Red Alert Tribal and Friends!

[Ray]

RED ALERT

The Maoist mutiny in India is alive but not quite as kicking as it once was. This is not to suggest that the rebels have lost all their powers to kill and destroy. But their latest attacks on policemen and railway property in Jharkhand have a different context. The offensive came during the 24-hour bandh that the Maoists had called in four states — Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal — in order to demonstrate their strength. The choice of the four states for the bandh points to a new trend in the Maoist revolt. Theoretically, it is still about seizing State power through an armed insurrection. But the rebellion is increasingly trying to reinvent itself as a battle against mining. The rebels have been focusing more and more on areas where the governments are awarding new mining leases to private firms. Almost all of these areas are inside forests and their inhabitants belong to tribal communities. All these factors give the current spell of the Maoist revolt the character of a tribal uprising. The spread of mining to areas where the poorest sections of India's poor live is throwing up new challenges for the governments, entrepreneurs and also for the people. The fact that the State rarely reached out to these areas has helped the Maoists consolidate their positions there. They penetrated these areas of darkness, hoping to turn them into bases for their battles.

The battle against the Maoists is central to the country's internal security. But it is increasingly becoming crucial to India's economic hopes. Over the past few years, mining and manufacturing have come to acquire key positions in determining trends in economic growth. Some of the largest investments in recent years — from both domestic and foreign investors — have been in mining. But this big push also carries major risks of acquiring land and shifting populations. The seven-year struggle of the Odisha government to acquire land for the mining and steel projects of the South Korean firm, Posco, is the most celebrated of such cases. But similar conflicts surround other new mining projects. The Maoists seem to work on a strategy to link such conflict zones and base their operations in these. Governments face the twin challenges of making these areas safe for investments and of winning the local people's trust. Incompetent, corrupt officials, though, make the task much harder for the State.

red alert

The Maoist agenda is still about seizing State power through an armed insurrection.

It has been losing support amongst the tribal, which was their backbone, because of various Govt initiatives and a more concerted e

The Maoists have no option but to be rural based, having realised the futility of urban insurgency during the Naxalite movement in Bengal.

To be rural based, they require safe areas and that is only in the jungles where the urban oriented police and para military are not in their combat elements. Hence it is relatively safe for the Maoists.

It is also ideal since the tribal are a deprived lot who have grievances. These grievances can be exploited and favour with the tribal can be garnered and hence assistance and safety being in their midst. These tribal are also assisted by NGOs and religious organisations and the money so given can get funneled to the Maoist.

Therefore, it is essential to cut the source of support that the Maoists get indirectly through the funds the NGOs and religious organisations provide for the upliftment of the tribal, but get misused!

Honest officers in the govt should be posted in these areas so that they can actually ensure that govt funds are properly used for the tribal as also, without favour or fear, monitor the funds given to the tribal by their well wishers in the NGOs and religious cadres.