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Open Forum
New Delhi, 22 October 2009
Maoist Menace
CORRECT THE WRONG DIAGNOSIS
By Prakash Nanda
In imposing their so-called “bandh” in Bihar
and Jharkhand mid-October, the Maoists shot dead officials of the public sector
undertakings, set ablaze a railway station and took employees as hostages. Few
days earlier, they had beheaded, a la Taliban style, police officials in
Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Add to this the incidents
of seizing the town of Lalgarh in West Bengal,
killings of thousands of innocent tribals in Chhattisgarh, hijacking a train
with 300 passengers in Jharkhand, deliberately initiating communal riots in
Orissa and practicing many a caste riot in Bihar.
No wonder then that for the past three years Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh has been saying that “the Naxalites/Maoists pose the gravest
threat to the country’s internal security.” His Home Minister P C Chidambaram
is threatening strong action against them, who the Governments of Bihar,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, openly brand as terrorists
of the worst type. Even the Armed Forces have sought permission to take
appropriate counter-measures against the Maoists if attacked.
And yet, the PM seems to have a soft corner for the Maoists.
Like the typical “human rights jhola- wallas”, he asserted at an
election meeting in Maharashtra: “Maoists are
not terrorists” and that he would be happy to talk to them. How will he define
terrorism, if they are not terrorists? As a good doctor cannot treat a patient
without the proper diagnosis of his disease, how can his Government deal with
the Maoists if he is unsure of their crime?
For one, let us see whether the universally accepted
definitions and understanding of terrorism apply to the Maoists or not. While
it is true that “one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” has often
haunted the debate on terrorism, we propose to cite those definitions accepted
in the United Nations, of which India
is a leading member:
- UN Resolution language (1999): “1. Strongly
condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and
unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed; 2. Reiterates that
criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the
general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political
purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the
considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic,
religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them". (GA
Res. 51/210 Measures to eliminate international terrorism).
- UN Security Council Resolution 1566 refers to
terrorism as “criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with
the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages,
with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in
a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or
compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain
from doing any act”
- On March 17, 2005, a UN panel described
terrorism as any act "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm
to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a
population or compelling a government or an international organization to
do or abstain from doing any act”.
·
The UN General Assembly resolution
49/60 titled "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism," adopted
on December 9, 1994, says: “Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the
general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes
are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a
political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other
nature that may be invoked to justify them”.
Any
honest reading of the above resolutions, which India has never opposed, makes it
amply clear that the Maoists are nothing but terrorists. In fact, it may be
recalled that while presiding over a task force of nine Maoist-hit States on
February 23 2006, the then Special Secretary to the Home Ministry A K Mitra had
asserted: “Maoist problem is not a simple problem of law and order. This is a terrorist
and inter-State problem”.
Manmohan
Singh invariably cites the usual factors of underdevelopment, corruption in the
bureaucracy, police atrocities and exploitation of tribals and the poor
contributing to the growing influence of Maoists. But that is one part of the
story. He invariably forgets the other part, which is that as is the case in
Kashmir and many parts of the North East, people are supporting the so-called
revolutionaries in the “Red Corridor” in eastern/central India not out
of love and reverence but because of terror and fear.
Maoists
and their leaders are flourishing because money, important for them to procure
sophisticated weapons, is no longer any problem. Most Maoist leaders have over
the past two decades acquired large properties in urban areas with the money
that flows into them through extortion, which, according to one estimate,
yields some Rs.3, 000 crores annually. And those exhorted are not only the
contractors, businessmen, doctors and engineers but also the poor labourers and
farmers who are forced to part with a substantial portion of their earnings. They
raise funds through extortion or by setting up parallel administrations to
collect taxes in rural areas where local Governments and the Indian State
appear absent. This is not all. Smuggling of contrabands and wood as well as poppy
cultivations also enrich their coffers.
What is worse, the Maoists have strenthened their
links with the notorious terrorist groups outside the country, including the
LTTE and the ISI. In a series of ariticles, the weekly Blitz of Bangladesh has already exposed how arms are secretly distributed
amongst the members of small communist groups and some of the Islamist groups
in Bangladesh and how
Nepalese Maoists are conspiring to re-begin notorious activities of Naxalites
in West Bengal.
According
to the paper, “several analysts are seeing hidden cooperation between Al Qaeda
and Nepalese Maoists, which helped Maoists in attaining such landslide victory
in Nepal.
There is reportedly a hidden agreement between the two in allowing Al Qaeda
outfits in the South Asian region [in Nepal] to operate without any legal
obstacles. Now, after the victory of the Maoists, it is anticipated that
activities of the Al Qaeda and other Islamists terror groups will greatly
increase. It is also learnt from several sources that, Al Qaeda is patronizing
Maoist operatives in Nepal
as well as spread of extremist Islamism in the South Asian region under the
garb of communism. The international community needs to look into this
extremely important issue forthwith and fix appropriate strategies in combating
rise and spread of Maoism, Communism or Islamism, for the sake of regional and
global security”
It may be recalled that Maoist groups in India took the
initiative of forming in 2001 a Coordination Committee of Maoist
Parties and Organizations of South Asia, better known as CCOMPOSA, in some
secret locations in the jungle of central India. Its members are Naxalite or
Maoist outfits from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. In August 2006,
CCOMPOSA held its 4th conference in Nepal. Obviously with the
Maoists emerging as the most important political force there, their fraternal
counterpart in India have become more powerful. Recently, a truck loaded with more than 1000 Kg of
explosives and large number of detonators was apprehended at the Bihar-Nepal
border.
If all these acts do not make Maoists terrorists, what else
does? By all means the Government can talk to them, but for the country’s sake,
first defeat them. The Maoists have waged a war against the country. Talks now
could at best lead a truce. But then truce is no substitute for a lasting peace.
---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature
Alliance)
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