Naxalites are gaining ground as the State has failed to protect the poor | N.R.Mohanty

Published on 20-12-2007 In National

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Naxalites are gaining ground as the State has failed to protect the poor

The New York Times reported the news of the jailbreak in Dantewada last Sunday in the following words: "In the epicenter of the Maoist rebellion in central India, 300 prisoners who were apparently led by Maoists broke out of jail on Sunday evening, the police said. It was unclear as to what extent the escape reflected poor policing – a hallmark of much of rural India, including Chattisgarh state, where it took place – or a well-planned jailbreak. Either way, it was a reminder of an insurgency that has spread across the mineral-rich forested centre of India, one that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the biggest internal security threat facing the country."

Manmohan Singh has indeed been very concerned about the Naxal dimension of the internal security threat facing the country. In one of his earlier address to chief ministers, he had specially dwelt on this subject at length: "I am aware that many of you, Chief Ministers, are grappling with the threat of Naxalism. We cannot ignore the fact that the threat of Naxalism is geographically spread out to the more backward regions and districts of our country. Hence, our strategy to tackle this threat as law and order in these districts and regions will have to be to "walk on two legs": To implement programmes and policies that address the pressing needs and demands of the people, especially the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes; and, at the same time, to ensure effective policing and maintenance of law and order. The speedy
implementation of land reforms, the redistribution of land, the assurance of tribal rights to forest produce, implementation of development projects and spread of mass education and health facilities are all important steps we must take.

"At the same time, we cannot ignore the inter-State and external dimension to Naxalism today. This requires greater coordination between State governments and between the Centre and States. We have to take a comprehensive approach in dealing with Naxalism given the emerging linkages between groups within and outside the country, which the Home Minister has referred to. I also draw your attention to the Home Minister's perceptive observations on the nexus between terrorist groups, organized crime syndicates, drug trafficking and external forces interested in destabilizing our polity. I strongly urge leaders of all political parties to ensure that such forces and groups are kept away from our political processes. We need to have zero-tolerance for criminalisation of politics in our country."

Prime Minister's diagnosis of the Naxal malaise and prescription to remedy it are well-taken; we need effective governance with a two-pronged strategy that takes care of the concerns for equity and justice for the poor and that deals a death blow to the criminalization process in the polity, society and economy of the country.

But, as we know, proper diagnosis and prescription is not enough; more so, when it concerns the public affairs. What is needed is political will to carry forward the agenda, without fear or favour. Prime Minister is the chief political executive of this country and the constituency that he addressed is the conglomeration of the chief political executives of all the states of the country. They have the mandate and the duty to execute the agenda.

What is their scorecard in this regard? Despite Prime Minister's pious declarations, India's ruling elite has proved unequal to the challenge of good governance. The Prime Minister talked about land reforms and the redistribution of land. With the exception of West Bengal where land reforms was a ground reality (though it was vitiated as the redistribution of land was done on partisan and ideological considerations), political leaders have merely paid lip service to this project or have skewed the process to benefit the rich.

That explains why Naxalites have found support in the rural hinterlands where the state has been indifferent to the plight of the rural poor or the state has sided with the exploiter. Whether it is Bihar or Chattisgarh or Andhra Pradesh, Naxal groups have spread their tentacles in those areas where the traditional landowners have refused to provide for minimum subsistence level for landless labourers. Thanks to Naxal intervention, the poor and needy are getting a better deal in different parts of the country.

There are many areas in Bihar, for example, where Naxalites have not been able to build base because there has existed a harmonious relationship between the owner and tiller of the land. The landless farmers who have got a reasonable deal from the landowners have steadfastly refused to succumb to the ideological rhetoric of the Naxal groups.

If Naxalites are gaining strength in large pockets of the country, that is because an iniquitous agrarian relationship exists there and the state has failed in its duty to do justice to the poor.

Thus the scorecard on the first count -- giving the deprived sections their due -- is clearly dismal. What is the state's performance as regards the second task that the prime minister enumerated – tackle the law and order effectively so that no group is allowed to subvert the authority of law?

The answer is self-evident from the fact that Naxal groups have declared large parts of the aforementioned states out of bounds for the state apparatus. Even the coercive agencies of the state--the police and the paramilitary forces – find it inexpedient to travel to these areas. The chief ministers, whom the prime minister spoke to, and their lackeys down the line, even lay MLAs, are always surrounded by specially trained commando forces to protect them and their families from the Naxal onslaught.

Obviously, the man on the street has to fend for himself. He is at the mercy of the people who have taken law into their own hands. The state has abdicated its responsibility for the protection of the common people. The state has taken on the responsibility to protect only the rich and the powerful.

Thus the two-fold prescription that the Prime Minister had advanced for tackling the problem of internal security on account of Naxal upsurge have fallen on the deaf ears. The political class is too obsessed with its own welfare to pay heed to the needs of larger constituency because it knows that its performance has no bearing on the electoral outcome.

Even the judiciary, another exalted organ of the state, has its priorities convoluted. It finds nothing wrong in giving bail to Sanjay Dutt, the Bollywood superstar, despite his clearly established crime but refuses to grant bail to Dr Binayak Sen, a social activist, against whom stands a nebulous charge that he commiserates with the Naxal cause. This unjust environment provides a conducive environment for the Naxalites to grow.

It is pertinent to quote the prime minister's first few words in the above mentioned speech: "When I was a student, in England some 50 years ago, one of my great teachers, Lord Nicholas Kaldor used to say that the progress of a country depends critically on the mind-sets and motivation of those who are charged with the responsibility of making the critical decisions in the life of a nation. We have assembled in this room, men and women, whose collective weight, I am convinced, can reshape the destiny of our country."

Yes, Prime Minister, it can but it does not, because critical decision-makers of this country lack the vision and the integrity to make this happen.

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