[Reader-list] Alleged Maoist Atrocities

[Pawan Durani]

Irony ...... The last para tells all the motives........same people
....same style.....like the Batla house......

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 9:50 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
<shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
> 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
>
>
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