In Praise of a ‘Terrorist Organization’
Professor Ali Sukhanver
Sometimes silence becomes a serious crime whether it is on the part of the crushed ones or on the part of those who claim to be the caretakers of the crushed ones. Sometimes a long silence pops up into the form of a disastrous protest and a catastrophic reaction ultimately giving birth to a large scale bloodshed and massacre. Same is the etymology of the Naxalite movement in India. “The single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country is the Naxalite Movement,” said Dr.Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister somewhere in 2006. The Naxalites claim they represent the poorest rural populations of India, especially the Adivasis. The Naxalites frequently target tribal lords, police officials and government machinery and call their struggle a fight for improved land rights and more jobs for neglected agricultural labourers and the poor. As per routine, the government of India has so many times blamed Pakistan and China of providing all type of shelter, protection as well as a strong financial support to the Naxalite movement. The government of India has declared the Naxalites a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of India -1967.
To counter the ever increasing activities and the influence and the growing popularity of the Naxal movement the intelligence agencies of India introduced another militant organization with the name of Salwa Judum in the area of Chhattisgarh. Salwa Judum is the first ever state sponsored militant organization in the history of militancy. In April 2008 on protest of the Human Rights Commission of India, the Supreme Court of India directed the state Government to refrain from supporting and encouraging the Salwa Judum. The HRC had alleged that Security forces had collaborated with Salwa Judum in their fight against the Naxalites. In this context, the verdict of the Supreme Court of India would always be remembered in golden words. The honourable court said, “It is a question of law and order. You cannot give arms to a civilian and allow him to kill. You will be an abettor of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.” Most of the Indians belonging to the educated strata of society are of the opinion that the Naxalite movement is in fact a reaction against the continuous human rights violation of the low-caste Hindus and the people coming from a very humble background; so this movement could never be crushed or suppressed by use of force. The only way to pacify the Naxalites is to do sincere efforts for their prosperity.
The law and order situation in Naxal-affected states of India is getting horrible day by day. The Naxalites target whomever they want. The law-enforcing agencies are their most favourite target. Every year so many police officials are shot dead and the government is so helpless that no culprit involved in such lawless killings is ever taken to task. It was somewhere in the mid of last May, in the Naxal-hit Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, Dilip Kumar Sinha, an Assistant Sub Inspector police was also murdered by the Naxalite activists when he was returning to his duty from Bande village on motorcycle. According to the Press Trust of India some armed Naxalites started firing at him and managed to escape. The same day a government contractor Suklal Sarkar also became the target of Naxalites when he was sitting in his office in Pankhajur area. Luckily he was taken to the nearest hospital and the doctors succeeded in saving his life after a long struggle. Both these incidents flagged a new air of fear and fright not only among the police officials but also among those who are working for various government departments. In short the situation is getting horribly out of control in most of the Naxal affected areas. In some of the areas the Naxalite movement is given the name of Maoist movement also. Some analysts draw a line of distinction between the Maoist and the Naxalite movements. They say, “Maoism originated in China. It has its roots derived from Mao-Zedong, the famous Chinese leader. Naxalites are of the Indian origin. Maoists want to take control of the government and enforce their ideology on the whole nation while the Naxalites is a workers revolt against their masters and landlords and they avenge by killing the symbols of dominance.” In short both these movements follow the same philosophy and have become a serious threat to the peace and prosperity of India.
According to a recent report the Maoists are planning to create a confederation of states comprising the North East region, parts of Myanmar and Sylhet. The confederation would represent smaller nationalities of the area. This plan of creating a confederation within India is a strong proof of the weakening law and order situation in world’s biggest democratic state. Since the Naxalites or Maoists enjoy a strong support from the local people of the affected areas, it has become next to impossible for the government of India to crush these movements. A few days back on 28th of June the local police of Chhattisgarh had to face a violent protest of the local people after the killing of seventeen alleged Maoist insurgents. Local villagers were raising slogans that most of those killed were villagers, not insurgents. They said the police mercilessly killed innocent villagers who were fighting for the rights of the poor peasants and laborers. The situation must be no doubt very much disturbing and alarming for the government of India and certainly threatening to the Indian union. Instead of poking nose into the internal affairs of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan and instead of supporting the miscreants and terrorist in these neighbouring countries, India must take care of her own people who are looking towards the international world for the solution of their problems. If not taken care of the Naxalites or the Maoists, India shall give birth to another child very soon.
