[Reader-list] Reg: Naxalism

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Rajendra

This is where you lose the plot. There are people like Arundhati Roy who do
romanticize the Maoists when they refer to them as 'Gandhians with guns'.
There is no way a Gandhian would be found with a gun. But while Roy is an
anti-statist (not just an anti Indian-state person), she must be heard for
one reason: she has the patience to go to the places where tribals live,
talk to them, and understand why are they fighting the war. Her
romanticizing it is wrong, but as one of the links which I shared in the
previous mail said (written by Umar Mujahir I believe), which section of the
media today goes to the Naxalite areas and publish what is going on.
Chhattisgarh is one state which stops media persons from going to such
regions.

Even our defence experts analyze Jamaat-ud-Dawa statements to decide on the
possible moves. That does not mean that they are supporters of terrorism. I
personally feel we have to solve this problem, and this would mean
understand Naxalites and the reason why people take to violence, even at the
cost of their lives. Some of them even know they will never win, yet they
are sacrificing their lives. We must know this method to madness, because
ultimately it's cutting this base and making people realize that this will
not solve their problems and it can be solved in a much easier way, which
will ultimately ensure that Naxalism is wiped out.

Also, every Maoist is not a tribal, and neither is every tribal a Maoist.
Plus of course, let's not forget the structural violence conducted by the
state every day in the name of movements like Salwa Judum which are the
worst examples of state-sponsored terror on its own citizens, in the name of
fighting Naxalism. In this movement, not a single Naxalite has been killed
or caught upto date, but certainly innocents have been massacred and raped.
If they become Maoists, who is responsible for it?

It's also high time we as a society stop thinking what is best for adivasis.
Who are we to decide what is good for them and what isn't. There is no need
for Chidambaram to claim that development in the form of industries is the
solution, or mining is the solution. Ask them what they want, make them feel
important, and automatically they will be your ears and eyes in the fight
against Naxals. And then you would not need a huge CRPF to fight the
Naxalites; simply the police force would be enough.

Rakesh