[Reader-list] Alleged Maoist Atrocities

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear All,

While I have on several occasions expressed my disgust at the way in  
which the Government of India is conducting it's 'Operation Green  
Hunt', I have to say that the news of the attacks by alleged Maoists  
in Chattisgarh, in which 6 villagers have been killed, and more  
recently a bus, with several civilians (and some special police  
officers)  has been bombed, is deeply disturbing.

It is a totally different matter from attacking men in uniform, (such  
as the CRPF jawans who were attacked not so long ago, resulting in 76  
casualties). Though I do not support any war, including the Maoist  
initiated 'Peoples War' or for that matter, the Government of India's  
'Operation Green Hunt',  in any war, armed men in uniform in a combat  
zone are fair targets. The death of the 76 CRPF jawans, though  
regrettable, is not in any way different from the death of any  
guerrila soldiers in the PLGA in any combat operation. I refuse to be  
blackmailed into thinking of such an event as an evidence of Maoist  
'atrocities'.

But by no stretch of imagination can the same principles of combat be  
extended in operations that involve unarmed civilians, (such as the  
incidents that have come to light today) no matter who conducts them.  
Regardless of whether the state or the Maoists conduct such  
operations, they must be condemned by all sensible people in the  
harshest terms. The Maoists, and the state must be compelled, through  
relentless civic pressure, to publicly abide by the Geneva  
Conventions in the matter on the treatment of non-combatants in a  
conflict situation. (And yes, there are conventions that shape the  
conduct of non-state actors, or the conduct of the state in relation  
to non-state actors)

The presence of 15 special police officers in the bus that was bombed  
cannot be offered as a justification for the bombing, because a large  
number of people who were harmed in the attack had nothing to do with  
any arm of the state, they were just ordinary passengers. This is a  
simple and disgusting act of terrorism. It cannot be explained away  
in any sense as part of a campaign of liberation.

If it is true that these attacks have been carried out by the  
Maoists, then, it is clear that they want to ratchet up the general  
intensity of violence in the regions where they have a presence. They  
want the government to unleash a military style offensive, because  
nothing would serve their purpose better. There can be no other  
explanation for the manner of these attacks. This is a disastrous and  
cynical policy, which will wreck havoc with the lives of the people  
of the area and cannot be justified by any means whatsoever. If the  
government of India responds by increasing the level and intensity of  
the conflict, it will become an accessory of the Maoists design to  
totally militarize the areas of central, southern and eastern India  
where they currently have a presence.

If nothing else, this shows how the policy of 'Protracted People's  
War' is bound to degenerate (and in fact is already degenerating)  
into an orgy of random violence, exactly as it did in Peru and  
Colombia, where the 'Sendero Luminoso' ('Shining Path') and 'FARC'  
rebels competed with the state and right-wing militias in a sad  
spiralling descent into armed chaos and brigandage that did nothing  
to fulfil any revolutionary goal. If anything it strengthened the  
might of the state and the right wing militias in Peru and Colombia.  
The Maoists actions (attacks on unarmed civilians) cannot bring about  
any other results either. The ultimate and only beneficiary of this  
process will be the state and the corporations who want total control  
over the forests of Central India.

However, we must not rush to conclusions. If the Maoists disclaim  
responsibility for these attacks, then we will have to see whether or  
not such a disclaimer has any objective basis. Independent  
investigations will have to be carrired out. If, by any means, it is  
possible that these attacks are 'false flag' operations, conducted by  
rogue elements of the state machinery, or even endorsed by the state,  
then the responsibility for the violence will lie squarely on the  
state. It must, however, be understood by the Maoists (even if they  
have not perpetrated these massacres) that the style of their  
politics can and does ennable the state to conduct precisely such  
'false flag' operations. If there are any amongst the leadership of  
the Maoists who are sensitive to the possibilities of forging an  
alternative radical politics they must begin considering the  
necessity of abandoning the disastrous method of 'protracted peoples  
war' and explore ways to an open, transparent, militant and public  
politics that does not involve the endless cycle of retreats and  
massacres.

Wherever the truth may life, this is a very sad day indeed,

best

Shuddha


Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net