[Reader-list] Comments from the "fact-finder"

[Sanjay Kak]

Apologies for cross-posting, but this is a very illuminating perspective:
a former Director General of the Border Security Force, appointed by
the Home Ministry to investigate the failures of the April 2010
killing of 72 CRPF soldiers in Dantewada, Chattisgarh.

Sanjay Kak

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100520/jsp/nation/story_12468855.jsp

New Delhi, May 19: E.N. Rammohan is back from Dantewada, having
wrapped up his job as the one-man commission appointed by the Centre
to find out what went wrong before 76 security personnel were killed
on April 6 by Maoists in one of the bloodiest ambushes the country has
seen.

The former BSF chief feels the government has gone "terribly'' wrong
in its approach towards the Maoists and the larger cause of tribals.
"Military operation is no solution to the Maoist insurgency. The
problem is much larger and much deeper,'' he says. He calls the
suggestion to use the air force "nonsense''.

Q. You have submitted your report on Dantewada. What went wrong there?

A. Everything went terribly wrong there, including the military
action. Primarily, it was wrong on the part of the government to
assume that the Maoist issue can be solved using force. How can you
justify using force against your own people? The suggestion to use the
air force against Naxalites is nothing but nonsense. Military action
is no solution. Every insurgency has its reasons as they do not happen
out of nothing. And as in the case of every other insurgency, the
Maoist insurgency, too, has its reasons and unless and until the
government addresses the root cause, it (efforts to solve the problem)
is not going to succeed.

Q. What, according to you, are the root causes?

A. The root cause is that the Indian system has failed to deliver
justice to the indigenous people. We have an institutionalised system
of suppression in the form of caste. When you have landlords taking
away your land, your women and treat you like animals while the
official system looks the other way, it is bound to create
repercussions. And now you have these MNCs which, after making deals
with the government, come and throw the tribals out from the forest
where they have been staying for centuries. Isn't it quite natural for
them to protest?

Q. But the government is doing all these in the name of development

A. Who needs this kind of development when your basic rights are not
addressed? If the government is so keen on developing the tribal
areas, what it needs to do is to give the tribals the right to the
land, including the minerals in the region. Give them the due share of
profits from the mining activities and not some lower-rung jobs in the
mining companies as a driver or a peon. This, along with the strict
implementation of land ceiling act ,will solve the Maoist issue.
Otherwise, the Maoist insurgency is going to stay here regardless of
the kind of force being used air or ground.

Q. But when you have hundreds of ordinary people being killed by the
Naxalites, you cannot expect the government to be passive.

A. Nobody is saying that. What I am saying is that the government
should rework its strategies. The priority should be to win over the
tribals. But this cannot be achieved by offering infrastructure
development in the form of roads and schools. What the tribals want is
dignity and basic rights to livelihood, and this is no uphill task if
the government is determined. Maoists are here to stay as long as the
system fails to deliver.

Q. There is an apparent confusion within the government in handling
the Maoists. While the home minister is asking for more force, a
strong section within the party wants a different approach.

A. This difference of opinion is a good sign. It shows that there are
some people who differentiate between the Maoists and tribals. It is
wrong to assume that tribals are siding with the Maoists because of
their love for Maoist ideology. They are listening to Maoists today
because Maoists were the only people who extended a helping hand while
everyone else, including the state, only looted them. Now it is the
turn of the government to act on their behalf if it really wants to
win them over.

Q. As an expert on insurgencies, how do you assess the Maoists' strategies?

A. I rate the Indian Maoists' strategies as one of the best. They have
an agenda and that is to capture Delhi. They are very clear about it
and they are using the tribals in a clever manner to achieve that
target. I feel the Maoists have been much more brilliant than the
government in strategies and execution. If the government does not act
promptly in the right manner, it will be too late.