BUDDHA vs MAOISTS – ON A COLLISION COURSE

Now it is the turn of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal. A Marxist talking the language of a bourgeois politician like P.Chidambaram, Central Home Minister and his master Dr.ManMohan Singh, our Prime Minister, is baffling to say the least.

That “We will teach the Maoists a lesson” like statements will rebound on his State with the Maoists getting more and more belligerent and destructive. Buddha, being a Marxist must be knowing it better than a capitalist politician. Maoists were once part and parcel of the Communist movement which during the period of banning in our country grew more and more aggressive causing massive destruction to life and property. The infamous ‘Renadive Thesis’ propounded by the then young Comrade B.T.Renadive with the intention of an armed revolution against the exploitation and repression let loose by the ruling bourgeoisie was the logical culmination of oppression. ‘Spring Thunder’ followed by a dream of a Socialist State for the welfare of the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ alike, ie. Equitable distribution of wealth and opportunities – certainly it was a good intention. But the means adopted by the Communist Party of India – fortunately the communist movement was united then, not umpteen communist parties as is the case today proved to be counter-productive. The rest is history.

If the Communist movement stood united - however it didn’t happen - the splits caused massive erosion of its support base- in spite of these setbacks, if the so-called mainstream communist parties while keeping their ideological differences close to their chests, in the broader interests of those toiling masses at the grassroots level had co-operated with a common program in mind, the Maoist movement would not have spread to almost one-third of the country mostly tribal areas and they would not have become the biggest internal security to the country as our Prime Minister had pointed out weeks before.

Nowadays, I don’t hear anything against K.P.S Gill, who was reported to have dared to take up the challenge of containing the naxalite menace (Maoist). The Super Cop had successfully taken up the challenge to put down the Sikh rebellion for a separate State for Sikhs called Khalistan.

In the matter of containing the Maoist threat the Super Cop had discovered an agenda of pitting brothers against brothers- ‘Salwa Judum’ as it was fondly called - arming peace-loving brethren to fight against brothers-in-arms, well-entrenched in the interiors of the forest areas. Salwa Judum bit the dust within no time resulting in mayhem.

I don’t know why the Super Cop was not entrusted with handling the thorny issue.

Soon after taking over as Home Minister, P.Chidambaram was brimming with confidence in bringing back normalcy in the naxalite infested areas, Jammu&Kashmir and North-East areas. He was talking confidently and with full determination. He warned naxalites to lay down arms and surrender. Then there was no overtures like inviting them for talks across the table to bring peace to the nation. The might of weaponry and paramilitary forces weighed heavily in his mind. As is common to Maoists (their teachings have such enormous potential among the tribals) they grew more and more vindictive and went on a violent spree like blowing up of railway tracks, stations, mobile-towers, attacks on police stations, kidnapping of police-personnel and bank heists, and mind-boggling murders and wide-spread laying of mine-fields. The report of the beheading of a sub-inspector a week ago caused shudders among the citizens, reminding us of Talibanised Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the then Soviet Union.

These unending violence with a vengeance prompted Chidambaram to take an about turn and turning soft, declaring that unlike Jammu&Kashmir secessionists and North-East insurgents, Maoists are part and parcel of our nation and entreated them to enter the mainstream and sit across the table, sort out the issues in a cordial atmosphere. ManMohan Singh had already extended the olive branch to the Maoists.

Buddha must also have to adopt a soft line to his old comrades-in-arms, if he has to achieve durable peace in West Bengal.

With the passage of time with their patience running out day by day a generation of Maoists sans ideology with a looting mentality is a dangerous possibility. Hence it is high time the government took initiative in bringing the poor tribals into the national mainstream providing succour to them in the fields of food, health, education, employment, in short all the help they are in need of like any other citizen of India.