Means to an end or the other way round?

In my last post regarding the Naxal issue I spoke about the government’s plan to launch the biggest attack on the Naxals ever – operation green hunt and how the government is manipulating the corporate media to justify this offensive move.
There are however, a few basic questions about the Naxal debate that need to be answered before launching an attack on them. Can Naxalism really be wiped out by brute counter force? Why are these poor tribals increasingly taking up a route that they know will end in death? Has the government created a situation where death seems to be a more attractive choice that deprivation? Why would the trouble-free tribals, most of them armed with ancient bows and arrows want to take on the might of government and their paramilitary forces?




Well the answer to these questions as complicated as it may seem are rather simple. We have a tendency to talk about the Naxals as if they are terrorists, people who wreck an otherwise peaceful and prosperous country. This is a result of powerful propaganda by the government. But Naxalism is not terrorism; it is a way of expressing popular discontent, which arises because of multiple flaws in the system.
Our Home minister, the Public relations and media expert, recently spoke about “development” in this region, but he also said he will follow something called as a “clear hold policy,” which means he will first “liberate” the Maoist controlled area and then go ahead and develop these areas. Well somebody needs to remind the Home minister that it is the lack of “development” in the tribal areas in the past six decades is the reason for discontent and rebellion amongst the Naxals and their supporters.



There is a reason for the widespread support that the Naxals receive from the tribals. The tribal areas in interior parts of the country are as far away from development as they can get. Terms like education, electricity and healthcare are mere concepts that only vaguely exist in files stacked in the storeroom of the very many non- functional Panchayat offices in these areas. Another issue is the Tribal bill, which like other documents exists merely on paper, where states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have never even acted on it. If you ask a tribal to stay away from the land and the forests he is completely dependent on, there is bound to be discontent and rebellion.




These issues are very conveniently ignored by the bureaucrats sitting in the posh offices in Delhi. They very evidently chose to take the simpler route of first finishing the tribals and then concentrate on the development of these areas. If they chose to take the other route that first concentrated on development in these areas then the need to launch such a massive offense against their own people wouldn’t arise.

These areas need development and the people need to be given their fundamental rights. The corruption needs to be dealt with, the poor governance needs to be done away with and the development process needs to begin at the most fundamental level. The process will definitely take time, but if the problems did not arise overnight then the solution cannot either. 60 years of negligence cannot be dealt with one offensive move by the Para-military forces; all it can do is lead to a civil war and a dilapidated nation which will be beyond repair.