*Pehele aap, mantriji *
*Send in our netas, not army to Naxal areas * *Jug Suraiya * There is pressure from some sections of the public that the defence forces be brought in to take on the Naxal threat, which is fulfilling PM Manmohan Singh’s prophetic pronouncement that the Maoists pose the biggest challenge to India’s security, more so even than adversaries across the border. Indeed, newspapers and TV headlines have already described the confrontation between the Naxals and the Indian state as a ‘war’. But whose ‘war’ is it, and who ought to fight it, and how? That the army chief, General Vijay Kumar Singh, has said that the army should not be enlisted in this conflict indicates that there have been moves to bring the defence forces to the forefront of anti-Naxal operations. This would not only be morally wrong – an irrelevance in the vocabulary of realpolitik – but also strategically wrong. Before even thinking of calling in the army, we should spare a thought as to the nature of this ‘war’: who are the belligerents, and who started it? According to so-called intelligence reports – so-called because India’s ‘intelligence’ agencies have seldom demonstrated that attribute in terms of information-gathering, whether it is in the context of cross-border terrorism, or in that of the long-drawn insurgencies in the north-east – there are no more than some 13,000 ‘hardcore’ Maoist cadres, spread over some 160- to 180-odd districts spanning half-a-dozen states. The rest of the so-called Naxal ‘forces’ consist of a ragtag bunch of villagers and tribals – many of them no more than children – who out of coercion rather than conviction have been made to rally around the red flag of revolt. Home minister Chidambaram was confident that this motley rabble – illequipped, untrained and unmotivated – would be routed in no time. His confidence was tragically misplaced. The Maoists and their cohorts have shown themselves to be more than a match for the paramilitary forces sent out to deal with them. How is this? Could it be that the Maoists represent people who are the most dangerous people in the world: people who have nothing left to lose? CRPF personnel have complained that they are being sent to fight the Naxals without adequate food, water or medicine. But lack of all three is what the majority of people in the Naxal-infected areas have been living with for generations, thanks to a state which has remained resolutely oblivious to their most basic needs and rights. Which raises the question: did the Naxals and their supporters declare ‘war’ against the state, or has the state been waging an undeclared ‘war’ on the so-called ‘reds’ for years? Who is responsible for the genesis of the conflict: murderous peasants and tribals, or criminal neglect on the part of state? The real battleground of this ‘war’ is not in the forests of Dantewada; it is in the political seats of power, in the central and state capitals. The Naxals pose a political, not a military challenge. To call out the army against them would be abdication by our political class of its constitutional responsibility in a democracy. From J&K to the north-east, our politicians have, through shameless lack of governance, created messes which the army has been left to clean up. This is as bad for our democracy as it is for the morale of the armed forces, who are forced to fight against their fellow citizens. Instead of sending jawans into the badlands, why not a contingent of netas to talk to the rebels and find out exactly why they’re rebelling? After all, it was the netas’ neglect that created the problems in the first place *Army? No way. Pehele aap, mantriji.* -- To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.
