I have been noticing a debate in newspapers and television channels about the need to call in the army to tackle the Maoists and wonder whether it is indeed time to turn towards them before the movement spirals out of control.
Last week, hundreds of Maoists, who are expanding their influence in India, chased away police from a tribal area based around the town of Lalgarh about 170 km (100 miles) from Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state.
By attacking Lalgarh and then keeping the police at bay for four days, the Maoists demonstrated their growing influence over poor villagers and their capability to strike close to a big city like Kolkata.
(For Analysis on how Maoist insurgency can hurt industry in India, click here )
Thousands of villagers caught in the crossfire have left their homes in panic and have been put up in makeshift government camps. They are clearly shaken by the siege and the subsequent police campaign to sanitise Lalgarh.
Indian states have time and again asked the central government that it might need the army to fight the Maoist movement, which is rapidly spreading in the country.
But for the moment, India is banking on the police to tackle the Maoists and equipping its forces with modern weapons and training to fight the Maoists in their own den.
Experts say it is clear that the strategy of the rebels with their 22,000 plus combatants is to encircle bigger towns and cities and could hit industry.
Maybe Indian authorities should also rework their strategy as the police with their limited prowess have always been soft targets in rural areas and have failed to gain confidence of poor villagers.
Will India look to deploy the army at some stage?
(Reuters photo of a paramilitary soldier keeping watch from a tree in Jhitka near Lalgarh June 21, 2009)
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Well said iJay… You hit the head of the nail “India is meant for 200 million people and not 1.2 billion”
God knows when the politicians will grow and address the problems of nation. They are all busy in minting money. Naxals are also the same like politicians but with gun in hand (As they do not have police or army as of now). They are not interested in development and upliftment of poor but their exploitation.
- Posted by RohitI have been living abroad (Europe and the US) for the past 13 years and makes me very sad to see Naxalilites still trying to fight a battle against the police.
It is like LTTE trying to fight the Srilankan government for 30 years or the Talibans fighting the Pakistani government.
Ignorance is a bliss in this case !
The real problem is the population of individual states and that of India and nobody wants to question that issue. Then it the CPI(M) party and its politicians and then the Indian politicians in that order. The Naxalites can never win this war and it does not make any sense.
One could understand the need for revolution when India was a young democracy. Today after 60 years it hardly makes any sense.
The Naxals should change their strategy and fight as a party instead of using force and if they get elected they will understand (like the Adivashis in Jharkahnd) to govern a country.
India is meant for 200 million people and not 1.2 billion.
- Posted by iJayWhat we are witnessing today is a direct result on account of negligence shown by politicians and beurocrats towards innocent and poor people.
- Posted by SridharMoumita
“But dont u think there is a difference between a dacoit fighting to meet his self ends and the naxal who give up the luxury of life to search for a place for a deserving underprivileged Indian?”
-Yes! The dacoit is a mere criminal, a product of the society, but a naxal (the ‘literate’ leaders & not the illiterate mass cadres) is a parasite, who deceives & devours into the psyche of the already destitute people by exploiting their ignorance for his own self-centred greed & lust for power, money using them to legitimize & satisfy his sadistic blood-thirst, they find symphatizers in society who harbor similar psychotic disorders.
- Posted by anupA little on a tangent, apart from ensuring social and political reforms to tackle the Naxalism menace, we need to strengthen our police and paramilitary forces to ensure we don’t start looking towards the army every time a leaf drops.
- Posted by SwordarmThe recent encounter between a thousand policemen and one dacoit at Chitrakoot has underlined once again that police reforms are an imperative that cannot be postponed any longer. We have to Reform or Perish .
Time for a mini revolution in reverse order.
Enough of mediation and soft talk which never helped anyway. Bloodshed, as it should be the last recourse, is sometimes the only way in situations like this. This naxalite menace is going on for many decades. Now is the time to wipe out these antinationals killing police and defence forces.
Most of Indian poor, on welfare scheme, get rice and wheat on subsidized price, say a Kilo of rice at just Rs2 in Andhra. A cup of coffee in a rail station costs 4-8 rupees, for comparison. The enemy is an anti democratic terrorist force armed with sophisticated hardware that deters even police. These fringe elements are also partaking in the border insurgency and joining hands with terrorists in exchange for arms. These men work as extortionists as well. Businesses will not grow in these areas. First these thugs go then enter the businesses that in turn bring in industry and jobs.
Gautam,
- Posted by Azadcongrats and good luck. You are the best.Lot of Swayam Sevaks do the same.
Moumita,
With due respect to your feelings about naxals, I believe that you are an emotional thinker.
I do not know what Naxals are exactly demanding but if they stand for up liftment of poor people, and as you say are educated, then they should have adapted better ways to empower poor persons. If Naxals were really interested in development and upliftment of these poor people, they would not have indulged in picking gun/ bombs in order to bring down living & non living things what they believe is wrong. If Naxals have so much of clout and are so much revered by the poor people then, by lifting arms, the Naxals have fooled them and brought misery on these poor folks.
Let us for example presume that Government gives say 10,000 Crores per annum to Naxals every year to uplift the poor. Take it in writing, the poor will remain poor because the monitory needs of leaders (naxals) is not defined and they will continue to fool people.
Naxals have failed to bring any concrete positive result in lives of poor by resorting to arms and are fooling poor, illiterate, unaware villagers by creating image in minds of poors that they are saviors and all other Indians are demons. Their method has brought, as of now, a fatal danger on lives of poor people who believe that the danger has been forced by Government.
Now coming to solution, as I said, India is a mismanaged nation and the remedies for a mismanaged nation are not many and for sure, none are sweet. Given the inherent callous and careless nature, we Indian possess, large scale natural calamity like massive floods, long period of droughts etc and unpleasant events, like a long long war, forced by time can only help solve our problems.
Congress or BJP or Left Parties or Naxals or any Regional Party, will only fool people like they are doing till date. You can give them another 60 years and you will still remain where you are i.e., voting for issues like poverty, education, secularism.
Oh yes, do not take me as a pessimist for my views but do try to enlighten me as to what can be better alternative with some facts and figures.
- Posted by RohitHas anyone ever seen the difference between the villages in south and villages in Jharkhand/W.B, etc?
- Posted by AmanIf you compare the two then villages in south will look like a small town. Widespread poverty (imagine these people still use bow and arrow), illiteracy and complete lack of infrastructure has led to discontent which has become violent now. They are not speratist, they just want development and if the government can’t provide it then they want to do it themselves.
The only way forward is political will for development of these regions. I can’t say that all the violence is ideology related because naxals are known to stall development projects by digging roads, uprooting rail tracks etc. So police action is also required to supress the hard core naxals. The fringe elements in the movement should be allowed to resettle and should be provided with jobs.
As far as military goes, its a law and order problem and should be dealt by the police.
If the system is rotten then we can’t have army do the police’s job. It will be better to improve the system rather than let it rot.
Rohit,
- Posted by MoumitaI absolutely agree with u that not only in WB but everywhere in the country people are insecure and driven by proverty.And we have so much to do about it!! But if all of us shrug our shoulders who is gonna help them.Dont u agree that these deprived poeple(not any partcular state) dont even know the provisions made in the constitution?At least the naxals are educating them & channelizing their voice to the Govt.But they are being given deaf ear since the revolution started when even I was not born.Yes,politicians speak about removal of illiteracy and poverty.But their action demonstrates removal of illiterates and poor.If we are not living in that luxury to help any struggling or deprived fellow Indian,we can at least be honest to ourselves that they do need help and some people have taken up the responsibilty to do so.We spend a thousand or more 2 watch a movie in a multiplex and hang around with friends but most people dont even earn that much in a month!!Todays India cannot think about absolute equality but basic needs can be fullfilled.At least people should know what they deserve. I am no politician or an active supporter but at least we can have a common verdict that Naxals are Indians and they are not asking for seperate land & they are not after religious fight.They are not terrorists to be suppressed by army.So these literate people can be listened to.
Its nice to see so many thoughts, but isn’t it only fair we acknowledge our shortcomings at this stage? We have to start with ourselves.. We are educated, smart and can reason. We have talent, power and resources. Maybe because we lack the will to do something, or put our needs as a primary priority or maybe, like me, we procastinate; the result is that we just stand by and let the very reasons for things like Naxalism come into play. We can by ourselves, remove atleast one person from the grasp of naxalism by doing something. As a group, I’m sure we can do much, like create a agricultural union and consume what they produce.. The villagers get the incentive of new resources(intellectual, financial, material) and we get food, and satisfaction of having done something good. Educate them, empower them with basic math, reading skills etc which will aid them in thier lives. Set examples which promote thinking and not blind following. Lead by example, we cahnge ourselves first, then our families, our friends. Over time, the relatives, society, the town, city, district so on. I know its easy to talk, so I’m planning to start my contribution by teaching failed students how to use the computer.Lets see if I can imbibe some basic math, english etc into the course. What are you going to contribute?
- Posted by Gautam