BRING THEM TO MAINSTREAM AND GIVE THEM THEIR SHARE
The Maoism in its different rabid and dangerous forms is increasing both in strength and territorial expansion. Once germinated in Naxalbari area of West Bengal has now engulfed states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh etc. it has also spread in some areas of Maharashtra and Utter Pradesh also. With passage of time, months and years more and more geographical areas are being infected by this menace. Now the stereotype concept of Maoists living in Jungles has eclipsed and they are now not only residing in plain areas but can and are striking the establishments whenever and wherever they wish.
The question that hounds every body’s mind is that who funds them and why in spite of huge security and intelligence network and establishment, India is not capable of weeding it out. In fact what to talk to wiping it out, it is spreading like a pandemic and no solution is perceptible at least in near future.
The essay is an attempt to discuss and suggest ways to tackle this menace from politico-administrative angle.
The growing tentacles of Maoism and Extremism in many parts of the country are posing serious threats to Internal Security. One should not confuse this problem with Terrorism. The basic difference between Maoism and Terrorism is that, the former wages war against the ruling class and system but the declared aim is not seceding from the country, whereas; the later threatens the system itself. The aim of the Terrorism is generally to attack on the existence of the state itself, whereas; Maoism’s aim is to attack on the establishment.
The beginning of the Naxal or Maoist movement is traced back to 1967 itself in Naxalbari area of West Bengal. Charu Majumdar is said to be the man who started this movement in India. In Bihar the beginning of this movement is traced back to last 1970s when this movement was started in Mushari Block of Muzaffarpur district. Now this movement is an all India phenomena and has spread its tentacles in states like Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, M.P., Orissa, Jharkhand and many other areas of UP and Maharashtra also. On 13th March, 2006 the then Union Minister for Home, Sri Shiv Raj Patil tabled in Parliament a Status Paper on the problem of Left-wing Extremism i.e. Maoism in India. If one looks at the reports and the figures appended with the report, one can understand very easily the problem of the left-Extremism has assumed an all-India character. According to this official report, which is often deliberately less intensifies; say that 509 Police Stations across 11 States are Maoist-Naxalites infested. It is 5.8% of the total police stations of India. The report further suggest that after the merger of CPML-PW into CPI(Maoist) in September 2004, they are reported to be trying to woo the other splinter groups and have consolidated their front organisations Revolutionary Democratic Front(RDF)to intensify their mass contact programme. Although, this report points out various steps like (a) Modernisation of Police Force (b) Revision of Security Related Expenditure(SRE) in May,2005 (c) Supply of Anti-Land Mine Vehicle (d)Long-term deployment of Para-Military forces (e) India Reserve Battalions etc, the situation is not showing the signs of improvement so far.
Recent spurt in Maoist attacks both on the civilian and security establishments, in areas like Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, Mehboobnagar in AP, East and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand, Baripada, Kandhmal, Malkangiri etc in Orissa and many places in Bihar are of serious consequences. One DSP rank officer had been killed in a place called Bundu near the Jharkhand State’s capital, Ranchi. Few years back, the Maoists blew Jehenabad District’s Jail in Bihar and set free many jail mates including one Kanu sanyal the hard core Maoist. Such incidents have thoroughly demoralised the security forces to such extent that the police headquarters have withdrew many police pickets from the extremists infested areas. Areas, hitherto unaffected in Bihar have also been brought under its control by the naxalites and Maoists. In recent times, districts like Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, East and West Champaran, Samastipur, Madhubani, Sitamarhi and Sheohar have also been affected by this menace. In Madhuban Police Station of Motihari district, the Maoists attacked the police stations, killed many security personnel, looted the arms and ammunitions, attacked block and banks. The main target was a local MP whose petrol pump was gutted. They also set ablaze the house and business establishment of this leader. In June, 2008, the Maoists blew on block office called ‘tetariya’ in the same district Motihari. In July, 2008, the Maoists blew Laxmipur Block office in Jamui district, incidentally this area is the home town of a central minister. Thus, the Maoists have proved it without a shadow of doubt that they can blew and attack any target any time whenever and wherever they want.
On 3rd July ‘The Hindu’ writes in its editorial about the killing of the anti-naxal force in AP “the murderous attack on Andhra Pradesh anti-naxalite force, the greyhounds, marks a new watershed in Maoist insurgency. This is the first time that as many as 33 Andhra Pradesh security personnel have been killed in a single encounter. The police men evidently walked into a well-laid trap, enticed with false information about a Maoist’s conclave in Malkangiri in Orissa. If the attack was totally unexpected, it was partly because it marked a tactical departure; rather than use of land mines and typical ploy such as ambushes and raids, the Maoists are believed to have employed rocket launchers to hit a launch ferrying the policemen aback “. It is pertinent to mention here that the greyhound was formed in the year 1989 as an elite force to combat naxal-Maoist menace.
MAOIST MENACE AND NEPAL- The success of the Maoists in Nepal has emboldened the morale of the Maoists in India to a great extent. In fact their infamous slogan FROM PASHUPATI SE TIRUPATI TAK is still relevant for them. They claim that now the one end i.e. Pashupati in Nepal has been brought under their control. Many security experts opine that the establishment of a red Government headed by Maoists is going to be a major Internal Security problem in India, whereas; many political observers believe that it is in a way, a positive development in the sense that now, what they feel, the Maoists will joined the political main stream and eschew violence. This is however a proposition which only time will decipher.
FROM WHERE THE MONEY COME TO MAOISTS-
The meteoric rise of these left extremist-Maoist organisations is not only on ideological grounds. They might have been pursuing some ideological principles in the initial phase, but now their main motto is extortion of money and plundering. Reports say that they are eating up the vitals of the developmental funds meant for developmental schemes. These extremists in form of levy take major portion of money meant for execution of Governmental schemes away. That is why these schemes have failed to come up to the expectation of common people. The policy makers, without looking into the ramification of such planning, went on increasing the size of the expenditures. The more money is pumped, the more is plundered. Thus, it has become a vicious circle of corruption, plunder and rise in the power of these elements. Whether it is MCC or PWG or Party Unity or its new name CPI (Maoist), their sole purpose is to extort money and snatch arms and ammunitions from the security forces. According to one estimate, about 70% of the arms of these Maoists belong to the security forces. The attack on the security forces serves the twin purposes. On the one hand, it instils a sense of fear in the common people, so that they follow their dictates and on the other hand, they snatch the arms and ammunitions from them which enhance their strike capabilities. They again use these weapons against the security forces themselves. This is how a unique kind of vicious circle goes on. Unemployment and poverty are the major causes of its spread. I have the first hand experience of these things, when I was posted as Circle Officer, Chandil, in West Singbhum district of the present Jharkhand State in 1996-99. I found here, how the local tribal unemployed youths were recruited by the Maoists in this area. The system had been institutionalised to such an extent, that it was more systematic than the security forces recruitment drives of Government itself. Moreover, such drives are free from corruptions, whereas; rampant corruption mars the Government recruitment drives. The morale of the extremists had emboldened in such a way, that they used pamphlets and posters to advertise such recruitment drive.
Incidentally, I got an opportunity of working as an Executive Magistrate in Raxaul, a bordering town of Birgunj in Nepal. I could understand how the Maoists were spreading their tentacles across the borders. Their call of from pashupati se tirupati tak is being pursued very meticulously and methodically. These Maoist-extremists, after committing crimes could sneak into Nepal very safely. I have seen how the porous border has become heaven for the arms peddlers and drug traffickers. Due to porous and open border the surveillance is very difficult. Initially, the deployment of SSB on this border had helped the situation improve. But, after few years, this force also got contaminated. The situation on this border is far from satisfactory. Now the situation in Nepal has changed drastically. The Monarchy is said goodbye and republic is born. The Maoists have won the election and are likely to form Government. A man of Indian origin Mr. Ram Baran Yadav has been elected as the first President of Republic of Nepal. It is being hoped that the situation in bordering areas would now improve. This new experiment of election with Maoism is believed to be the harbinger of peace in other areas also. It is a right time when we should also strive to create congenial environment to bring Maoists into political process.
LOCAL SENAS and MAOISTS- Bihar is known for a typical security problem. In many parts of Bihar Maoists have been divided on caste and region lines and have formed so many senas or local armies. The situation becomes more precarious when they fight against each other. Here are some examples of local senas-
1. Ranveer sena- Bhumihar
2. Lorik Sena- Yadav
3. Bhumi sena- kurmi
4. Search light sena- upper caste etc.
5. Sunlight Sena – Upper caste
These local senas have unleashed a reign of terror in many parts of the state for many years. Over a decade more than thousand people have lost their lives in inter and intra group fighting. Although, these massacres are not of national consequences but undoubtedly, it puts in lots of strain on the security forces. If the Internal Security scenario has to be improved, these tendencies must be checked. There are some infamous massacres here in Bihar which speaks about the horrendousness of the misdeeds of these senas. Bhelchhi massacre, dalelchak- Baghaura in jehanabad, senari massacre, etc. are some of the massacres which have taken thousands of precious lives. They, on the one hand tatter the social fabric and on the other hand it puts in enormous pressure on the security forces. The failure of land-reform measures in this state is said to be the main cause of such problems. But this is a very simplistic interpretation of this problem. Undoubtedly, in the initial years the land-reform measures were the reasons behind these problems, but, gradually it deviated from this stand and took the shape of typical caste organisations. Many political leaders also allegedly got involved into it. The erstwhile Government in Bihar had constituted one commission headed by a retired High Court Judge Mr. Justice Amir Das few years ago. But this commission did not do anything tangible and meaningful. It took nine years and could not come out with any findings and recommendation; therefore, the Government wound it up. Nonetheless, one thing is clear that this state is very sharply divided on caste line politics, because whenever the summons were served on one political person, the fellow caste men used to raise voice against it and thus this entire exercise proved to be worthless and wastage of time and resources.
WHY DOES THE GOVERNEMENT FAIL TO TACKLE THEM EFFECTIVELY-
1. The biggest problem in tackling this problem lies in the system or the mechanism of our planning making bodies. Surprisingly in most of cases and most of time the problems are conceived and strategies are formulated by the people who do not have firsthand experience of these problems. The high sounding ideologies and stereotype principles are allowed to prevail on the realistic problems. The high sounding policies are formulated and are asked to be implemented by those who do not have any saying in this whole exercise.
2. The local Police Stations across the country have been thoroughly neglected by our strategists who sit in the power echelons. Instead of strengthening our Police stations both in terms of men and resources, we went on creating parallel institutions sometime of conflicting jurisdictions. Constitutionally speaking the subject Law and Order is the state subject, refer Article 246 seventh schedule, and Police Stations are the corner stone of this subject. We have well equipped paramilitary forces but with no legislative and statutory powers and conversely the local police stations are ill equipped but with immense legislative and penal powers. This discrepancy has to be removed but unfortunately we still are going the same path which would lead us to wrong destinations.
3. The Panchayat election of 2005-06 in Bihar is a path breaker example. The provision of 30% reservation for women and 27% reservation for extremely back ward classes i.e. EBC has done miracle here in this state. The Panchayat elections which were held without the help of Paramilitary forces went off almost violence free and only one person was left dead and that too was reportedly unconnected to poll. It gives a clear cut signal, give the people, the common and bereaved people, the power, the real power and make them partner in the governance. Conversely in the ongoing election 19 persons including security personnel have so far lost their lives. Many experts feel that common people in most of the poverty stricken areas do not feel associated with Parliamentary and legislative elections, because common and especially poor people’s chances of fighting in these election on political parties tickets are very bleak whereas; in party less Panchayat elections their involvement in terms of their candidature is much more intense and therefore they enjoy more sense of association in the panchayat elections in comparison with the parliamentary or legislative elections.
4. Message is clear we will have to make our democratic institutions more democratic in the sense that they do not become the club of some elite families and confined some political personalities. Ensure that more and more poor and downtrodden fight election and win after all the tenet of democracy is for the people, by the people and of the people.
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