Opinion Dealing with Maoism
The Centre must take the lead in upgrading security in the states...
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Media reports mention an intense debate within the Union government about the nature and extent of the suggested involvement of the army in supporting the efforts of the state police and paramilitary forces in countering the Maoist threat. One of the major issues under debate is the creation of a unified headquarters. In Jammu and Kashmir the unified HQ had been in existence for a couple of decades and yet,as the Kargil Committee Report brought out,there was not adequate coordination in intelligence assessment among the different services. Intelligence sharing,assessment and coordination is a matter of culture that needs to be cultivated over a period of time. In India a meaningful beginning is still to be made in that respect. The lower the rank of the person who has to coordinate,the more difficult it is to achieve effective results.
While there appears to be general agreement on the popular two-pronged strategy to deal with Maoism enforcing security and providing development it is an irony that the most important third prong does not find any mention in the public debate,good governance. While providing security is treated as the function of the security forces and development the responsibility of the concerned departments,good governance involves the political set-up and its accountability to the legislature and the public. Security operations will not be successful if police officers are transferred every few months. So is the case with district magistrates and sub-divisional magistrates. A pre-requisite for a successful two-pronged strategy of security and development is the abjuration by political leaders of the practice of abuse of police and administrative services for parochial and partisan purposes. One does not find this factor debated in public as an element of good governance.
It is no secret that the Maoists have taken advantage of corruption,harassment by basic-level bureaucracy and lack of development to establish their operational safe havens. It is undeniable that the Maoists prevent developmental benefits from reaching the population in their areas and extort money from traders and contractors. The local population is forced to choose between the state authorities and the Maoists as different confrontation situations develop. They must be expected to align with those whose harassment and extortion are less and who are more likely to be effectively present in their midst. It is generally believed that there is widespread corruption in recruiting the police constables and lower-level administrative staff. Consequently those recruited to various state agencies by paying their way in are likely to have an ingrained administrative culture that does not differentiate corruption and harassment from the normal discharge of their duties. This is one of the basic aspects of the present day misgovernance at various levels of the administrative machinery in contact with the public,especially in the rural areas.
Muscle and money politics and caste and communal vote banks further legitimise corruption in the eyes of the practitioners. Therefore without political will on the part of the leaders of the political parties to commit themselves to good governance,lasting peace and stability in the Maoist affected areas will be difficult to establish.
It is often asked while corruption and varying degrees of misgovernance are prevalent all over India,the Maoist phenomenon is seen only in Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand,Orissa,Bihar,West Bengal and Maharashtra,mostly in tribal-inhabited areas. These are the areas where misgovernance and corruption have together eroded on the legitimacy of the state to an extent that Maoists sense an opportunity to establish safe havens. Maoist leaders,when they were effectively dealt with in Andhra Pradesh,moved over into some of these areas. However,the home ministry concedes the core objective of the Maoists is not merely to subvert law and order in these tribal areas in these states,but to wage war against the Indian Republic and Indian Constitution. Under these circumstances will not this be a case where Article 355 of the Constitution needs to be invoked? Article 355 lays down,It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every state against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Should this be treated as largely a law and order problem to be dealt primarily by the state administrations to be supported by the Central paramilitary forces with some further assistance from the army or an attempt to overthrow the Republic spread over a number of states which has to be handled under Article 355 of the Constitution?
Building up India as the most populous,democratic,pluralistic nation where poverty will be abolished and equal opportunity available for all is a task unprecedented in human endeavour. It is facile to assume that this gigantic task will be without multiple attempts at resistance,sabotage and externally induced internal subversion. Long-term intelligence assessment is unknown in India. If such an assessment were to be carried out,it would be evident that the Republic needs both comprehensive intelligence capability and an appropriately equipped civil paramilitary force outside our present police culture. While the immediate situation has to be addressed and consequently immediate steps at improvisation,including various kinds of support from the army and air force,may be unavoidable,these are band-aid solutions. Just as a high growth rate,a right to education,a right to food and poverty alleviation programmes are absolutely essential to build the most populous democratic and pluralistic state in the world,so also are appropriate comprehensive intelligence (both external and internal ) and security enforcement capabilities. They are absolutely vital infrastructure for the governance of a modern state encompassing one fifth of humanity and to protect it from internal and externally induced internal threats.
It has not added to the credibility of the Union government that the national highway to Manipur has been blocked for over eight weeks. We had a major express train derailed by Maoists. Immediately the Union government meekly suspended the night running of the trains in that sector. India is a Union of States and not a federal republic like US where the existing states came together to establish the union. Even that truly federal union has armed itself with appropriate capabilities to ensure its internal security. The Indian Union cannot abdicate its responsibilities and seek refuge behind the plea that law and order is the responsibility of the states. Ultimately the Manipuri and the tribal of Jharkhand or Chhattisgarh look to the Indian Union to assure them of their fundamental rights. They are Indians first,Manipuri,Chhattisgarhi or Jharkhandi later. It is time the Union government fully grasped the need to develop the full infrastructure for the secure governance of the Union and the National Security Council addressed the issue.
The writer is a senior defence analyst
express@expressindia.com
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