Those living in northern parts of India recognise the signs all too well: The gentle nip in the early morning and late evening breeze that announces the arrival of winter. The day becomes shorter and the darkness drags on well into the morning.

Ironically, this autumn, the chill can be felt in all parts of the country, figuratively at least. India seems to be going through less happy times, both within and without the country. While the Maoist/Naxal issue has been gnawing at India’s insides for several decades now, this year, it has got more emboldened, probably out of a sense of bravado because of the government’s several pronouncements of launching a major offensive against them. Their attacks have become more outrageous and in the last few months, Maoists have actually been indulging in public relations. Signs of growing confidence or increasing despair? Recently, a video showing the Maoist leader Ganapathy addressing his cadre also appeared on Youtube. This is certainly India’s biggest internal security threat, and not because the Prime Minister had said so on many occasions, but because Naxals represent the most dispossessed people, inhabiting the most bountiful parts of the country.

But Naxalism is not the only area where the war of words has been going on. China has been upping the ante for the last few years and especially after the successful completion of the Olympics, where incidentally, its medal tally surpassed everyone else’s. China has become increasingly belligerent towards India. Its government supported think-tanks and bloggers have been suggesting that India needs to be taught a lesson. In October alone there were several incidents of acrimonious exchanges between the two sides, suggesting a hardening of positions. First China objected to Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh and later issued veiled threats against the Dalai Lama’s proposed visit to one of the most sacred monasteries for the Tibetans. Meanwhile, reports suggested that China is violating the bilateral agreement between the two countries by building dams on Brahmaputra river. While peaceniks saw a thaw in the meeting of the Indian and Chinese premiers at the Bangkok resort in the third week of October on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, FORCE believes that this is one external threat that India must awake to.

The FORCE cover story for November, therefore, takes a wide sweep of threat within and threat without. We believe that as far as the external threat is concerned, India’s biggest leverage is the presence of the Dalai Lama. He could be India’s trump card in the battle of nerves against China.

Usually an air of festivity grips all of us towards the end of the year. Though our cover story is not really in the celebratory mode, we really hope the readers do not mind. As we believe, caution is a bigger celebration. And hopefully, we will end the year on a much happier note; basking in the sun on a wintry afternoon, as they say. With that thought, bite into the issue!