements is a relatively recent development. In the border
states these movements become secessionist because of the support
they receive from the hostile neighbouring states.
The rise of fundamentalist forces is posing the most serious threat to
India’s security. Fired with religious zeal these forces have created an
entirely new situation. The intelligence agencies in our neighbourhood
and the organisations, like Al Qaida, and Jaish-e-Mohammad, are
encouraging the so-called ‘Jehadis’ to enter India from outside. After
first targeting the border states they have now spread deep inside the
country. These bands of fanatics are not only indulging in subversive
activities, but are spreading the virus of fundamentalism among the
Indian Muslims. The break-up of the Indian Union continues to be the
main goal of Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy. Easy availability of
deadly weapons with the subversive groups operating in India has
created new dangers for India’s security.
With the ‘Golden Crescent’, and the ‘Golden Triangle’ in India’s
neighbourhood, drug trafficking poses yet another threat to our
security. Drug syndicates are generating huge funds, a part of which is
being used to give financial support to some of these subversive
groups. The intelligence agencies like the ISI are recruiting a number of
‘carriers’ in drug trafficking as their agents. These agencies provide legal
immunity for their criminal activities in their own country in addition to
giving them financial and logistical support. Internal security challenges
are not confined to any one area, but the North-East, Jammu and
Kashmir, and the areas afflicted by Left extremism deserve special
mention.

37 | P a g e
 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR INTERNAL SECURITY
PROBLEMS

There are various reasons, both historical and non-historical, which

cause
problem for our internal security.

However, a few root causes are mentioned below:

• Unfriendly neighbours
• Poverty
• Unemployment
Inequitable growth
• Widening gap between haves and have nots
• Failure on administrative front or governance deficit
Increasing communal divide
Increasing caste awareness and caste tensions
• Rise of contentious politics based on sectarian, ethnic, linguistic or
other
divisive criteria
• Porous borders having very tough terrain
Poor criminal justice system and large-scale corruption leading to nexus
between criminals, police and politicians resulting in organized crime
going unabated.
38 | P a g e
 Challenges to Internal Security of India
North-East
The Naga leadership under Z.A. Phizo had challenged their integration
into the Indian Union even before India became independent in 1947.
The Naga insurgency started way back in the early 1950s. Since then
the insurgencies in this region have multiplied and spread to many new
areas. In this extremely diverse and strategically sensitive region, there
are different reasons for the ethnic upsurges and insurgencies in
different states. Some seek secession from the Indian Union, some
others seek separate states and yet others greater autonomy within the
existing state. The number of such insurgent groups could reach three-
digit figures. In Manipur alone, more than twenty-five groups are
operating. Thousands have died in the insurgency-related violence.
Insurgencies have seriously affected the economic life of the region.
The whole developmental process is seriously hampered because of
this unending violence. One can imagine the plight of the people who
are already living on the margin. What to talk of getting a share of the
fruits of development, they are deprived even of the most basic
services. Unfortunately, unlike Jammu & Kashmir, these violent
movements do not stir much response in national consciousness. Even
serious incidents of violence hardly find any mention in the so-called
mainstream media. The geo-strategic importance of the North-East is
not sufficiently appreciated even in the security establishment. All the
states in the North-East share an international border with other
countries and the seven North-Eastern states are linked to the rest of
the country only by a narrow strip of land. The lack of physical, cultural
and emotional links has encouraged a feeling of alienation, which is
being exploited by the nottoo- friendly neighbours to pursue their own

39 | P a g e
agenda. They are giving support and sanctuaries to many of these
groups to use them as leverage against a much bigger and more
powerful neighbour.
The roots of these many insurgencies in the North-East lie deep in its
history and its geography. But, it would be wrong to treat it as one
homogeneous region with common problems, or social systems and
customs. Even physiographically, the region can be divided into three
broad areas — hills, plateaus, and plains. The many ethnic groups,
speaking many different languages and dialects, who inhabit this
remote part of the country consider themselves as separate people
with little in common with the people in the rest of the country. The
lack of physical, cultural and emotional links has encouraged this feeling
of separation.
The partition of the country seriously dislocated the old system of
communications with serious demographic consequences. At the heart
of the problem, however, is the new political consciousness and an
urge for asserting their identity, especially among the fiercely
independent tribal communities. The partition left the entire region
land-locked, and even the old road, railway and river-waterway links
with the rest of the country were severed, because they all passed
through East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The new rail link via North
Bengal is circuitous and too long and expensive for easy access to the
region. The air link is not only expensive, but also unreliable due to
climatic conditions. The people have to bear enormous additional
transport cost for all their supplies. Another intractable problem is
created by the influx of migrants from East Pakistan and now
continuing from Bangladesh. In the beginning it was confined to the
Hindus leaving East Pakistan due to insecure conditions, but later,
because of intense population pressure even Muslims started
migrating. The fear that immigrant population will one day dominate

40 | P a g e
them is keeping many of the insurgent and secessionist movements
alive.
The terrain in this region is eminently suitable for insurgency. The hilly
terrain and dense forests provide convenient hiding places to mount
ambushes on the moving convoys of the security forces. Large parts of
the interior areas have little or no police presence. The insurgent
groups virtually control the administration in these areas. After
attacking the security force they can easily disappear into the local
population. Because of deprivation and alienation, a large section of
the people tend to be sympathetic to the members of these groups. It
is the alienation of the people that has sustained insurgency all these
years, though logistic support and sanctuaries provided by the
neighbouring states play a vital role in sustaining them. The dispersion
of ethnic groups across the international boundaries has profoundly
influenced the nature of political conflicts. However, it needs to be
emphasised that internal-external linkages originate with the failure of
the domestic political and administrative system in coping with the
internal conflicts.
Secessionist leaders often adopt alternative strategies to achieve their
goal. They keep on changing their tactics and demands according to the
ground situation. The intensity of the conflict depends very much on
how strong the public support is. Ethnicity can become an important
dimension of internal conflict when it becomes intertwined with other
social, political and economic issues. As conflicting groups go from one
crisis to the next, they learn by experience to raise their demands to
increase their bargaining power. Political changes that offer new
opportunities for personal gain and extending their influence can spark
violent conflicts. Even though most of them are conscious of the fact
that secession is not a viable option, they keep on raising this demand
to bring together the various contending conflicts on one platform.

41 | P a g e
Making common cause against the Indian state is how many of these
groups with conflicting ideologies cooperate with each other in their
fight against the Indian state. The United Liberation Front of Assam
(ULFA) was born out of the demand to throw out the migrants from
Bangladesh, and yet its top leaders are today finding sanctuary in that
country.
The South Asian countries have more in common with India than with
other countries in the region. They do not even have a common
boundary with each other. But this reality has not made them friendlier
towards India. History and geography have encouraged negative
sentiments rather than positive sentiments about India in these
countries. The big powers too have not hesitated to fish in troubled
waters. Till the 1970s, China was directly supporting the insurgencies in
the North-East. Strategically, politically and economically the North-
East is the most sensitive part of the country and should receive the
serious attention it deserves.
The ongoing dialogue between the government and the NSCN (IM) is a
positive development, but it is going to take a long and torturous route.
The NSCN (IM)’s claim on the Naga-inhabited areas in the neighbouring
states has created serious complications. The riots in Manipur in 2001
following the extension of the ceasefire to the areas beyond the
boundaries of Nagaland are a pointer to the difficult road ahead. The
situation in Assam has shown some signs of improvement, but large-
scale extortion by the ULFA and other groups is posing serious
problems. The NLFT and the ATTF continue to be active in Tripura. They
have sanctuaries in Bangladesh. Mizoram is quiet, but there are
problems between the Mizos and the Chakmas, and the Mizos and the
Reangs. Thousands of Reang refugees from Mizoram are staying in
camps in Tripura. In spite of many rounds of negotiations between the
Mizoram government and the representatives of the Reangs, so far no

42 | P a g e
solution appears to be in sight. The unending internecine feud between
the NSCN (IM) and the NSCN (K) has spilled over from Nagaland to the
neighbouring states and even to Myanmar. A number of Meitie and
Kuki groups have sanctuaries in the Chin Hills in Myanmar. The ULFA
and the Bodo groups have sanctuaries in the forests of Bhutan. There
are unconfirmed reports of some sort of tie-up between the ULFA and
the LTTE. A number of groups have also come up in Meghalaya and
Arunachal Pradesh. Many experts have called the Naga insurgencies as
the mother of all insurgencies in the North-East. The level of violence,
however, in this explosive region continues to be high in spite of the
fact that the ceasefire agreement with the NSCN (IM) has been in place
since 1997. This only goes to show how difficult the road to peace is
going to be in this trouble-torn region.
It is truism to say that it is not only a law and order problem. It has
many other dimensions. No strategy will succeed unless it strikes a right
balance between political, economic and security measures. There is
need for closer co-ordination among the policymakers. Ideally, there is
need for a consensus among the major political parties. The pursuit of
narrow political agenda can be exploited by the subversive groups.
Many political leaders in this region indulge in double-speak. They
mouth nationalist slogans in Delhi but have no hesitation in making
strong anti-national statements and collaborating with the insurgent
groups in the state. Nor do they have any reservation in changing
parties. They frequently hop from one political party to another. In
Manipur some politicians have changed sides as many as six times in a
year. A chief minister changed his party three times in one month, and
his coalition partners three times in 48 hours. A party label has very
little meaning. Money and muscle power with active support of the
insurgent groups play a key role in the elections.

43 | P a g e
Most of these states are not financially viable. They hardly collect any
revenue and depend almost entirely on the Union government for
financial support. This has caused lack of responsibility in incurring
public expenditure. For example, Manipur has created a huge
bureaucratic structure with a workforce of almost 100,000 on its pay
roll. Over 80% of its total revenue (both Plan and non-Plan) is spent on
payment of salaries and pensions. Extortion by the insurgent groups,
the leakage’s of huge funds through corrupt practices leave very little
for development. And they conveniently put the blame on the Centre
for not giving them adequate funds. Through years of neglect this
potentially rich region is today the most backward, almost primitive,
part of our country. In these appalling conditions an alienated
population becomes an easy target for the secessionist propaganda.

Jammu & Kashmir

The problem has been with us since independence even though
Pakistan has no legal case. The ruler of this erstwhile princely state
decided to accede to India. According to the Independence Act it was
for the rulers of the princely states to decide to join India or Pakistan.
Pakistan has been disputing the legality of the accession signed by the
then J&K ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh. The initial hesitation of the
Maharaja to accede to either India or Pakistan and the unilateral Indian
offer to find out the wishes of the people of the state has given
Pakistan an excuse to challenge the legality of the accession. It has
been doing everything for the last 56 years to grab this state. It has not
been able to achieve its objective through wars with India. So, it has
started a proxy war since 1989. Waging of a proxy war fits into the
Pakistani designs of bleeding India. Unfortunately, the weaknesses of
the state and of the administrative systems have provided Pakistan
with opportunities to fish in troubled waters. More interested in
perpetuating their rule than governing the state, its rulers have been
44 | P a g e
exploiting regional and religious differences. Anti-national forces
thrived in this environment and Pakistan has missed no opportunity to
support and encourage them. Over the years it has succeeded in
building a pro- Pakistan base in the state. Frustrated in their efforts to
gain power through democratic means, some politicians joined the
anti-India front, more to put pressure on the Indian government than
on ideological grounds. In a state, where the overwhelming population
was against communal politics at the time of partition, the
fundamentalist forces have managed to penetrate into the secular
polity. The many serious problems of the people have to be addressed.
It is not a coincidence that Pakistan’s efforts to destabilise the situation
in the state received some success only when our own political
mismanagement provided it with an opportunity to intervene, as in
1965 and again in 1989. One of Pakistan’s main aims is to divide the
polity on communal lines.
The attitude of the Pakistani military government is unlikely to change
in the near future. But that does not mean that Pakistan should be
allowed to set the Kashmir agenda. Moves will have to be made on all
fronts to regain the initiative on both political and diplomatic fronts.
The proposals made in the announcements by the Cabinet Committee
on Security on October 22 are steps in the right direction, but the
ground situation does not justify over-optimism. There are likely to be
many ups and downs on this long torturous road to peace in Jammu
and Kashmir.

Left Extremism
Making a beginning in Naxalbari in West Bengal and Telengana in
Andhra Pradesh in the 1970s, the movement has since spread to many
states: Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The
root cause for the rise in Left extremism is the inability of the states to
address the many genuine grievances of the people. The gap between
45 | P a g e
the unrealistic expectations, fuelled by populist rhetoric, and their
actual fulfilment has increased and not decreased over the years. The
younger generation is no longer willing to put up passively with
injustice and humiliation without a fight. The bitterness of the angry
young man against the prevailing unjust socio-economic system is
spilling over. The older generation is not unsympathetic to them. An
educational system which produces unemployable young boys and girls
has not helped. Pressure on land has made the task of survival on
agriculture more difficult. A callous district administration, especially in
the rural areas, a clogged judicial system and feudal attitudes have
compounded the problem. The land disputes have multiplied, but the
land records and the judicial system to settle them is in disarray. There
is a sense of frustration and anger.
The most prominent among the groups, that have mushroomed in the
recent years, are the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Marxist
Communist Centre (MCC) . But it is not ideology and revolutionary zeal
that is driving them. For many, joining these groups is the only way to
survive. Their main activity is extortion. Huge funds amounting to
hundreds of crores of rupees are being extorted by them. What they
cannot get through legitimate means they obtain through arms and
explosives. Their tactics are no different from the insurgents and
terrorists. Create terror and extort money. They are, however, not
secessionists. Their aim is to overthrow what they call an unjust socio-
economic system. But they are in no hurry to achieve their ideological
aims as long as they can extort enough money. Corrupt politicians,
policemen and civil servants have made their own adjustments with
these groups. A live-and-let live attitude is mutually beneficial to all of
them. Who knows how much money goes to the extremists and how
much goes to the others. The real sufferers are the very people for
whom the extremists are waging this war against the state.

46 | P a g e
In public perception a government that is unable to discharge all its
responsibilities is more likely to respond when the demand is loud,
organised and backed by acts of violence. The many progressive,
wellintentioned legislations are not being implemented effectively and
sometimes have done more harm than good by creating more
bitterness and frustration, e.g., the Minimum Wages Act. The marginal
and deprived sections of the society are the worst hit.
Social and economic factors are important, but even more important
are religion and identity. The secessionist movement in J&K is politically
motivated, but its ideological base is built around religious funda-
mentalism. Fired by religious fervour, the young recruits have no
hesitation in attacking ruthlessly what they consider the decayed
political and moral order, which they perceive as hedonistic. Once the
instruments of governance are discredited, it is not too difficult to
justify their destruction as in J&K, the North-East or in the states
afflicted by Left extremism. In another sense, however, the aim of all
these movements is no different from the aim of legitimate political
movements. They too seek to acquire power, measured in terms of
exercising influence or control over the people and acquisition of
wealth for them is the source of all power. Extortion, therefore,
becomes an essential part of their strategy. Their goal and strategy
could change during the course of the movement. In the initial stages
some of them may only demand economic and political justice or more
autonomy in the existing political system, like the Bodos in Assam, but
they can take a more extremist stand and demand secession in the later
stages.
Effective steps to reduce ethnic and social inequalities, disparities in
educational and employment opportunities, and for creating an
effective machinery for the redressal of public grievance, are absolutely
essential to improve the environment in which extremist violence

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flourishes. Steps to reduce economic deprivation and improve the
delivery of essential services can erode the base of public support on
which the extremist movements survive. It is relatively easier to find
solutions to seemingly intractable political problems, like in J&K, in an
environment where people are by and large satisfied with the
functioning of the government agencies and are not deprived of
essential services. More than anything else, it is the economic policies
that would ultimately determine the future of these movements. A
thriving economy, which gives hope and opportunity to the people, is
more likely to defeat all types of extremist movements than any other
strategy.
The need for a well co-ordinated security apparatus can hardly be
overemphasised. It should include the police, the paramilitary forces,
the army and the intelligence agencies. A composite force on the lines
of the National Security Guards (NSG) should be organised in all the
states, even in those states where the internal security situation is not
so serious. It is easier to deal with the problems at the initial stages,
than later, when the state police is no longer able to cope with them.
But in the states where the situation has gone beyond their control, the
Centre, as laid down in the Constitution, is duty-bound to intervene,
notwithstanding the fact that law and order is under the State List. The
Union government is charged with the responsibility of protecting the
states from internal disturbances under Article 353 of the Constitution,
even though law and order comes under List-II, the State List. The
Union government can issue directions to the state under Articles 257-
258. Action for non-compliance of the directions from the Union
government can be taken under Article 365. A state government can be
dismissed under Article 356, if a situation arises in which the
administration of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the

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provisions of the Constitution. A national emergency can be declared
under Article 352.
But, even if the Centre decides to intervene, the state’s role cannot be
minimised. The primary responsibility to deal with the security
challenges must rest with the state governments. A situation should not
be allowed to develop where the state government washes its hands
off, or its forces instead of cooperating with the central forces, actually
work against them. The many internal security challenges can be met
effectively only with full cooperation between the central and the state
governments. The police, the paramilitary forces, the army and all the
intelligence agencies must act in close co-ordination. The hostile
foreign forces can and will take advantage of the internal situation to
destabilise the country in pursuit of their own agenda. All serious
internal security problems: communal and sectarian violence, organised
crime, drug-trafficking, labour and students’ unrest, political violence
and even economic crimes, if not checked effectively can develop an
external dimension. There is an urgent need to make the police and the
paramilitary forces more professional. The emphasis has to shift from
‘more numbers’ to ‘more professionally trained forces.
The internal security problems should not be treated as merely law and
order problems. They have to be dealt with comprehensively in all their
dimensions and at all levels — political, economic and social. They are
all interlinked. At times, the required measures will conflict with each
other. Going too far in one direction could be counter-productive. The
security requirements have to be met, but that does not mean giving
the security agencies a free hand. Striking the right balance is the key to
success in meeting these challenges effectively. We need a
comprehensive security policy that will be implemented effectively at
all levels.

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Internal Security Doctrine should include
the following Key Elements
• Political
• Socio-Economic Secessionist
• Governance
• Police and Security Forces
• Centre-State Coordination
• Intelligence
• Border Management
• Cyber Security

1. Political First, we need to know the nature of the challenge to our

internal security. It could be secessionist, separatist or even regional in
nature. We have to analyse the causative factors of various types of
movements and see whether the demands are within the constitutional
framework or not. As a matter of principle, we have to tackle the
secessionist movements with a heavy hand. Separatist elements have
to be kept at a distance. We need a clear policy with stringent laws to
deal with such elements. On the other hand, regional aspirations and
ethnic demands require reasonably softer and sympathetic approach.
2. Socio-Economic Socio-economic factors are also at the back of many
movements which are big threats to the internal security of the
country. Many a times, there are genuine socio-economic grievances of
a section of the society arising from acute poverty, unemployment and
displacement. In such cases, our approach has to be different. We need
to analyse the factors causing the socio-economic grievances and
address all the connected issues. Equitable growth and development is

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the spirit of our Constitution. Therefore, we have to ensure that
development reaches all sections of the society and there are no
regional disparities.
3. Governance Lack of good governance also provides a tool in the
hands of anti-establishment elements, who pose a challenge to the
internal security of the country. Such elements take advantage of
mismanagement and corruption in government schemes, poor
implementation of laws and absence of government machinery in the
remote areas. Governance on all fronts becomes an issue whether it is
civil administration or policing of the area or the whole of criminal
justice system. It is the duty of the state to control all the malaise in
governance and provide good governance to the remotest of the areas
and control corruption.
Otherwise, development of remote areas will be nearly impossible.
4. Police and Security Forces It has been seen that, at times allegations
of police atrocities and police indifference towards people's problems,
aggravate internal security problems. We have seen many a times that
agitations are directed against the police or the security forces.
Demand for removal of Armed Forces (SpecialPowers) Acts or AFSPA is
one such example. Police needs to be sensitised so that it becomes
people friendly. We need to carry out police reforms so that the police
is seen as a neutral, transparent and professional body. Other security
forces aiding state police also need to increase their understanding of
the local situation and maintain highest order of efficiency. They need
to coordinate with the state police and help achieve the overall goal of
maintaining internal security.
5. Centre-State Coordination Lack of centre-state coordination also
leads to many problems related to internal security. This coordination
problem exists in all areas from intelligence to operations. We need to

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develop an institutional framework which resolves all these centre-
state coordination problems and ensures synergy at all levels.
6. Intelligence Intelligence is a major component of internal security.
We need to be alert against external as well as internal enemies posing
a threat to the internal security of the country. Most big operations
have the back up support of intelligence. We need to have defensive as
well as offensive intelligence to forewarn, neutralise the impending
threats and take proactive steps wherever required. We also need to
have regular institutional framework to compile, collate and act on
intelligence received from various agencies. Multi Agency Centre (MAC)
has made a good beginning in this direction.
7. Border Management The country has land borders with seven
countries (practically six due to PoK issue) stretching nearly 15,000 km.
We have had wars on three sides of our land borders with China,
Pakistan and East Pakistan (presently Bangladesh). We also had
infiltration problems through Punjab and Kashmir borders, illegal
immigration problems through Bangladesh and smuggling of weapons
through the Indo-Myanmar border. Kashmiri militants have been taking
shelter in Pok while Northeast extremists are taking shelter in
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. Therefore, we need to guard our
land borders effectively to prevent infiltration by terrorists, illegal
immigration, smuggling of weapons and drugs etc. Coastal security also
needs special attention and we need to ensure that the roles of Navy,
Coast Guard and Coastal Police are clearly defined and all of them work
in harmony with each other.
8. Cyber Security The Snowden revelations (WikiLeaks) of 2013 have
made it evident that future wars will not be traditional wars which are
fought on land, water and air. In fact, it appears that cyber space will be
the theatre of warfare in the 21" Century. Therefore, any solid doctrine
on internal security needs to cover this front too. India has just made a
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beginning in this direction. We need to cover a lot of distance before
we can say that we have a safe cyber space. In the coming

Conclusion

So, these are the issues that were mentioned in the

book. I think each and every individual should read this
book. So that they can contribute to the safety of the
nation.

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