Lawlessness in India

I was always worried by the huge stretches of land that seem totally
devoid of any visibility of the unifying force of the state as I
traveled through countless miles on the Indian Railways. There was an
article a couple of months ago that chalked out the pockets of Maoist
strength in India on a map, and the possibility of a unified effort
derailing the state machinery in a swathe from Nepal (arguably the
stronghold of the Maoists as much as Jaffna is for the LTTE) to Andhra
looked very real, presented that way. Only the Maoists are far from
united. Admittedly, Khushwant Singh is saying nothing new here. But does
serve as a reminder.

What is more worrying is that the state seems incapable of dealing with
them (just look how difficult it was to capture one Veerappan).
Moreover, they have the support of the locals, disillusioned and
disenfranchised as they are, despite over 50 years of democracy. We
never adopted the egalitarian framework of meritocracy. Then, we have
neighbours who are more than willing to fund and stoke cheap insidious
violence. Remember the Purulia arms drop, anyone? Do not ever imagine
that arms have stopped coming in through other routes, and besides there
are country-made weapons and bombs available everywhere. One really does
not need an AK-47 for most purposes of intimidation.

What affects the countryside will not leave the urban pockets of
capitalism on which we are dependent for our livelihood, our dreams and
careers unaffected. We do need political stability for all that. Time
for a paradigm shift , to try and reboot the rural agricultural economy,
to reduce the disparities between town and country as a first step? Who
will bell the cat?

In this context Khushwant shingh writes
India’s Bastille

Khushwant Singh

THE STORMING of Jehanabad jail on the night of November 13 reminded me
of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, which triggered off
the French Revolution. It is cel- ebrated to this day as Quatorze
Juillet, the French day of Independence. The Ba**stille was stormed by a
Parisian mob. The Jehanabad jail was stormed by hundreds of trained and
armed militants. In the Bastille, they found a handful of prisoners; in
Je- hanabad over 380. No blood was shed in the Bastille; in Jehanabad,
nine men who the attackers regarded as their sworn enemies were slain.

However, let us not take the stor ming of Jehanabad jail lightly. It has
clearly proved that the Naxalite-Maoist inspired peasant movement that
started in Naxalbari in West Bengal in 1967 has steadily gathered
strength. There are pockets of ar med and well-organised guerrilla
fighters stretching from the Himalayas to Andhra and elsewhere. Neither
the police nor the army have been able to stamp it out. Nor can it do so.

Besides robbing landless farmers of their rightful share of produce, the
caste factor has further complicated the issue. The vast majority of
Naxalite-Maoist supporters are drawn from land- less peasantry of the
lower castes. Their prime tar- gets are lan**downers and their cronies
from the higher castes. The latter have their own private militia in
Bihar, the Ranvir Sena, which often slaughters those landless poor who
dare raise their voices in protest against injustice. Successive
governments have done very little to solve their problems. Land reforms
remain largely on paper, as big landowners continue to hold more than is
allowed to them under different names, including that of their ser-
vants. The Bhoodan movement launched by Acharya Vinoba Bhave achieved
very little. There is a lot to be said in favour of the slogan ‘land to
the tiller’. It should be implemented — the sooner the better.

However, modern farming requiring use of tractors, harvesters,
fertilisers, pesticides etc. need huge investments, which small farmers
cannot afford. We have to set up many more farmers cooperatives to get
over these difficulties. If the government does not take up the task
earnestly, pretty soon the Naxalite-Maoist movement may go beyond
control. The storming of Jehanabad jail should not be allowed to become
India’s version of the storming of the Bastille.**