[Reader-list] IGNORE THE 'IDIOTS'. FIGHT THE WAR

[anupam chakravartty]

For a change I watched TV and look what I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYW_-xAKD5s&feature=player_embedded

The interviewer asks Arundhati Roy if she wants to go and settle abroad
because India, according to roy, is a fake democracy as she says in the
interview.



On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 5:01 PM, Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Bipin
>
> I dont' have time right now to go through the entire article, but will
> certainly do so at some time. But Chandan Mitra is a known BJP sympathizer
> (if not a party member), and I don't expect him to do anything better than
> say what they have indulged in the past as well: violence.
>
> Rakesh
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 4:56 PM, Bipin Trivedi <aliens at dataone.in> wrote:
>
> > http://www.dailypioneer.com/248225/Ignore-the-
> > <
> http://www.dailypioneer.com/248225/Ignore-the-'idiots'-fight-the-war.html<http://www.dailypioneer.com/248225/Ignore-the-%27idiots%27-fight-the-war.html>
> <
> http://www.dailypioneer.com/248225/Ignore-the-%27idiots%27-fight-the-war.html
> >
> > >
> > 'idiots'-fight-the-war.html
> >
> >
> >
> > Chandan Mitra
> >
> > The Goebbelsian propaganda of Maoist sympathisers posing as
> 'intellectuals'
> > should not deter the state from launching an all-out offensive against
> the
> > guerrillas
> >
> > I am not suggesting that Facebook users are necessarily representative of
> > public opinion, but for whatever they count, the networking site reflects
> > the urban professionals' mind to some extent. Therefore, I was heartened
> by
> > the significant number of comments on the site asking why Arundhati Roy
> and
> > her ilk are silent after the Dantewada massacre. Some even demanded that
> > these breast-beating publicists come out in the open and condemn the
> Maoist
> > marauders. I was tempted to respond to the outraged middle-class
> > Facebookers
> > that far from being shamed, this anti-India cabal is probably busy
> plotting
> > an eloquent defence of the merchants of mass murder; so, expect a
> > 5,000-word
> > tear-jerking essay in a newsweekly soon suggesting that the CRPF jawans
> > committed mass suicide or were killed by agents of the diabolical Indian
> > state just to give a bad name to the Maoists.
> >
> > This line of argument would be perfectly understandable from people who
> had
> > alleged that the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament was an elaborate
> > conspiracy by the Vajpayee Government to justify warmongering against
> > 'peace-loving' Pakistan and even more 'innocent' terrorist outfits
> > sponsored
> > by Islamabad. Similarly, hasn't it been repeatedly claimed by some of
> them
> > that the 58 kar sevaks who were burnt alive inside coaches of the
> Sabarmati
> > Express in Godhra were actually possessed by pyromania and a burning (pun
> > unintended) desire to go up in flames? So, it won't be surprising if we
> are
> > told that a bloodthirsty Government gunned down its own security forces
> > only
> > to justify launching a genocidal military campaign against helpless
> > tribals.
> >
> > In a brazenly Goebbelsian style of propaganda, these self-styled human
> > rightswallahs and various wannabe Arundhati Roys have started using
> Maoist
> > and tribal as synonyms. This is a deliberate attempt to portray all
> action
> > by the state against Maoists as part of a plot to terrorise innocent
> tribal
> > people into submission so that their lands can be grabbed for mining or
> > setting up industries, their women can be happily raped and their
> children
> > brutalised. That the overwhelming majority of tribals in all
> Naxal-affected
> > States are actually fighting Maoist depredation and that the bulk of the
> > security forces, especially policemen of the States concerned, are of
> > tribal
> > origin are facts consciously overlooked.
> >
> > The aim is to put the average urban Indian on a guilt trip and mount
> public
> > pressure on the Government to slow down or even call off the armed
> > confrontation with the Maoists. These conspiratorial bleeding heart
> > 'intellectuals', most of whom have little knowledge of history or even
> > Communist literature, obviously don't know the contempt in which Mao
> Zedong
> > held their kind. As a senior columnist recalled last week, Mao called
> > "intellectual" supporters of his revolution, "Useful idiots, but idiots
> all
> > the same"!
> >
> > Fortunately, the breast-beaters' plot is not succeeding this time.
> Opinion
> > is, in fact, running high against the desperadoes and from all accounts
> > people want sterner action to eliminate the scourge of Left-wing
> > adventurism, which none other than the father of the Russian Revolution,
> > Vladimir Illych Lenin described as "infantile disorder". So, I have been
> > telling my friends not to get too agitated by the offensive,
> anti-national
> > utterances of these professional India-baiters. Over the years we have
> > dealt
> > with a whole range of lily-livered liberals who, if they had their way,
> > would have gifted away the North-East, Punjab and Kashmir to India's
> > neighbours and even now advocate restraint in dealing with jihadi
> > terrorists, perhaps also the Taliban. India survived the onslaughts of
> its
> > 'intellectual' Fifth Column and I am confident will do so yet again.
> >
> > Having said that I must also express my deep dismay at the manner in
> which
> > the Government is conducting its anti-Naxal offensive. It is almost akin
> to
> > the mindless way the US Army fought the Vietcong guerrillas in the
> > late-1960s and, predictably, got routed. It does not seem to have
> > penetrated
> > the impermeable skulls of New Delhi's security establishment that we are
> > facing an all-out guerrilla offensive, not conventional insurgency. The
> > Dantewada tragedy demonstrates the alarming absence of the mindset
> required
> > to take on heavily armed, highly trained and motivated Maoist insurgents
> > who
> > undoubtedly enjoy some degree of support from a section of the local
> > populace, whether at gunpoint or otherwise.
> >
> > The French Leftist ideologue Regis Debray once wrote, "In other to combat
> > the enemy you must first come to grips with it." In other words, it is
> very
> > important to understand, internalise and anticipate the opponent's
> tactics
> > in a guerrilla war. I would prescribe a crash course in the war manuals
> > penned by Mao Tse-Tung and Che Guevara for all security force jawans when
> > they are sent to combat zones. Nearly 70 years after Mao led a successful
> > insurrection in China, his self-styled pupils in the jungles of India are
> > employing classic Maoist tactics with considerable success. We don't seem
> > to
> > believe that these rudimentary and outdated mid-20th Century tactics can
> be
> > easily countered with the experience of counter-insurgency operations
> since
> > those days.
> >
> > In Dantewada, Naxals followed Mao's dictum: "When the enemy attacks, we
> > retreat. When the enemy camps, we harass. When the enemy retreats, we
> > attack." A cursory look at the sequence of events in Dantewada last
> Tuesday
> > proves this. The CRPF got a tip-off that a Maoist training camp was in
> > progress and decided to go in pursuit. (Maoists retreated). The CRPF did
> > not
> > camp on reaching destination, so the second part of the dictum got
> skipped.
> > (Incidentally, at Sildah in West Bengal last month, 24 members of the
> > security forces were killed in a sudden guerrilla attack on the police
> post
> > - a clear instance of the dictum being followed there.) In Dantewada, as
> > the
> > jawans retreated, confident they had secured the territory and complacent
> > that the guerrillas were on the run, they were attacked. This is not the
> > first time that Naxals have meticulously followed Mao's well-publicised
> war
> > manual.
> >
> > A pall of depression has gripped India's security establishment in the
> > aftermath of the Dantewada massacre, affecting even the otherwise
> ebullient
> > Home Minister P Chidambaram. I fear it will take several weeks for the
> > security forces to get their act together again, allowing Maoists vital
> > time
> > to regroup, re-arm and re-strategise, apart from gaining the
> psychological
> > upper hand. Mr Chidambaram is still our best bet as Home Minister and he
> > must lead the counter-offensive.
> >
> > Clearly, there is inadequate coordination between the State police and
> > Central security forces. This is a lacuna that has to be overcome without
> > delay. I am no security expert, but my experience of covering
> insurgencies
> > over two decades convinces me that you can't win the war against
> insurgents
> > until the State police turns into a deadly combat force. They know the
> > terrain, they have contacts even in Maoist-dominated villages, and if
> > motivated they will fight to the finish to defend their families' honour.
> > Instead of paratrooping Central forces (who need to be used sparingly in
> > joint operations), the Centre needs to help and if necessary compel
> States
> > to train, motivate and equip their police the way KPS Gill's Punjab
> Police
> > fought the Khalistanis till they became history.
> >
> >
> >
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