Maoist resurgence

The signs are clear. The problem is the same. The response is similar. The consequences will be no different. This is the story of State -Maoist crossfire in the new state of Telangana. The promise was to create a Telangana free from encounters. Yet again the ruling party leaders putforth an absurd argument that they empathise with Maoist agenda.

If so why these encounters and arrests. As in the past, political leadership remains in the backseat while police bosses swear to curb the Maoist menace. The villagers of Telangana especially in the districts like Warangal are shivering with the fear of the spectre of the past haunting.Telangana has seen a sudden spurt of Maoist-related incidents.

The causes need to be analysed. New thinking has to dawn on policy-makers. The government that professes its commitment to reinventing Telangana should also effect a paradigm shift in dealing with the challenge.The Telangana movement has created myriad hopes and aspirations. For the youth who seeks a job, a farmer who is awaiting a remunerative price, a tribal struggling for justice, a Dalit hoping for empowerment.

Telangana was shown as a panacea. But, a mere politico-geographic territory cannot alter the situation completely. The prevailing political culture no different from that in the past is slowly and steadily sowing the seeds of discontent. Non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act is aggravating the alienation of tribal who constitute 12 percent of the State’s population and much more in areas that are witnessing increased Maoist recruitment.

The government instead of implementing this legislation is resorting to arbitrary use of force by forest administration. The programme to grant land for landless Dalits still remain more or less a non-starter. The agrarian crisis looms large over rural Telangana manifest in the form of growing number of farmers committing suicides. Hope for a secured job remains a distant dream.

The Telangana government should address this social and economic milieu that is serving as a breeding ground for the growth of Left extremism. Instead, following the footsteps of earlier rulers, the government is responding to the situation with greater repression. History tells us that such a strategy would prove to be counterproductive.

The Maoist challenge is not just a law and order problem. The Planning Commission itself acknowledged it as a development challenge. And the solution lies in arriving at a paradigm shift in development. But, the development deficit would further worsen the situation. The State cannot resort to illegitimate use of force even while curbing illegitimate violence.

Violence thrown up in a political movement should be seen different from that of a routine law and order problem. A change in perspective is urgently called for.Maoists should also realise that revolution is not possible through trigger-happy acts. Individual annihilation cannot overpower the mighty modern state.

Subjecting the oppressed to greater repression cannot usher in a new social order. Learning from the experience of Nepal, the Maoists should reconsider their path to embrace democratic mainstream. The State’s response should aim at creating conducive climate for this.