Maoist threat in India

History presents several examples of when a rising threat was not realised and dealt with it has led to decimation of mighty empires. whether it was appeasement policy of West in the case of Hitler's rise or the more recent Maoist rise in neighbouring Nepal, the final result is for the world to see. n either case the situation led to major loss of live and change in power positions which were /are not in the best interest of democracy as a whole. However,, failure to check such groups at the earliest stages has always resulted in escalation of problems. Indian Naxalite/Maoist issues are no different and successive Governments has been blindly ignoring them bringing us to today's situation wherein the CRPF seems ill prepared to tackle their might on their turf.

First let me make it clear that I do not see Maoists as any different from other terrorists and brigands who prey on country's resources when it is not clear what exactly is the issue that they are fighting for. Our democratic nature has shown that whenever people have taken an issue forcefully by choosing an appropriate political representative things have improved, e.g. Bihar, Nitish Kumar has shown the way in this regard. So, why bother to carry arms around when you have other more potent options, I agree they may be slow but they are definitely more effective. The maoist leadership is ready to spend their time in forests training the people wit guns and weapons but cant they actually go to he villages and impart basic education, help them with health and sanitation issues, help them develop understanding for the democratic process and try to bring tribal population closer to the other groups. What is easier is to simply take a gun and start proclaimg that some day we will have a idealistic government where every thing will be ideal, all equal and other crap. It has been proven beyond doubt that such gun based revolutions are either not sustainable or they lead to series of battles, wherein the gun wielding leaders battle for supremacy. The point is once you teach a citizen that gun is he solution why at all would he/she ever believe in ballot? I think this is where the Gandhinan philosophy needs to be understood. It is not about shying away from armed struggle bu with a long term view it is about what is the message that you are passing on to the people associated with you and the next generation. Look around at examples of final results of armed struggles, has democracy succeeded in such places. Either democracy could not sustain or could do so only after 40-50 years of struggle. Maoists are living in a world of their own when they should try and undersatnd the stark realities of world around them. What is required in our country is not gun wielding leaders but missionaries not affiliated to any other cause but to the cause of upliftment development and education of tribal population. Robin Hoods and their varied avatars are not required any more and in any case the Maoists are hardly like Robin Hood, they are mafia dons operating in mineral and forest rich areas of the copuntry, utilizing the national resources for buying weapons and waging a war when they should be helping the Central and State govrernmnet in enabling a process of improving the lot of people in such areas.

The massacre of CRPF has given enough indications of their designs, in fact the Maoist leadership has been harping about the fact that by 2015 they would have their own government. Enough damage has been done and it is high time that all political parties rise above their individual issues and work together to put an end to this menace for if it is not tackled at the highest priority level right now we any will not need to discuss about these areas as they would be lost from the Indian map for eternity. I strongly belive thisis an operation which should be jointly handled by state Police, CRPF and Army. Army should be able to provide the strategic angle for the police and paramilitary forces to effetively tackle the insurgents. If possible lateral recruiting of senior Army men in CRPF for the purpose should be resorted to in order to bring an operational edge to the entire process. The sooner the better is the mandate.......