[Assam] Armed Revolution is an Outdated Concept

[Chan Mahanta]

On May 21, 2010, at 11:21 PM, Nava Thakuria wrote:

> It is easier for a perfect idiot to term other as idiots.


**** Words of wisdom no doubt!





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> ----- Forwarded Message ----
> From: Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at gmail.com>
> To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the  
> world <assam at assamnet.org>
> Sent: Sat, May 22, 2010 2:34:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [Assam] Armed Revolution is an Outdated Concept
>
> Every now and then we see articles that are written by idiots   
> containing little more than idiocy, and circulated as wisdom to take  
> note. But this one
> takes the prize for a perfectly mindless one.
>
> cm
>
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> On May 21, 2010, at 3:53 PM, Nava Thakuria wrote:
>
>>
>> http://www.sentinelassam.com/editorial/story.php?sec=3&subsec=0&id=36719&dtP=2010-05-22&ppr=1#36719
>>
>> Armed Revolution is an Outdated Concept
>>
>> The poor are told that violence alone will solve their problem when  
>> violence does nothing of that kind. It will only add to their  
>> prevailing misery
>> How long do we have to wait for the traitorous Naxalite rebellion  
>> to be quelled? The UPA government is looking like a standing joke.  
>> If we are to believe Home Minister P Chidambaram, the government  
>> will get rid of the Naxals before the term of the UPA-II ends. Does  
>> he know how the former West Bengal Chief Minister Siddartha Shankar  
>> Ray did his job?
>> After what happened at Dantewada, one of the poorest districts in  
>> India with 66 per cent of the 7.2 lakh population of tribal origin,  
>> the UPA government should have stepped down and fresh elections  
>> should have been held. That the Naxalites should have succeeded in  
>> killing 74 members of the Alpha Company of the Central Reserve  
>> Police Force (CRPF) in an ambush at Chintalnar indicates the sheer  
>> impudence of the Naxalites. Apparently, throughout the tribal belt  
>> extending to an estimated 200 districts, Naxal cadres number more  
>> than 10,000. What is more shocking and shameful is that these  
>> forces have the tacit support of so-called intellectuals like  
>> Arundhati Roy, who needs to be questioned. The exact number of  
>> Maoists is open to guesswork, but again, according to another  
>> count, they number “several thousand” and are well-equipped with  
>> Insas Rifles, AK-47s, grenades and rocket launchers, additionally  
>> capable of making Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs).
>> Furthermore, they are also supported by an excellent intelligence  
>> service.
>> From where did the Naxalites get their weapons? Who stitched their  
>> uniform? It is claimed by Minhaz Merchant, chairman of a media  
>> group, “that powerful vested interests benefit from the Maoist  
>> insurgency” and that “the financial nexus between politicians,  
>> businessmen and Maoists thrives in a manufactured environment of  
>> lawlessness”. Are our intelligence agencies aware of who these  
>> “politicians and businessmen” are? Should not they be interrogated?  
>> Importantly, should not the Congress Party, which has been in power  
>> for the last six years and more, have given serious thought to what  
>> has been going on under its very nose?
>> The usual charges are that the tribals have been deprived of their  
>> forest lands, that they have been denied access to jobs and other  
>> sources of living, that they have been denied access to education,  
>> and that, by and large, they have been largely ignored. Surely, all  
>> these charges can be effectively met without having to take resort  
>> to violence? If the late Nana Saheb Deshmukh could work wonder in  
>> his own chosen tribal field in Maharashtra, surely others, equally  
>> deeply committed, can replicate his success? Is violence the only  
>> way to draw the attention of the powers-that-be for the betterment  
>> of tribal life? Several intellectual supporters of Naxalism have  
>> expressed their views like Varavara Rao, activist Himanshu Kumar  
>> and another one of the kind known as “Kishenji”.
>> To begin with, why does not the Government of India ask them to  
>> submit detailed plans to help tribals? Surely that is not too much  
>> to ask? Instead of attacking the government for establishing Salwa  
>> Jadum— in the face of sustained violence — did the government have  
>> any other option? Cannot our intellectuals change their mindset and  
>> provide the government with a well-thought-out plan to bring  
>> tribals into the mainstream of Indian life? Has anyone prevented  
>> them from developing a positive outlook towards tribal enrichment?  
>> One gets the clear impression that some of our mentally sick  
>> intellectuals prefer to romanticize the concept of “revolutionary  
>> terrorism”, rather than to take over the earthy task of working out  
>> concrete proposals to enrich tribal life. It sounds terribly  
>> romantic to wage war against the country in the name of tribal  
>> needs, and the blame lies entirely on the UPA government for its  
>> soft-kneed approach towards every issue hurting
>> the motherland.
>> This columnist has in the past suggested the setting up of the  
>> separate Indian Tribal Service, parallel to the Indian  
>> Administrative Service, to serve exclusively in tribal areas, so  
>> that tribal needs and requirements are identified and fully met.  
>> Roads can be laid down. Schools can be established. Medical  
>> attention can be provided. Jobs within the tribal jurisdiction can  
>> be created, and a rich and meaningful life can be guaranteed to the  
>> tribal population. That is obviously not what our revolutionaries  
>> want. They want glamour, publicity. Our screwball intellectuals  
>> want to go back to the twenties and thirties and plan  
>> ‘‘revolution’’. They want to raise funds through intimidating and  
>> blackmail, make secret arms purchase, transport them under the very  
>> nose of the police and bring death and destruction. The very  
>> concept of an “armed revolution” is stupid in this day and age. It  
>> invites administrative reaction during which many innocents would
>> inevitably get killed. One activist, Himanshu Kumar, is quoted as  
>> asking why, granting Naxalism is a problem, that poor people are  
>> “attracted to politics that will end in death”. The answer is  
>> obvious. The poor are told that violence alone will solve their  
>> problem when violence does nothing of that kind. It will only add  
>> to their prevailing misery. But how is one to convince Naxalites  
>> that the prescription they offer is out of fashion and today one  
>> has to turn to out-of-box solution for known problems?
>> One thing is obvious: the government of the day must undertake  
>> massive public works and welfare schemes. Andhra Pradesh’s State  
>> Economic Adviser Mr Somayajulu has been quoted as saying that  
>> economic development and welfare schemes have transformed the  
>> Maoist scene in his State to the point that Maoism has lost its  
>> attraction for the once unemployed youth. Maoist incidents in  
>> Andhra Pradesh fell from 576 in 2005 to 62 in 2009, Maoist killings  
>> from 211 to 17, and police deaths from 25 to zero. What was done in  
>> Andhra Pradesh can be duplicated in Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand. But  
>> there, surely, are other ways to help tribal people earn and decent  
>> livelihood like production of pappads to making of dolls which can  
>> be marketed, not just in India but worldwide. And, at the  
>> administrative level, there has to be a proliferation of government  
>> offices equipped with the latest communication technology. But one  
>> thing is absolutely a must. And that is to treat Maoists
>> not as fellow citizens, but as traitors and murderers. No mercy  
>> should be shown to them. Their headquarters have to be bombed. An  
>> organization responsible for the killing of upwards of 6,000  
>> innocent people from 1996 to 2009 has to be wiped out of the  
>> surface of the earth. Importantly, the Maoists should get the  
>> message that there is a strong government in Delhi which will not  
>> accept armed rebellion anywhere and those who indulge in will have  
>> to pay a heavy price.
>> MV Kamath
>>
>>
>>
>>
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