Naxalism – A Pseudo Problem

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action;

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

                                                                                              - Rabindranath Tagore

The attack in southern Chhattisgarh this past May 25 and other previous struggles between the Naxalites and the government forced me to revive this verses which present a state of intense sorrow. Naxalism is stated as national problem, internal threat, obstacle for development, agitator of peace, many more words are there but it is more important to know that what are the parameters, situations led to such growing state that it is incorrigible. 

The incidents followed by each other played a vital role to setup and to strengthen the Naxalism in India. Here are some details:-

1948	Around 2500 villages in the south were organized into ‘Communes’ as a part of a movement which came to be known as Telangana Struggle. This ‘Indian revolution’ follows the Chinese path of people’s war. This revolutionary strategy was based on Mao Tsetung’s new democracy
1964 -1967	Communist Party of India(Marxist)(CPI-M) splits from united Communist Party of India(CPI) and decides to participate in election postponing armed struggle Communist leader Charu Majumdar formed the basis of naxalite movement based on Marx-Lenin-Mao thoughts CPI-M forms a coalition government in West Bengal that created division in the party as Charu Majumdar accused for betraying the revolution
May,1967(Naxalbari Uprising)	Charu Majumdar with help of Kanu Sanyal, Jangal Santhal and rebel cadres initiated a violent uprising in the small village “Naxalbari” in West Bengal against landlord’s men over a land dispute. The CPI-M led United Front Government cracked down on the uprising ,but this Naxalism ideology soon spread over many states and Comrades from TamilNadu,Kerala,Uttar Pradesh,Bihar,Kerala,Orrisa,Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal met and set up All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries(AICCR) in the CPI(M)
1968-2000	AICCR renamed All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR). After it’s dissolution it became CPI (ML). There were many armed clash between CPI(M) and CPI(ML).Many parties formed based on maoist thinking and they have tried to succeed politically

  

Until the 1990s the Naxalites were a marginal presence in Indian politics. But in that decade they began working more closely with the tribal communities of the Indian heartland. About 80 million Indians are officially recognized as “tribal”; of these, some 15 million live in the northeast. It is among the 65 million tribals of the heartland that the Maoists have found a most receptive audience. There are following reasons which has stirred up the flame of Naxalism

·         Economically the tribals are the most deeply disadvantaged segment of Indian society. As few as 23 percent of them are literate; as many as 50 percent live under the poverty line. The state fails to provide them with adequate education, healthcare or sanitation; more actively, it works to dispossess them of their land and resources

·         The naxals enjoy immense support among the lower strata of the society in which they known as the Red corridor, a collection of states with active Naxalism. The tribals consider the Maoists as their friends for them these rebels who have stood by them when police beat them, the political parties are with the Salwa Judum (An anti-Naxalite movement in Chhattisgarh),the courts do not give them a hearing, the media does not care about them.

·         The original struggle was against feudal landlords and landownership, but the new struggle is against state domination, modernization and development which parallels the rise of India as a strong economy propelled by capitalism and liberal economic gains

·         Politically the tribals are very poorly represented in the democratic process. In fact, compared with India’s other subaltern groups, such as the Dalits and the Muslims, they are well nigh invisible. Dalits have their own, sometimes very successful, political parties; the Muslims have always constituted a crucial vote bank for the dominant Congress Party.

·         The main cause of Naxalism is the glaring inequality in rural India based on unequal distribution of land. Equitable distribution of surplus vested land for cultivation purpose is the main demand of the Naxalites. This is also the centre point of the land reform measures.

·         Charu Majumdar, the pioneer of the Naxalite movement had said: “China’s Chairman is our Chairman and China’s path is our path”. While India is sensitized about the ongoing proxy war by Pakistan, there is very little or no consciousness that Maoism or Naxalism is actually a proxy war by China being waged against India for last five decades.

Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, called Maoist insurrection, “the single biggest internal-security challenge”. The solution needs to be multidimensional and calls for a synergy between the central governments and the states. The socio-economic alienation and the dissatisfaction with the widening economic and political inequality will not be solved by military force alone, which seems to be the main instrument employed by the government. In spite of many reasons that have continued to grow Naxalism but following considerable steps will help to demolish the some of root causes of it.

Socio-economic development:-

As the Naxalites are fuelled by discontent from the marginalized and the poor, a larger percentage of the national budget must be allocated to addressing the needs of these regions. More of the national expenditure needs to be focused on developing these poorer regions through initiatives regarding health, education, social welfare and rural and urban development.

Government service delivery should be improved in these tribal areas. Both state and government must ensure that things such as statutory minimum wages, access to land and water sources initiatives are implemented. If the social needs of these marginalized people are addressed, there will be no discontent to fuel the Naxalite’s movements.

Discussion:-

The government should initiate sincere dialogue with these marginalized groups, the Naxalites and state leaders. By communicating and starting a dialogue between these stakeholders, these groups will feel that they being listened to. By opening dialogue, the government can give opportunity for the rebels to join the mainstream by showing them that solutions can be created together with the government, by being part of the political system in a legitimate way.  They no longer need to resort to violence to get the state’s attention.

Military:-

Currently, the main instrument employed by the government to address the Naxalite threat is the increasing use of the military. While some military force is still needed to combat against the Maoist guerrillas, it should not be the only solution. By only addressing the issue by brute force, government risks alienating civilians who are caught in the middle.

So by looking into all aspects of Naxalism, I consider it is a Pseudo problem and can be tackled thru efficient steps to maintain peace.

“You cannot find peace by avoiding life” - Virginia Woolf

Source via - thehindu.com/‎

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/‎

wikipedia.org