Events & Issues

New Delhi, 31 May 2017

Violent Upheavals

RETHINK FUNDAMENTALS

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

Social upheavals in the form of terrorism and violence, engulfing parts of this world, have become a major recurring problem in this country too in recent past. In fact, sporadic incidents of violence by extremist groups -- both within and outside have unnerved the country. Other than Kashmir being on the boil, special mention needs to also be made of the killing of around 25 CRPF personnel by Maoist groups in Chhattisgarh last month and a similar attack the six weeks earlier which claimed 12 lives. Add to this violence in the Saharanpur, UP. The growing incidents have made North Block edgy and cautious.  

According to Home Ministry figures, terror attacks rose from 170 in 2013 to 305 in 2016 (November). This violence took a heavy toll on security forces -- 71 killed and 208 injured-- the highest in recent years. Fear this year is that the figures may double. The escalation of violent activities is, no doubt, an undesirable phenomenon, which smears any government’s performance.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has thus held review meetings with top officials and discussed a new strategy. In particular, senior IPS officers handling anti-Maoist operations have been directed to “lead from the front”. Stress was also laid on the need for effective leadership having ‘vision, mission, passion and self-belief.’ Though the alertness of para-military forces is necessary, sociologists and political scientists have linked such violent activities to poverty and deprivation, social and economic exploitation of different forms and religious fundamentalism. Moreover, the widening disparity between sections of the population as also between metros and big cities compared with backward regions of a State has led to such violence.    

Delving deep into the root causes, the most distressing development today is the power centre that is geared favouring the rich and the powerful. Additionally, the conflict between religions, specially between Hinduism and Islam, has taken an unhealthy trend. In fact, Prof Samuel Huntington had some years back labeled as “clash of civilizations” on a global scale, due to the conflict between Christianity and Islam and the growing animosity between the two cultures as also social and economic differences.

Current trends in india are manifest of a deep-rooted cause of dissatisfaction in society. The obvious cause has been lack of development or such development that is beneficial to certain segments of society and doesn’t reach the masses.  

While lack of development had been the obvious reason for armed rebellion of the Maoist groups, specially in the backward areas, this has been noted. However, the problem hasn’t been tackled in a comprehensive manner. Moreover, corruption of government officials and certain contractors have accentuated the problem. It is quite obvious that in Chhattisgarh, backwardness may be attributed to this unhealthy phenomenon.    

The case of terrorism in Kashmir too has an economic angle though religion is at the forefront. It is well-known that Pakistan has been successful in promoting unrest in the Valley which has increased in recent times, largely due to the lack of development and large unemployment amongst the young generation.  

Other than religion, the country has had to deal with caste divisions. No matter, how modern India may claim to be, caste rivalry refuses to ebb. Uttar Pradesh is certainly one such example, where every now and then the enmity between Thakurs and Dalits leads to mayhem.  

The Government needs to introspect. Though there can be no two opinions efforts are being made to check violence, there is need to go into the root of the problem, as strategies till now are not quite comprehensive. There has, no doubt, been a thrust towards rural India during the past two years yet there is need for gearing more resources towards social infrastructure development.  

Over the years the urban bias in Indian planning has led to neglect of rural areas. Further, the lack of a decentralised structure has thrust plans and programmes from the top without keeping into consideration the needs and demands of the people at the grass-root level.

Another aspect of the rural distress has been the virtual grabbing of farmers’ land without arranging proper rehabilitation, thus throwing laws to the winds. This has led to violence and unrest among the impoverished farmers, who wrongly were deprived of their livelihood. Worse, it is tragic that all this is taking place in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, and western model of development is taking precedence.       

One is reminded here of the gramdan-bhoodan movement of Vinoba Bhave, who wanted that land of rich farmers be given to the poor so they cultivate the same. The Government didn’t help in making this movement a success. It died its natural death after the demise of Bhave. Also there was no help and support from research agencies to help farmers cultivate their land for productive use.

It is generally agreed that violent political mobilisation may increase if deprivation is not tackled. Moreover, as we talk of good governance, enforcement of rules to make the establishment more transparent needs to be undertaken. Corruption at the lower levels remains as people still have to pay extra amount for getting their work done in panchayats.

Thus, there is dire need for rejecting the western model of development and replace it with an appropriate development strategy. One may refer here to the ‘New Economics’ which should be considered a challenge to the conventional one, as it is aimed to forge an “economics as if people mattered”. Today, this has become a challenge of bringing material arrangements of life and society more in line with systems that are both equitable and ecologically sound.     

The fundamentals of this economics may be enumerated as: Foster social and economic systems that encourage self-reliance and enhance self-development capacity of individuals and communities; Conserve natural resources and restore the balance of global ecosystems; Works for a system in which each larger unit is geared to enabling the smaller units within it to be more self-reliant and conserving; and Redefine wealth that is to draw a distinction between well-being and ill-wealth and re-examination and redefinition of basic economic concepts like efficiency and productivity, dependence, interdependence and self-reliance, and needs, wants and scarcity.  

The economy has to be conceptualised in a different way and consumerism cannot be the order of the day. In India, there is also need for a change in our planning strategy geared towards true decentralisation, as enunciated by Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan and many others, so that the basic units, the panchayats, have enough political and economic power and can involve the people and utilise local resources in the development process. Then only will true development emerge.    

Thus, human development to become a reality has to follow the course of inclusive development which, in turn, calls for uplift of the backward districts and ensuring that these become what in today’s parlance maybe called smart blocks/villages. There is need to ensure balanced approach in evolving the process of development.

Further, discrimination per se has to be done away with which, of course, is difficult to achieve in a caste-based society. But the present Government should make sincere efforts to ensure that the lowest tiers of society, specially dalits, adivasis and other economically weaker sections are able to enter the mainstream of life and activity. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)