The only faraway conflicts that ever get a mention in newspapers in the western world are the conflicts that effect either western people or western interests: Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Afghanistan ….. However there is more to the world than just me, and conflicts rage around the world that impinge on the lives of many people in catastrophic ways, and we usually get to hear of them only by accident. Two of those conflicts rarely heard about in Ireland are the following.
Casamance
This conflict has been rumbling on in Senegal since 1980. The disputed territory lies on a narrow strip of land between Gambia and Guinea-Bissau and is connected to Senegal along a short border. In the struggle for independence from France in the 1950s, the Senegalese needed the support of the Casamance region. In return for that support, Leopold Senghor, the man who was eventually to lead the country to independence in 1960, promised that within 20 years of independence, Casamance would be released from any obligation to remain with Senegal.
Promises, promises. Twenty years came and went and there was no sign of the Senegalese government making good its promise, so battle was joined.
On two occasions the conflict became internationalised. The first was when Guinea-Bissau was accused of lending covert support to Casamance forces (Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance) as they targeted Senegalese military bases.
The second international thread came about when the Casamance forces had the audacity to kidnap four white tourists, rocketing the tiny countries involved and their little difficulties onto the front pages of European newspapers.
Several ceasefires have been brokered during the 1990s, none of which have lasted. The Casamance movement then split into two factions because of opposing views on relationships with Dakar, and low-level military activity persists. Although the dead are not counted in their millions, this conflict has produced its tragedies, and continues to do so.
Naxalite
Naxalbari is the name of a village in West Bengal, India. Where, in 1967, a faction of the Communist party was involved in a violent uprising. The breakaway faction favoured Maoism to the Marxism espoused by the main Indian Communist party.. Charu Majumdar influenced the group widely through his writings, and urged a violent overthrow of the ruling classes.
The most violent and widespread Naxilite activity was the Insurrection of West Bengal. Under Maoist influence students, workers and farmers were encouraged to assassinate all representatives of the ruling classes, whether landlords, university staff, police officers or politicians. Calcutta was thrown into turmoil, with universities occupied and violence used against the police. The police responded with brutal force, a policy they continued once the insurrection had been quelled. The use of internment and torture is widely reported, and the result for the Naxalite cause was that Maoism was brought into disrepute, and popular membership began to tail off
As seems to be the case with breakaway groups, the Naxalites were further fragmented into several groups to fight not only the ruling classes but each other, as they continue to do. Today the movement poses a serious threat to the internal security of India, and it exists in its various colours over a much more widespread are of the country.
There are many more lesser-known conflicts going on around the world that attract little Western interest: the Sa'dah conflict a western province of Yemen, supposedly financed by Iran. The Balochistan conflict in Western Pakistan, and the conflict in the Mount Elgon area of Kenya. However it should be remembered that lesser-known does not translate as unimportant or benign, especially if you've been killed, tortured, disposessed, raped or even ignored.
