Lal Salaam!

Leftist ideologues waste no time in raving and ranting about the grave injustices perpetrated by the state in undeveloped tribal homelands that drive people to take up arms to challenge the might of the state and assert their rights on what is rightfully theirs. Right wingers view the maoist problem as a menace to national security and demand that the state impose itself in totality to establish control over brigand infested lawless areas. Caught in the battle of ideologies are the dispossessed tribals, security men and occasionally a convoy of politicians. The result is a blood bath, heightened media attention, flurry of activities by state agencies before the usual stupor sets in. Nothing changes and this cycle gets repeated endlessly.

Naxalism evokes strong reactions. Dispossessed and forgotten people raising their voices and railing against the state and its institutions is fine by me, but terror is where line gets drawn. If citizens (even though they perceive themselves as denizens) take up arms against the state, the state is fully justified in deploying all the resources available with it to convince these people to set their arms aside. Negotiations and developmental work is a part of the solution but breaking the morale of terrorists is another critical part. 

Maoism, socialist revolution, guerrilla warfare are all strategies of yore. They thrived in the post-colonial era where they represented a kind of 'breaking free of the past' ritual. Modern democratic societies allow innumerable ways of expressing dissent, one way is to debate things out in the assembly, another is to fast a la Irom Sharmila, another is to protest a la Kejriwal & co. Democracy always delivers, it may not deliver on time, but it always delivers!  Violence of the kind witnessed in Darbha Valley last month only serves to taint genuine causes with the tag of terror. Who talks about the plight of the landless tribals when the news item is that of a burning, smoldering vehicle carrying CRPF personnel, or the bloodied remains of Mahendra Karma or a grievously injured VC Shukla?

Maoists pride themselves on following Mao's teachings. But what did Mao leave behind? Misery and impoverishment of billions of Chinese. Che Guevara's legendary guerrilla tactics did not change the lives of ordinary Latin American peasants. Stalin murdered millions in the name of ideology, but where does his empire lie today? Extreme left wing ideology is a failed ideology, there is no instance in the world wherein it has delivered the utopia it promised. The State must help these wayward revolutionaries realize the follies of their ways, persuade them and if all fails, impose its power to establish order- The likes of Darbha are too stinging a slap on the face of the state and its institutions, the guilty must be brought to account. Order and peace must prevail at all costs.