It has always been questioned if it can be justified what the naxals are doing or can we really stop them? I would say we're no one to justify something that's been going on for a reason, which includes near about 15-20 thousand people and almost half of them equipped with arms. It's a struggle that covers 1/5th of Indian Jungles and around 160 of the 604 administrative districts.
So let's talk it the government way or the 'non-violent guy next door" if he has a solution to the problem. The govt. has armed forces in jungles fighting and looking for these naxalites. Are they trying to promote peace with arms? C'Mon, if you stand with a gun on my head and advocate peace, no one would heed to you and I'll create a story that look what you all did to me. Everyone says - " We condemn the act of killing or rather butchering 75 CRPF personnels in Dantewada" and the violence is not justified and they'll "fight-back" against naxals. (How???)
I mean isn't it a joke??? You're talking about cutting the leaves of trees this season which will grow again at a faster pace. Mahatma Gandhi said - "An eye for eye makes the whole world blind" which is quite true. You can never kill thoughts and ideologies by killing people.
Let us go back to 1960's and 1970's on how these Naxals came into existence and how the movement grew from a single village of "Naxalbari" to such a massive movement. Back then. there was a "directly proportional" relation of higher caste with a higher ability to manipulate laws and with a greater amount of money to make the govt. officials inactive or even support them to oppress the lower caste helpless people. Naxalism, when it started was to tell these landlords, collectors and other powerful people that they can fight them back. If you were a small villager and your land was taken away for a pence with the local authorities kicking your ass, what would you do??? If your answer is you believe in "Indian Judicial System" where it takes decades for a verdict, I'd say you're quite aware of the "realities" .
We're talking about the states of Chattisgarh, Jharkand, Bihar and WB where almost half of the population is illiterate (The definition of illiteracy is not being able to read, write and understand even a single language) and you expect them to hire an advocate who would ask for money again which the landlords have in plenty. So I'd definitely reject this possibility, don't know about you. So what am I left with? I'd say I'm left with nothing. I'd not raise violence because I know I can't but definitely I won't be against it. What have I got to lose??? I have got nothing at all. I'd die anyways, so why not at least do "something" about it.
So I am a lonely guy with nothing at hand and then comes a stream of people who have been through the same, who know what the "pain" is to having suffered this way, who give me a hope that may be we can take revenge and give our children some hope for food. Of course, the reasons are quite emotional at the lower level.
Now, I'd wonder what the naxal leaders think? They're not illiterate, oppressed people. They're people who are trying to run a parallel government. At the lower level, people are associated with the movement and even brain washed successfully to take arms in their hands in a hope of getting back what was their own property. Everyone of us admired "Khosla ka Ghosla", didn't we??? as we believe "chor ke ghar chori" is an act of brilliance so get a step further and try to think won't these people be definitely convinced that fighting against the state which is "creating situations that'd eventually lead to starvation, suffering and deaths" quite justified?
So, yeah these leaders who have got a army of hundreds of people who'd blindly follow them do have their selfish motives. They're only little bothered (but enough to make the followers get a feel-good factor) about the welfare of these castes but they enjoy the power and attention they get. They know they can blackmail landlords, go and kill anyone and hence they enjoy running a parallel government, just like Amitabh Bachhan did in "Sarkar" . If you had watched Sarkar, did your ever think it was wrong??? I didn't, infact everyone enjoyed that movie and wanted the system to revolutionize this way. Everytime, the people killed are not innocent. If the state governments are their enemies and they send the troops to fight against naxals, they're quite determined to kill anyone that comes in their way.
Only if these people were literate, only if someone from govt. showed sympathy and took some effective steps like the naxal leaders do (giving them the feel-good factor), only if the oppressed people can get their "Equality" in everything, only if the corruption was less would they think they could trust the state.
I'm imperfect but I'm not helpless. I'm educated and HENCE, I don't support violence. I don't know if I was a poor, helpless, illiterate, socially discriminated piece of "humanity", what would I do? I can't imagine anyhow so I never would like to comment on "justifying the naxal activities" which is quite complex then we all can imagine.
What do you think, What would you do if you were ripped off to nothing???
Further Readings -
Karan Thapar with Binayak Sen (One of the leading social workers of India) -http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devils-advocate--dr-binayak-sen-on-state-vs-maoists/109491-3.html
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