The latest amended draft of the Maoist constitution in India has certain directives which could make Maoists lose their strong tribal support base in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
In the amended draft, the Maoists have called for a total boycott of worshipping symbolic structures like stones, trees and animals. "This will hurt tribal sentiments to a great extent, as these symbols are the principal worship medium of different tribal groups in the country," said an official of the Intelligence Branch (IB) of the West Bengal Police, which has got hold of a copy of the amended draft. The Maoists, in the amended constitutional draft, have also boycotted propagating epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana. "The Maoists have called for action against those who propagate such religious sentiments or popularise such epics. In simple terms, the Maoists have declared a virtual jihad against following any kind of mass religious practice," he said. Intelligence agencies in these states are studying the loopholes in the amended constitutional draft and are trying to exploit the directives to disassociate Maoists from the tribal groups and weaken their traditional espousal. However, according to Ranjit Gupta, former police commissioner of Kolkata although these extremist groups call themselves Maoists, in reality they follow the principles of Che Guevara. "So, the first task of the administration will be to develop the region where Maoists are active. This will automatically ensure that Maoists get isolated from local tribes these. But this isolation has to be followed up police action," Gupta warned. Tuesday, December 02, 2008 http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210798
