Orphans of the Economy?

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

from Wish You were Here
by Pink Floyd

A few days ago, Mumbai Police ATS announced that it has a list of code names of a hundred Naxalite operatives in the city. They are staying here under different aliases. Their primary job is to recruit urban youth and spread their 'ideology' among the more affluent class of people in the country.

This is a growing concern among security agencies, that the Naxals are spreading their wings to the cities. Earlier the Naxalite movement was restricted only to the more backward regions of the country, namely, districts in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. The Naxal movement in the country has come a long way from being a peasent revolt to a full blown internal security threat to the integrity of the country. The banned Communist Party of India(Maoist) that was formed by the merger of People's War Group and Maoist Communist Centre, in 2004, has been declared a terrorist group by the Government of India. Many of its leaders have been arrested and charged with sedition.

The Naxalite Movement has gone astray from its roots in the peasant revolution that took place in Naxalbari district of West Bengal. The Times of India carried a report recently that said the young generation does not know much about that historic event that occurred in their district and memories of Charu Muzumdar and Kanu Sanyal are fading fast. The revolution that was supposed to take over India's cities has just not seen the future these erstwhile leaders dreamed of. India has moved a long way since then. It has become more violent and news of security personnel being killed in land mine blasts and skirmishes with local cops, attacks on local police stations are commonplace these days. Our Prime Minister has said that Naxalism is the single biggest internal security threat India faces.

And that is so true. But what can be done?


We need to inspect why Naxalism in the country has grown to the kind of proportions it has over the years. Many people, especially farmers mainly on subsistence agriculture and tribals have been overlooked by the state in its policies. Most of the laws which were passed were unfair to the tribals who claim to hold a natural right over the forests. The failed and corrupt administration in the districts has not helped either. The fruits of development never reached these people, they were displaced; their lands taken away for industries and the compensation offered to them was meagre. They were easy prey for the Naxalites that recruited them on the basis of their propaganda which has promised an uprising that will sweep through the country and the red flag will fly high over Delhi.

Do these guys really think this will happen? Do they really believe that they can ever match the Indian Defence Forces? If the Government puts its mind to it, they can be smoked out of their hideouts. The movement is sponsored by funds from sympathisers and the drug trail. The Naxals also have close ties with other separatist groups such as United Liberation Front of Asom. Though the problems faced by the section of people who have joined the movement are genuine and given a choice, would never pick up a gun and kill. They are too naive to realise that the people they take orders from are indeed millionaires and have little to lose if the movement fails; which it will in all certainty. What will happen is that the tribals and farmers will lose sons and daughters to a cause that was never going to see through time. Already the Indian Government is hitting back and in places like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the Naxalite movement has been contained to a great extent. This will happen in other states too, eventually.

The best way to end Naxalism is of course connecting with the people who have been influenced by the anti-state propaganda. This has already been started on a small scale. In the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, cops have taken up the role of teachers and are teaching schoolchildren. Also money is being offered to informers of Naxal activities and for surrendering arms. This, along with combing operations in the forests, has helped to bring Naxalism under check in Maharashtra. These initiatives need to be replicated in other affected districts to bring an end to this 'revolution'.

I am sure Naxalism will be eliminated from the country. But it will be a bloody war against the Naxals and there will be heavy casualties on both sides. But we have no choice, the Naxalite movement needs to be crushed; and we have every reason to believe that it will be.

Orphans of the economy? Enemies of the state more appropriately. But the saddest part is that they are our own people.

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