The recent revelation in the media about atrocities against female members of the Naxalite group doesn’t come much as a surprise. The processes of formation of such anti-system and anti-establishment groups are based on such unstable grounds that this sort of exploitation is inevitable in the long run. When a radical group is being formed, there are generally a few founders with high moral and ideological mindsets. Groups that believe in taking up arms to oppose the system then tend to recruit aggressive individuals irrespective of their ideological stance (brainwashing helps… but I believe the idea of thrashing police officers – the image of authority in their eyes, appeals to them even more). The supposed power that the group may command as it increases in size seems lucrative for such individuals.
As the group expands, by recruiting the rural populace either by anti-system oration or by brute force, the numbers keep adding, but the ideological base gets diluted. With a high percentage of aggressive group members, violence is natural; even against the villagers. The co-founders are partially successful as the burgeoning group population keeps the popularity of the group very high, mostly through fear. The decision making is fraught with danger as the co-founders soon lose their control on their followers.
The simple ‘Robin Hood’ phenomenon deteriorates in to a Taliban effect. Rapes, murders, robberies, sabotage, all follow. To what aim? And for whom? At this stage, how are these ‘fighters’ any different from those they are supposed to be fighting against? Their ideology is based on opposing the atrocities inflicted by the state on the poor. And they end up doing exactly what they condemn.
Now, what if in a hypothetical scenario, the region is granted freedom? Would the state of the rural villagers improve? Would the exploitation of the natural resources there stop? If it does, do the so called Maoist leaders / Naxals and their ilk have any plans about revenue generation and development? Do they have any foresight in terms of life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.? Sadly, I don’t think there is any such plan. This would just be a transfer of power from one set of individuals to another with the end result that nothing changes for the common people.
The villagers are bullied and brainwashed into submission and to increase their group numbers this is important. I think that it is a bigger reason for the extremists to blow up schools and hospitals. Education would bring a larger and more accurate perspective to the villagers which would then put the extremists’ chain of command under question. And anarchy doesn’t like being questioned.
Even now, the power of the gun commands the ‘respect’ of the rural people rather than the ideology behind the gun. Until the time when the extremists can claim that they are absolutely devoid of any of the evils that the current system is corrupted with, they don’t have the right to ask for any sort of freedom on any ideological ground. From what goes on now, it doesn’t seem that they are even close to achieving this.
