Summer vacations are the time when the Bengali traveller lets his hair down. Summers might rank as the second most favoured period for the Bengalis after the Durga Puja or the ‘Pujo’ as they prefer to call it. Trains, ‘special’ or otherwise are choc a bloc. Added with the tenacity a ticket checker pulls in people inside the trains, the position inside the Kurla bound Howrah- Kurla, Gyaneshwari express can be imagined as it left Howrah for its onward journey.
On board the train alongwith the sea of humanity were seven year twins Shirin and Sharmin, wearing identical coloured frocks, enroute to Mumbai accompanied by their parents. It was the first trip the twins had in their short lives. Short indeed it was going to be, for the twins had no inkling that the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ had laid a trap enroute. As is their ilk, the Central and the State government have no clue as to what the methodology of the sabotage was, and what emerges from the media reports that the train was either hit by a landmine explosion or by an even cruder method of removing the fish plates. As the train got derailed, it was hit by a goods train travelling on a parallel track in the opposite direction.
The result- At least 100 people including women and children had been decimated by the “Gandhians with Gun’. Shirin and Sharmin, who were fast asleep when the ‘Gandhian with Gun’ intervened in their lives, died in sleep, in each others arms.
The railway minister says that the casualty figure could have been less if the goods train had not hit the derailed train. She further went on to blame the state government as ‘law and order’ was ‘state subject’. We can equally be certain that the state government will in equal measure blame the railway minister for this tragedy and the blame game will go on.
But does it make any difference to Shirin and Sharmin?????
The signs had been ominous since the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ started gaining ascendance in neighbouring Nepal. The government of the day (UPA-I) supported the Govt. of Nepal with military advise and supply of arms in order to ensure that the ‘Gandhian with Gun’ did not entrench themselves in India’s backyard and thereby start giving colour to their picture of the ‘Red Corridor’ through India’s tribal hinterland into Nepal and henceforth into the dream of the ‘Gandhian with Gun,’ China. But the distant cousins of the ‘Gandhians with Gun’, otherwise known as the Communists raised such a hue and cry that the support to a friendly government was stopped.
The result- The Nepalese version of the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ triumphed over a rudderless monarchy. That the distant cousins are being targeted by these ‘neo Gandhians’ is well, nature’s revenge, shall we say!
The Prime minister has called the Maoists as the ‘greatest threat to India’s internal security’. But the lady who matters evidently favours a ‘soft approach’ and the ‘King in waiting’ says nothing, absolutely nothing, about what his P.M calls the greatest threat. In a situation like this do we for a moment doubt the Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s cry of a ‘limited mandate.’ When the government pulls in different directions, what hope did Shrin and Sharmin have of surviving this assault. The railways have now apparently halted night operations in Naxal prone areas, for the time being. What next? Perhaps paying ‘goonda tax’ to the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ to permit plying of trains in ‘their areas’.
That the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ never had peace on their agenda is evident from the manner in which they have repeatedly attacked anything to do with the Indian establishment, stretching from Schools (especially girls), roads, police personnel, industries.
One thing is very clear, prominent personalities with an eye on the Nobel Peace prize might refer to them as Gandhians or justify their aggression in 32 page article in prominent magazines, or prefer a ‘softer approach’ but these people are criminals, nothing less, nothing more. Romanticizing their mores might make good copy, but ask the people at the end of these neo Gandhian ways of protest, and the answer will be very clear.
The overt and covert support of these so called civil rights activists acts as oxygen to these criminals in their effort to dislodge the Indian state. So Dr. Binayak Sen, a paediatrician by training and profession visits a jailed Naxal leader, ostensibly to check up on his ‘cardiac problems’, Ms Arundhati Roy receives an invitation to visit the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ to visit their abode in Dantewada, after which the ‘writer’ refers to the Home Minister as ‘CEO of the War’ and the drive against the naxals is addressed in even more beautiful prose and even solid reason, sample one appearing in THE OUTLOOK :
“Over the past five years or so, the governments of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal have signed hundreds of MoUs with corporate houses, worth several billion dollars, all of them secret, for steel plants, sponge-iron factories, power plants, aluminium refineries, dams and mines. In order for the MoUs to translate into real money, tribal people must be moved.
Therefore, this war.”
With fellow citizens like this did the people aboard the Gyaneshwari express or the CRPF company in Dantewada have any hope? Does this nation for whatever its ills, have any hope with people like this? Does anyone recall any condemnation from these and others of their ilk for this mindless violence being perpetrated by these propagators of hate.
However it would be foolish to blame the so called civil rights activists for all that is going wrong in these operations. The fact that these criminal leaders are simply exploiting a raw nerve in the tribal people of these regions and their antipathy to the skewed process of the ‘so called development’ in these regions, cannot be for a moment denied. That the Indian state has failed miserably to provide succour even to the urban areas is no mystery. With even the urban areas in such dilapidation, the plight of the tribal areas can well be imagined. The Maoists leaders have simply encashed the resentment of these people.
But the fact also remains that this war is not being fought by these poor exploited tribals but by their proxies, aka these criminals. Even in the wildest imagination and for whatever our pseudo intellectuals might propagate, the tribals have neither the knowhow nor the resources to plant IED’s on the roadsides or rail tracks or ambush the para military personnel in a professionally trained manner with sophisticated arms and ammunitions.
Obviously there is a lot to it than meets the eye. Therefore it becomes all the more imperative that this menace being spread by the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ is met head on. The government cannot abdicate its responsibility for the sake of pleasing individuals and their quest to attain immortality. The Prime Minister has to, for once, assert his authority rather than looking in askance towards, well, we all know who!
It has been made amply clear by these Maoists that they want to attain a position where they can bargain from a position of strength. It remains a core strategy of guerrilla warfare, “Negotiate from strength”. The step of forcing the government to halt night operations of trains is a small but significant step in that direction. We can safely presume that the level of violence will be gradually increased by the Maoists, till the government calls for a ceasefire and negotiation. As sure as hell, this period of ceasefire will further lull the government and its moribund bureaucracy into complacency, and will be utilised by the Maoists to gather strength, revive its cadre base (after all, they become equal to the mighty state as negotiating partners, which leads to more disgruntled element drifting towards it). Negotiations are called off once the purpose of the guerrilla has been achieved and strength recovered, and we get back to the war zone.
The government has to believe in the saying, “Fight a guerrilla, like a guerrilla,” if we wish to succeed. For the initial phase force has to be met with force, not that it is not being done now, but the force has to plan its action, co-ordinate its movements and last but not the least have a uniform policy. The Nobel peace prize aspirants can come later when the Maoists are forced to negotiate rather than the other way round. In a situation like this collateral damage is an unfortunate fact, but isn’t that being sustained right now? Have look at the images of the mangled remains of the Gyaneshwari express and the body of Sharmin being lifted out of it, in case of any doubt.
With fellow citizens like this did the people aboard the Gyaneshwari express or the CRPF company in Dantewada have any hope? Does this nation for whatever its ills, have any hope with people like this? Does anyone recall any condemnation from these and others of their ilk for this mindless violence being perpetrated by these propagators of hate.
However it would be foolish to blame the so called civil rights activists for all that is going wrong in these operations. The fact that these criminal leaders are simply exploiting a raw nerve in the tribal people of these regions and their antipathy to the skewed process of the ‘so called development’ in these regions, cannot be for a moment denied. That the Indian state has failed miserably to provide succour even to the urban areas is no mystery. With even the urban areas in such dilapidation, the plight of the tribal areas can well be imagined. The Maoists leaders have simply encashed the resentment of these people.
But the fact also remains that this war is not being fought by these poor exploited tribals but by their proxies, aka these criminals. Even in the wildest imagination and for whatever our pseudo intellectuals might propagate, the tribals have neither the knowhow nor the resources to plant IED’s on the roadsides or rail tracks or ambush the para military personnel in a professionally trained manner with sophisticated arms and ammunitions.
Obviously there is a lot to it than meets the eye. Therefore it becomes all the more imperative that this menace being spread by the ‘Gandhians with Gun’ is met head on. The government cannot abdicate its responsibility for the sake of pleasing individuals and their quest to attain immortality. The Prime Minister has to, for once, assert his authority rather than looking in askance towards, well, we all know who!
It has been made amply clear by these Maoists that they want to attain a position where they can bargain from a position of strength. It remains a core strategy of guerrilla warfare, “Negotiate from strength”. The step of forcing the government to halt night operations of trains is a small but significant step in that direction. We can safely presume that the level of violence will be gradually increased by the Maoists, till the government calls for a ceasefire and negotiation. As sure as hell, this period of ceasefire will further lull the government and its moribund bureaucracy into complacency, and will be utilised by the Maoists to gather strength, revive its cadre base (after all, they become equal to the mighty state as negotiating partners, which leads to more disgruntled element drifting towards it). Negotiations are called off once the purpose of the guerrilla has been achieved and strength recovered, and we get back to the war zone.
The government has to believe in the saying, “Fight a guerrilla, like a guerrilla,” if we wish to succeed. For the initial phase force has to be met with force, not that it is not being done now, but the force has to plan its action, co-ordinate its movements and last but not the least have a uniform policy. The Nobel peace prize aspirants can come later when the Maoists are forced to negotiate rather than the other way round. In a situation like this collateral damage is an unfortunate fact, but isn’t that being sustained right now? Have look at the images of the mangled remains of the Gyaneshwari express and the body of Sharmin being lifted out of it, in case of any doubt.
The effort to start development projects (ostensibly, for that apparently is the motivation of the Maoists) will not make any headway at this stage and the state lends itself to discredit by yielding to force. Not that the Maoists leaders really care for development anyway! Blowing up schools, damaging the already dilapidated roads, maiming innocent people is no way to development, is it? This farce of lack of development as a reason for these senseless acts needs to be exposed for what it really is…….A FARCE!!!
Development can only be considered and implemented in periods of peace and not war. The fact that successive governments failed to provide this since independence remains a flaw which however cannot be rectified by this mayhem and loss of innocent lives.
The state has to stand up for the right of its citizens which includes the tribals who are being led on a merry go round by these criminals. The message that any grievance can only be addressed through peace has to go down loud and clear. The government has to emphasise that whatever Mao might have said and people like Kobad Ghandy believed, “Power cannot be allowed to flow through the barrel of the gun.” This should apply to all, stretching from the games being played by Issak Muivah in Nagaland, Syed Geelani in Kashmir, the Maoists in nearly 1/4th of the country, people like Raj Thackrey or the Khap Panchayats in Haryana.
The Rule of law has to prevail, if the country or Bharat that is India is to survive.
And Ms. Arundhati Roy, Gandhi would not have been Gandhi if he had picked up the Gun. Or perhaps she was referring to Kobad Ghandy!!!
Perhaps one day, we will come across a 03 lines article by Ms. Roy telling the heart rending story of Shirin and Sharmin. But then again it does not make goody copy!
Development can only be considered and implemented in periods of peace and not war. The fact that successive governments failed to provide this since independence remains a flaw which however cannot be rectified by this mayhem and loss of innocent lives.
The state has to stand up for the right of its citizens which includes the tribals who are being led on a merry go round by these criminals. The message that any grievance can only be addressed through peace has to go down loud and clear. The government has to emphasise that whatever Mao might have said and people like Kobad Ghandy believed, “Power cannot be allowed to flow through the barrel of the gun.” This should apply to all, stretching from the games being played by Issak Muivah in Nagaland, Syed Geelani in Kashmir, the Maoists in nearly 1/4th of the country, people like Raj Thackrey or the Khap Panchayats in Haryana.
The Rule of law has to prevail, if the country or Bharat that is India is to survive.
And Ms. Arundhati Roy, Gandhi would not have been Gandhi if he had picked up the Gun. Or perhaps she was referring to Kobad Ghandy!!!
Perhaps one day, we will come across a 03 lines article by Ms. Roy telling the heart rending story of Shirin and Sharmin. But then again it does not make goody copy!
