Right Cause, Wrong Means

The emerging Naxalite problem is proving itself to be a great internal threat to India. Maoist
rebellions are taking place all over the country, causing massive economic losses to the
Indian industry and denting the national income. But before blindly branding them as
terrorists or radicals, we must have a fair idea about naxal perspective and thinking.

The Naxals believe in a free and classless society where everyone has an equal economic and
social status. This resembles the theory of socialism where all people work together for the
society with no private ownership of property and hence no rich or poor class. This does not
look like the typical terrorist philosophy of “kill them all and have our way”, but again, we
must never judge a book by its cover.

They claim to represent the underprivileged people of our society, the ones who have been
untouched by India’s development and bypassed by the electoral process. These tend to be
the Dalits, Adivasis, and other castes and tribes, who often work as landless labourers and are
exploited by landlords. They believe that the current economic and political setup of India
will not bring any change to their pitiable condition and hence want a quick and radical
change.

But their method of gaining attention by killing people and acts of terrorism is also entirely
wrong. Such actions will never help them to achieve their aims. But do they understand that?
We can’t entirely blame them for their actions since they have completely lost faith in the
Indian democratic system. Democracy is supposed to act upon the people’s wish. But true
democracy only comes when every citizen gets his fair chance to decide and express his
views; which is precisely what these poor people living in rural areas are being deprived of.
Under the layers of bureaucracy and red-tapism, their voice is conveniently overlooked by the
government, building up their frustration. Unable to raise this issue at a national level they
saw violence as the only option left, as they wanted to quickly attract the attention of a large
population. It worked; however, instead of everyone sympathising with them they looked
upon the Naxalites as terrorists coming to destroy them. The Naxals in turn, retorted with
greater force. On seeing the success of their small campaigns, the Naxals are now convinced
that extremism is the only way out.

The Government’s plan to counter these insurgencies through military action will not succeed
at all. The answer is to rehabilitate, not kill. If we use brute force and use our efficient Indian
Army to weed out these people we can finish these 20,000 insurgents in one single sweep.
But in a few years, another 20,000 will be ready to take revenge. We must understand that
these are uneducated, rural people, who just want their rights for their basic survival.
In my opinion, this problem needs to be urgently addressed by the government not in form of
brutal suppression but rehabilitation.