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Fight Naxalism unitedly and comprehensively |
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The operation launched by the West Bengal government with the help of central forces to recover Lalgarh and surrounding areas from Naxalite control has again brought to the forefront the challenge posed to the Indian state by the Maoists. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly acknowledged, both recently and in the past, Naxalite violence is perhaps the single largest internal security threat, bigger than the unrest in Kashmir and the insurgency in the north east.
While the Governments, both at the Centre and in the States, have been saying that they are alive to the Naxalite challenge, on the ground, the requisite concrete action to end the menace has been absent. While Dr. Manmohan Singh and other central leaders have been talking of taking measures to put down Naxalism, the Centre has been taking the line that the primary responsibility in the matter lies with the state governments, as they are in charge of law and order, as per the constitutional arrangement. While the Constitution may have given the responsibility for maintaining law and order to the States, the Centre cannot shun the responsibility for tackling a problem, which has assumed an inter-state dimension.
The Naxalites are now controlling large areas in several states, right from Bihar in the north to Andhra Pradesh in the south. And, there is evidence that the Naxalites are trying to spread their tentacles in other areas. The apprehension of Naxal sympathisers in the national capital region and in Haryana recently points towards this.
There are economic and political as well as international factors responsible for the rise of Naxalite violence in the recent past. In a way, Naxalite violence has risen in reaction to the extreme deprivation of large sections of people living in the rural areas, especially those in the tribal belt. The Lalgarh episode has arisen partly because of people’s protests against police corruption and repression. But Naxalism is no longer a local problem; even in the take over of Lalgarh district by Naxalites, there are reports that most of the elements involved were from neighbouring Jharkhand and not the local people.
The same is the case with other states like Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Naxalite elements appear to be having a free run and are moving from one place to another in different states, without much hindrance.
Politics has also come into play as different political parties have been taking the help of the Naxalite cadres to further their prospects at election time. Not so long back, the Left Front government in West Bengal had refused to ban the CPI (Maoists), even though most of the other states affected by Naxalite violence had banned the organization. The CPI (M) cadres had been pretty much ruling different areas with an iron hand with the help of Naxal sympathisers. But now the tables have been turned with the Naxalite elements helping the Trinamul Congress in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.
There are also international ramifications. There are reports that the Naxalites have been helped by Pakistan’s ISI in getting arms and ammunition for their operations. The Maoists of Nepal helping their Indian counterparts cannot be ruled out. There also appear to have been links between the Naxalites and the LTTE in Sri Lanka. This is apparent from the Maoist reaction to the reverses suffered by the LTTE recently in Sri Lanka, especially the death of its chief, Prabhakaran.
It is going to be a long battle ahead in Lalgarh before the security forces clean up the area and either eliminate the Maoists or force them to talk peace. Both West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union Home Minister P .Chidambaram have appealed to the people involved to give up arms and talk to the authorities about their grievances.
The security forces may eliminate the Naxalites, but the state government as well as the Centre will have to tackle the political dimensions of the problem, if peace is to be sustained. This is true not only of Lalgarh, but also of other areas in various states affected by Naxalite violence. There is no substitute for a political solution which gives all sections of people a stake in the polity and the economy.
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