Fairytales and Naxal dreams

The derailment of the Howrah-Kurla Gyaneshwari Express in the early hours of May 28 by suspected Maoists in Jhargram, West Bengal, into which a goods train subsequently rammed, took a huge toll of innocent civilian lives – including children, women and elderly folk from the working class.

In recent months, the Maoists have been striking with impunity. They claim they only target the State apparatus, which is their enemy. That is how they tried to explain away the attack on a passenger bus in Dantewada, Chattisgarh on May 17, in which some Special Police Officers (SPOs) were also travelling. There are, however, innumerable instances where the Maoists have brutally killed innocent people, suspected police informers and even beheaded a policeman in typical Taliban style.

Following the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, Maoist leader Koteswar Rao publicly admired the way the Pakistani terrorists went about killing 168 innocent people in the city. He had no remorse or condemnation, but only admiration.

A point to be noted here is that the Maoist ideology and the Pak terrorists had nothing in common. The Maoists proclaim that they are fighting the atrocities of the State against the down trodden. Whereas, the 26/11 incident was a Pakistan-backed terrorist attack which falls in the category of “asymmetric warfare”.

What is moot, therefore, is why was the Maoist leader supporting 26/11? Is there any connection between the two sides?  This is not an idle question.

The Maoists are not a peasant army who have only the liberation of the country in their sight. They have evolved in different ways in the last four decades.

Starting from Naxalbari in 1967, the movement has suffered many splits; sections flirting with the International Communist Movement, pro-China centres, indigenous centres and many others. Even the founder member Charu Mazumdar’s faction realised that the annihilation of people was counter-productive and withdrew from this course.

The current Maoist leadership has learnt a lot from the experience of the factions; rejecting some experiences; espousing some of them and, given political space, drawing their own path. And those who gave them space are the Indian politicians.

The Maoists appear to have astutely strategised their links both externally and internally. While there is no smoking gun yet to prove their links with internal supporters, intelligence investigations are beginning to reveal Lashker-e-Toiba (LET) links and financial support. There is sudden improvement in their tactics, and their ability to make explosive devices, including deep landmines, which can be remotely detonated, as witnessed in the Dantewada passenger bus explosion.

Internally, the Maoists have emerged as election power brokers in States along the ‘Red Corridor’. In West Bengal, it is well known that the ruling CPM and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) have been quietly wooing the Maoists to garner votes from them for the just completed Municipal elections (May 30, 2010) and the upcoming State elections in 2011.

The upcoming State elections in West Bengal will be a critical challenge for the incumbent CPM government, which has ruled for three decades; but has nothing really to show, at least in the last five years.

For Trinamool chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, this is a personal vendetta against the CPM, and she is using every opportunity at her disposal to oust the comrades from power. Mamata’s ally, the Congress, is soft stepping.

The Maoists have been opponents of the CPM ideologically and on the field. However, despite CPM claims of loss in lives suffered at the hands of the Maoists, the CPM local leaders have behaved as the Satraps of the Nawab.

But the Congress government at the Centre and the whole party must look at the West Bengal development holistically. One election victory does not make a decade of stability. If the TMC wins in West Bengal, the mercurial Mamata can turn 180 degrees.

Mamata Banerjee has always avoided holding the Maoists to account. The most irresponsible and dangerous statement that Mamata made after the Gyaneshwari Express tragedy was to indirectly blame the CPM for it.

The Congress has to think whether West Bengal and India needs a leader like Mamata Banerjee, who tries to indirectly absolve the murder of innocent people, just to stay in power. Of course, the CPM are no saints, either.

The West Bengal elections, both Municipal and the upcoming State elections, may show the direction of the growing power of the Maoists.

Down South, Shibu Soren has already demonstrated his benefit from the Maoists with his election victory. The Maoists, of course, are in a stronger position in Jharkand and Chattisgarh.

But if the TMC wins in West Bengal, it will be an important feather in the Maoists’ cap. How Mamata will deal with the Maoists in that eventuality is a huge question. The Congress also has to consider this question.

When Congress President Sonia Gandhi recently said that the Maoist threat must be addressed both through development and strong anti-Maoist operations, she was not romancing the Maoist by any means. She finally saw the truth. But this simple realisation has come four decades too late.

The Central and State governments have never been in consonance on this issue. Each used the situation against the other. In some ways, mostly inadvertently, the policies created a situation similar to what the Pakistani government did to promote Islamists for internal political ends. India can cut the costs that Pakistan is suffering today with clear policies.

The civil society activists, the human rights activists, and the openly pro-Maoists ideologues have a serious point when they say the genesis of the problem lies in the deprivation of the tribals and villagers at the hands of the landlords and the sheer apathy of the State governments in addressing their basic needs and providing basic amenities of life, which is their constitutional right.

This writer, in his younger days, visited some of the poor areas of Orissa. The plight of these poor people, mostly tribals, would make a sensitive person throw up. Over the years, their condition has become worse; with State governments flatly denying starvation deaths and farmer suicides.

To a great extent, land reforms took place first in West Bengal and Kerala. In the rest of the Red Corridor this serious problem still exists.  Illegal mining in the tribal areas by politically connected mine mafia continues unchallenged.  The Central government has no powers under the constitution to force State governments to implement land reforms and distribute land to the tillers. This is modern India’s slavery system.

So why is the Maoist writ growing in West Bengal, where land reforms have been instituted and there are no large landowners? The answer clearly is State hoodlumism by CPM cadres.

Having said that, the so-called civil society activists are yet to provide any workable solutions. The probe into the Gyaneshwari Express sabotage suggests the hand of the People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) and other pro-Maoist groups. The Maoists have several organisations that support them with both propaganda and intelligence.

At the same time, there are no points either for the State governments. They are the ones who have created the problem.

The Maoists have adopted a path to destabilise and weaken the entire Indian polity. There is a long-term design that the Central and State governments, as well as the security agencies seem to be missing. In today’s India, the Maoists could not have emerged with such strength only with indigenous support.

The Maoists are holding large parts of the country to ransom. Such an armed revolution needs a large and steady supply of money and an efficient intelligence network. Where is this financial support coming from?

There is an intellectual and political debate going on as to how the government can kill its own citizens. Sparsely-equipped para-military personnel with no understanding of this kind of guerrilla warfare turn into lambs for slaughter.

But what really is preventing effective action is the interest of political parties, who drink from the well of such disasters just to win elections. The Congress government in the Centre also appears to be fractured for the same political benefits.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Maoist terrorism as the biggest challenge to the country. But this has not been followed up with action on the ground level. Law and order issues may be a State subject, but when they threaten the edifice of the country, it becomes a central responsibility.

Development of the tribal and economically backward areas must be forced on a war footing. When tribals are given land and development support they must be protected by para-military organisations for at least five years to give the people confidence to resist the Maoists.

At the same time, all forces at the disposal of the Central and State governments must be enlisted to fight and uproot the Maoists. The Maoists may be Indian citizens, but if they want to destabilise the Indian Union, they become the enemies of the State and must be dealt with accordingly.

If the Central government thinks it will lose its position if they take such actions, so be it. Their solemn promise is to protect India. General elections are four years away. If they can eradicate this monster, the Congress will come back with a thumping majority.

At the moment, all ills are being laid at the doorsteps of the Congress. If they do not act soon, their house of cards may start tumbling.

Bhaskar Roy, who retired recently as a senior government official with decades of national and international experience, is an expert on international relations and Indian strategic interests.

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