Should we blindly hate the naxals?
By Binu Paul, SiliconIndia   |   Saturday, 26 February 2011, 13:54 IST   |    14 Comments
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Should we blindly hate the naxals?
Bangalore: Justifying naxalism would be suicidal in the present political scenario as it is viewed as one of the biggest threats to the nation today. Nevertheless, it's an undeniable fact that naxalism is the child of social injustice that has fast grown in the fertile soil of poverty, discrimination and suppression. The increasing gap between the haves and have-nots gave birth to naxalism in early 1960s in West Bengal. Backed by a strong ideology sans the boundaries of religion, cast, color or language, the brutal ways of oppression by the government over the years have boosted the growth of naxalism. Collector R. Vineel Krishna who has been recently abducted by the Maoists, said on his release that under-development is the cause of, and development the cure for, the Maoist insurgency. The unlawful conviction and atrocious life sentencing judgment against Dr. Binayak Sen on charges of sedition and treason against the country is another example of the state arrogance. The internationally recognized human rights defender, Dr. Sen who has devoted his life to service for the poorest citizens of India is a victim of state-sponsored terrorism. Naxalism has been marked with tribal character from the beginning. It was originated and grown up to this phase with mass tribal support. As A B Bardhan said, it is the neglect of the tribals which became the breeding ground for naxalites. From West Bengal it spread to many Indian states such as Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh etc. mainly in the tribal belt. The naxalites became more reliable for the tribals than the government and thus the ideology spread to more than half of Indian states. The official data reveals that naxalism has reached 165 of the country's 604 districts and as many as 15 of Indian states are living under the threat of naxalism. As the famous Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar Germaine Greer's right pointed out - "revolution is the festival of the oppressed," it is none other than the socially and economically oppressed becomes the naxalites. It is at the death of socialism naxalism takes birth. Through armed struggle, the naxalites try to bring about justice to the least privileged and the downtrodden and they justify this as their extreme resort to bring in social equality. The so-called tactic of the police to "suppress the oppressed" has only popularized naxalism. Ever since the government has realized the magnitude of the problem, it has tightened its stand on the issue. Instead of taking peaceful ways of tackling this menace, the government carved out plans to ruthlessly suppress the movement. Operation "Green Hunt" was just one of such methods which has been criticized by many for being too brutal and suppressive. As it is really hard to distinguish the naxalites from the tribals, the armed forces have ruthlessly killed many innocents. The sympathizers of the naxalite movement have strongly argued that it is not with the offensive paramilitary, but only by providing the basic constitutional entitlements to the poorest and most deprived, the government can bring an end to naxalism. Eminent personalities like Gautam Navlakha and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan have come up protesting against the Green Hunt. Arundhati Roy had a valuable point when she said the armed struggle by the naxals can be justified as that is the only way for them to defend themselves. Talking to Karan Thapar in his Devil's Advocate program for CNN-IBN, the Booker Prize winner rightly pointed out that the 'economic interest of the government' needs a war and thus naxals are made enemies. She also made an apposite comparison that in a way what the Muslims were to the BJP, the Maoists are to the Congress. The intellectuals, including film personality Aparna Sen, theatre artistes Saonli Mitra and Kaushik Sen and poet Joy Goswami are among the many who condemn the armed struggle, but extend moral support for the Maoists saying the government should hold unconditional talks with the Maoists. Rahul Gandhi had once said if we have to combat Naxalism, we should reach out to the people. We have to ensure that the government programs reach the right people. He attributed naxalism to the failure of the state to deliver developmental needs of the poor. The question of naxalism should be discussed in a larger context with broad mindedness. Naxals have been dispossessed, isolated, neglected, raped, murdered, pushed out of their land, and so and so on for many years by the government and the police force. Many of these stories of atrocities against them have never come to light. Isolation is said to be the mother of all pains and the tribals have been going through this for a very long time. All these facts draw more and more tribal population to the naxal way of thinking. Here, the naxals are left with no options but to take arms for their defense. No one, not even God, but the government only can bring in a change. The government should open its doors for unconditional talks. The respected personalities and intellectuals should become the mediators for such talks. The government should reshape its policies and approaches towards the naxals. There should be new programs of development for the tribals and the government should make sure that these programs reach the right people. Finally, the government should not view the naxalites as 'cold-blooded murderers,' instead they should also be considered as one among us struggling to survive. Peace can be realized only when the vested economic interests of the government are put aside and when negotiations have a human touch.