Might of the State!

The latest ambush of 76 CRPF jawans by the Maoists with impunity in Dantewada has brought the central jungles of India in to national prominence. Sentiments are at an all time high and there is complete unanimity among media, political parties and the general public that the Maoists be fought bullet by bullet and be exterminated for once and all. But the self-professed educated intelligent strata of our society is directing all its ire at select few who dare to romanticize the struggle of the Tribals – mainly Arundhati Roy. Arundhati Roy has always been a pariah, mostly because of her strong views on Azadi of Kashmir, Tribal dislocation and pretty much her perennial abhorrence of the might of the state and its sham development at the cost of poor people. Now, I don’t particularly agree with her on all these issues but I do appreciate the fact that she plays the devils advocate and flares open these rather one-dimensional arguments – governed more by sentiments than any rationale. She has been labeled a “Hypocrite” as she only condemns the violence of the state and doesn’t speak a word when our jawans become victims of Maoist’s savagery. Case in the point would be one of our dearest Padmashree Awardee Barkha Dutt’s tweet “what would be unbearable is anymore twisted romanticism of the CAUSE. No more 36 pages essays on good folks of Dantewada”. Now tell me which is more appalling a thoroughly researched and compassionate argument to examine the root cause of the ‘gravest security threat of India’ or a silly rebuttal of this scrupulous effort. You don’t have to agree with Roy here, but atleast give her the credit for initiating a meaningful discussion on this grave issue and most importantly for showing us what lies behind the enemy lines.

Now coming back to the main topic which is how we deal with this menace. Use of armed force seems to the most popular option at the moment as people feel that the time has come for the State to establish its authority and “sanitize” the “infected” regions. But, who are we fighting here “Maoists or Tribals” and how do we separate these two groups – for Maoists sure our terrorists who run a racket of extortion, smuggling, kidnapping and are essentially savages, whereas Tribals are victims of grave injustice, apathy and brutality meted to them by the Indian State since independence. This prolonged oppression and humiliation of the tribals by the state has naturally compelled them to gravitate towards the cause of Naxalism. Now, government says its all for development in these tribal areas but it can only do so once the violence stops and here lies the paradox. These very postiche attempts of development to fill the pockets of greedy corporations have forced the tribals to take-up arms for protecting their livelihood and dignity. Agreed that these areas are reservoirs of rich minerals and it’s necessary to mine them for growing our industries. But, the conduct of the government in the past and the never-ending greed of fat corps have sowed deep-rooted suspicions in the heart of the tribals which no amount of gunpowder can remove. So, the government is very much responsible for giving rise to a situation where tribals’ aspiration has become inextricable with Maoists’ CAUSE. Do I have any solutions? No I don’t and to be honest no one does at the moment. That’s why it is critical right now more than ever to engage in democratic and fruitful debates where both sides are adequately represented rather than getting carried away by the voices of our hysterical and numb brained politicians, celebrities and the media. The largest democracy in the world does deserve a meaningful discussion over the gravest security threat it has ever faced since independence (more than 70,000 people have since died in this struggle including jawans).

And why do Naxals resort to violence rather than leveraging plethora of peaceful instruments ob thier disposal courtesy our effective democratic system. Well, to answer this I will just leave you with this excerpt from the interview Roy gave to CNN IBN –

“How do the hungry go on a hunger strike? How do people have nothing boycott goods and taxes? How do people who get surrounded by thousands of armed forces in middle of the night retaliate peacefully..?.”
Anyways what is with this peaceful retaliation nonsense?? If I were to ask you that looking back at our own freedom struggle whose methods did you favor Bhagat Singh’s or Gandhi’s? What would you answer? We all know the answer don’t we?..When pushed into a corner even a faithful dog bites its owner.