[Reader-list] The Naxalites overreached

Pawan Durani pawan.durani at gmail.com
Wed Apr 7 16:52:05 IST 2010 

So sad that a restraint is being suggested when all options have run
out. These Maosist haven't realized that once the 'war' is over
...these mines are going to kill the tribals.





On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 4:50 PM, Asit asitreds <asitredsalute at gmail.com> wrote:
>  when iraq was attacked George Bush said you are either with me or with them
>        the result one million iraqis butchered
> asit
>
>
> On 4/7/10, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Shuddha ,
>>
>> What is good about your politics which does not come out in straight
>> condemnation of the massacre by the Maoist without mincing words.
>>
>> This is a war ...you are either with it or against it.
>>
>> Pawan
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 4:15 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
>> wrote:
>> > Dear all,
>> > Whenever I hear of 'iron fists', I reach for my 'velevet glove'. : ).
>> > I strongly condemn any move to call for 'iron fist' treatment of anyone
>> > who
>> > is not a combatant.  Let me elaborate.
>> > I intensely dislike, and am opposed to the politics of Pawan Durani and
>> > some
>> > of his friends on this list. I think their agendas are dangerous and
>> > divisive. But I do not think that people should be treated with 'iron
>> > fists'
>> > merely for holding and expressing an opinion, no matter how
>> > objectionable
>> > that opinion may be. It is a crime to set off an IED or a mine or kill
>> > someone, but it is not a crime to call for an understanding of the
>> > motivations of those that do, or even to say that these acts of violence
>> > are
>> > part of a 'just war'. And the crucial difference between these two lines
>> > of
>> > action is the very basis on which an open society is built and
>> > sustained.
>> > But, just as, if the Maoists were to start targetting pro-establishment
>> > journalists instead of combatants, they would be violating a fundamental
>> > code of how armed conflict ought to be conducted, so too, when people
>> > call
>> > for 'targeting' Maoist sympathizers along with combatants, as if the
>> > realm
>> > of discourse and opinions were a battlefield where punitive and military
>> > measures can and ought to be taken, they are pointing us in the
>> > direction of
>> > a closed, authoritarian society - where all of society is a prison camp.
>> > Where people are prosecuted not on the grounds of what they do, but on
>> > the
>> > grounds of what they think, or believe, or what other people think they
>> > think.
>> > The taking of human life is never something we need to celebrate. The
>> > deaths
>> > of the more than 75 people in an ambush is not something that anyone can
>> > exult over. But, to be fair, if this party, which was on an 'area
>> > domination
>> > exercise' came across a squad of Maoists who happened to be less
>> > prepared
>> > than them, the killed would have been the killers. These two forces are
>> > at
>> > war, and in a war, combatants are not expected to shoot to kill, not to
>> > hold
>> > their fire.
>> > As is evident from what I have written, much of which has appeared here
>> > earlier, I have little sympathy for the politics of the Maoists. But I
>> > strongly feel that we should also think about the culpability of those
>> > who
>> > are pushing the CRPF jawans into a war to defend the interests of
>> > rapacious
>> > mining companies. They are just as responsible for these deaths as those
>> > who
>> > planted the mines or pulled the triggers, just as the American
>> > presidents
>> > who sent young American men into war in Vietnam were equally responsible
>> > for
>> > their deaths, as were the Vietcong. The soldiers who are pushed into the
>> > frontline of any war are the victims of the decisions made by the
>> > commanders
>> > of two armies, their own, as well as of their opponents.
>> > And frankly, if , the story had turned the other way around, if 75
>> > Maoists
>> > were killed in a CRPF ambush, those who are asking for 'iron fists' to
>> > crush
>> > Maoists and their sympathisers today would be celebrating. Arnab Goswamy
>> > would be singing an aria.
>> > I see a large casualty figure as an occasion to mourn, to reflect on
>> > what is
>> > making the violence happen, not as a reason to call for authoritarian
>> > measures.  If, we feel strongly about the toll that this war is taking,
>> > we
>> > should be feeling just as strongly, regardless of which side the
>> > casualties
>> > are on.
>> > I watched a hysterical Arnab Goswami go ballistic last night on
>> > television,
>> > asking for measures that will 'wipe out' the menace, that will tackle
>> > 'sympathizers'. He kept asking two of his panelists whom he had  decided
>> > were Maoist sympathisers, despite at least one of them disagreeing with
>> > that
>> > appelation, whether they were 'with the Indian people' or 'against'
>> > them.
>> > Now, if you are a Maoist, you will automatically reply that killing the
>> > armed police and militaries of the Indian state automatically proves
>> > that
>> > you are with the Indian people, since the state is the Indian state, in
>> > their view, is the monster oppressing the Indian people. In this case,
>> > both
>> > the CRPF officers who send their jawans into be slaughtered, as well as
>> > the
>> > Maoists commanders who order the slaughter, act in the name of the same
>> > 'Indian people'. Both use the language of 'wiping off' the opposition.
>> > Both
>> > seem to need massacres to justify their very existence. The 'indian
>> > people'
>> > must be truly bloodthirsty if so much blood is being shed in its name by
>> > opposite forces in an escalating war
>> >  I do not recall this intensity of condemnation during instances where
>> > massacres in 'Naxal' affected regions have happened earlier (with a
>> > difference in the protagonists of the massacres) say in Bihar, at
>> > Laxmanpur
>> > Bathe, or at Arwal, or Mianpur, where upper caste / landlord militias
>> > with
>> > the tacit backing of the police slaughtered peasant activists (Arwal, 24
>> > people died in 1986, Laxmanpur Bathe, 58 people died in 1997, Mianpur,
>> > 35
>> > people died in 2001). Do the hackles of our 'patriots' rise more when
>> > Maoists or Naxals are doing the killing than when peasants or tribals
>> > are
>> > killed by upper caste militias, outfits like the Salwa Judum or the
>> > state's
>> > police and paramilitary forces.
>> > If you look at the table of casualties in the South Asian Terrorism
>> > Portal
>> > for casualties in Naxal affected regions in Bihar for the period between
>> > 1976 and 2001, for instance, you can see clearly that 86 or so massacres
>> > and
>> > incidents of violence were cased by a combination of upper caste
>> > militias
>> > and the state police.
>> >
>> > This is the overwhelming majority of incidents. But I do not recall
>> > anyone
>> > having the gall to say on prime time television that the upper/landed
>> > caste
>> > militias or the Bihar State police and their sympathizers should be
>> > 'wiped
>> > out' or that their 'sympathizers' (who include activists of every single
>> > mainstream political party in India) should be treated with an 'iron
>> > fist'.
>> >
>> > http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/terroristoutfits/massacres.htm
>> > Is this not a case of one standard for 'Maoists' and their actual and/or
>> > supposed sympathizers, and quite another for everyone else ?
>> > best
>> > Shuddha
>> >
>> > On 07-Apr-10, at 2:22 PM, Pawan Durani wrote:
>> >
>> > It's high time that not only Maosists , but their supporters are
>> > handled with iron fist.
>> > Regards
>> > Pawan
>> >
>> > On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 1:55 PM, Asit asitreds <asitredsalute at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > what about the voilence in gujrat bhagalpur etc which have killed
>> > hundred
>> > times more people than in dantewada
>> >  what about tens of thousands of noncobatant civilan population killed
>> > by
>> > security forces in northeast kashmir and punjab
>> > asit
>> >
>> > On 4/6/10, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > …and committed a strategic mistake at Dantewada
>> >
>> > The reason why Naxalites have been able to sustain their insurgency
>> > for so long is due to three main reasons: the absence or failure of
>> > governance; the romanticism and propaganda of their overground
>> > sympathisers; and, finally, due to the relatively subliminal nature of
>> > their violence.
>> > To the extent that their violence was distributed in space and time
>> > they could slip in and out of the public mind, pursue on-and-off talks
>> > with state governments and generally avoid provoking the government
>> > into hitting back hard. Over the last five years Naxalites have
>> > violently expanded the geographical spread of their extortion and
>> > protection rackets—yet, the violence in any given place and time has
>> > been below a certain threshold. That threshold itself is high for a
>> > number of reasons, including efforts by their sympathisers to
>> > romanticise their violence, spectacular terrorist attacks by jihadi
>> > groups and due to the remoteness of the areas of their operations.
>> > This allowed Naxalites to get away with murder. A lot of times. In a
>> > lot of places. Literally.
>> > But killing 73 out of 80 (or 120) CRPF and police personnel in a short
>> > span of time in a single battle is no longer subliminal violence. In
>> > all likelihood the Naxalites have crossed a threshold—this incident is
>> > likely to stay much longer in the public mind and increase the
>> > pressure on politicians to tackle the Naxalite threat with greater
>> > resolve. Also, given that it has also become an issue of P
>> > Chidambaram’s—and hence the UPA government’s—reputation, the gloves
>> > are likely to come off in the coming weeks.
>> > There’s a chance that India’s psychological threshold is even higher.
>> > But it is more likely that the Naxalites have overreached. Perhaps
>> > their leadership has calculated that they are in the next stage of
>> > their revolutionary war. If so, that would neither the first nor the
>> > only delusion in their minds.
>> > http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2010/04/06/the-naxalites-overreached/
>> > _________________________________________
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>> > _________________________________________
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>> >
>> > Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>> > The Sarai Programme at CSDS
>> > Raqs Media Collective
>> > shuddha at sarai.net
>> > www.sarai.net
>> > www.raqsmediacollective.net
>> >
>> >
>
>

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