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

[A.K. Malik]

Hi Mr Kak, 
          I have read thr' the article and found it quite interesting and may be realistic in some aspects. But one question comes to my mind whenever I see comments from retired Govt Officers as to why do they get enlightened only after retirement and express thier views so openly.What were they advising the Govt when they were in service?-after all the views of senior officials does matter in the Govt- were they only towing their superior's lines.
Regards,

(A.K.MALIK)


--- On Thu, 5/20/10, Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] Comments from the "fact-finder"
> To: "Sarai Reader List" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010, 12:25 PM
> 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.
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the
> city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
> with subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list 
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>