Maoists in India
What began as a small revolt by a bunch of oppressed farmers in a place called Naxalbari in West Bengal has now grown into the biggest armed insurrection that the State has witnessed since its inception over sixty years ago. In the words of Home Minister, Mr P.C. Chidambaram, the Maoist movement is the biggest threat to national stability and security, even more so than the Kashmir insurgency. Encompassing eleven states across the breadth of India, the Maoists have declared war on India. Lately, it seems they have shed their earlier inhibitions of targeting civilians and are now targeting them with equal fervour. They strike at will, seemingly immune to the massive amount of men and material that the nation is pumping into the affected areas to contain and combat them.
The Home Ministry, belatedly recognising the total absence of civilian administration in the affected areas, has devised a two pronged strategy to tackle Maoists. As per this, the armed wing of the State first �flush� the area clear of Maoists. This is then followed by the civilian administration which tries to bring in some semblance of normalcy and development into the region.
On face value, it seems to be a good strategy, similar to the �clear, build, hold� strategy followed by U.S. troops in their own war in Afghanistan. However, the strategy has clearly failed here.. The reasons are of course different and need to be looked into.
Firstly, what needs to be seen is whether the same standards of development that we have applied nationwide are applicable here. Do the tribals really want wide roads, industries, McDonald�s restaurants and Big Bazaars? Are we not being extremely ethnocentric when we assume that they crave for the same material culture that we work towards? Of course, even if they do, the State has failed to provide them . We need to give the tribals a chance at explaining exactly what they want, and then working towards fulfilling those demands. Isn�t that what democracy is all about?
The nation stands divided on the question of dealing with the Maoists. Should we intensify the war against them? Or should it be treated as a social issue and a total failure of the State machinery to deliver? What we need is a symbiotic approach of the measures suggested above. Yes, wrongs were done which need to be addressed and compensated for. At the same time it needs to be understood, that violence will have to be resorted to quell some of the more hardliner Maoists.
It is imperative that we resolve the Maoist issue as soon as possible. If the situation is allowed to fester anymore we may soon be looking at an all out civil war between the State and the Naxals. The nation needs to unite and end this issue once and for all. Then and only then we can hold our heads up high and claim ourselves to be a true democratic Country.
Rohit Jain
