Opinion - News Analysis

Bringing rebels into the mainstream

V. Jayanth

Tackling the naxalites will take more than committees. A common approach by all the States and the Centre is the way forward.

LAST FRIDAY's meeting of Chief Ministers to discuss internal security issues has decided to constitute a nine-member committee to deal with the naxalite problem in the southern, central and eastern regions of the country. This marks another step in the Centre's efforts to combat the Maoists in the corridor from Andhra Pradesh to Nepal. Already, a coordination centre in the Union Home Ministry, headed by the Home Secretary, ensures a certain degree of cooperation and exchange of information among the affected States. Also, the Home Minister convenes a meeting of Chief Ministers as and when the need arises. The question now is whether a committee of nine Chief Ministers can achieve anything concrete.

The Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, has announced that the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Uttaranchal, and Uttar Pradesh will constitute the committee. Its first meeting may be held very soon to get started on a coordinated approach. Top police officers who have been attending the coordination centre's periodic meetings say that at the level of Directors General of Police and the State intelligence wings, there already exists a "good deal of cooperation" and exchange of information. But it fails to click at the political level — of Chief Ministers. This may probably be due to the differing levels of intensity of the problem and a basic lack of consensus on how to deal with it.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, must be complimented for the peace initiative he launched after assuming power. It is another matter that the talks have floundered and the Maoists have withdrawn from the exercise following a series of clashes and intensified police operations.

About 70 people, including regional naxalite leaders, police personnel and innocent civilians, have been killed in recent months after the breakdown of the peace talks. But when the talks had just begun, and the Centre was keen to push the process forward by convening a meeting of Chief Ministers of the affected States, there was hardly enough support for Dr. Reddy's initiative. In fact, some of his counterparts were worried that it could have a backlash in their States.

But when the talks broke down and the Andhra Pradesh police intensified combing operations, a large group of naxalites reportedly crossed over to neighbouring Karnataka, where there were at least two major incidents of violence.

Tamil Nadu, sensing a similar southward movement of extremists from Andhra Pradesh, has attempted to increase the level of vigilance along the State's borders. More important, it has launched a major socio-economic programme for the unemployed youth in Dharmapuri district, which has a history of naxalite activity.

Common strategy

One thing is clear. Unless all the naxalite-hit States start working together and adopt a common strategy to put an end to this misguided violence, there can be no peace. As a policy, the naxalites have tended to concentrate their activities on "fertile soil" — in tribal areas where the fruits of development have not reached the people; where basic social services are lacking; and where the local people have been denied their land rights.

The Maoist groups found not only a congenial atmosphere of hostility against the Government of the day, but also effectively built on this foundation to foment unrest. The Maoist regional commanders and their assistants started to deliver their own judgments in disputes, putting in place a parallel administration. Because of the "hostile terrain" and the armed presence of insurgents, the arms of the State administration failed to reach the people.

It is obvious that unless the socio-economic problems of the people, especially the tribes, are addressed seriously by the States, the naxalite movement cannot be curbed. Even to achieve that, the State administration needs access to the "affected areas."

For this, there has to be a durable peace and the naxalites must allow the Government machinery to reach these tribal pockets. The Maoists may not be ready to let this happen. They may lose their hold on the people and unless they are prepared to convert to the system of representative democracy, they cannot let such a transformation take place.

Under these circumstances, what can the committee of Chief Ministers do? They represent different political parties, which may work against the emergence of a political consensus on how to deal with the naxalites. They have to transcend political barriers, view the naxalite problem as a socio-economic issue and hammer out a common approach to get at the root causes. Unless they can achieve that, it may be just another committee and more meetings.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu