Lazy,dangerous

What have the Orissa government and its interlocutors learnt from the “unexpected” jolt meted out by the abductors of Malkangiri collector R.V. Krishna? They were surprised,and complaining,that junior engineer Pabitra Majhi had been released — as a messenger communicating the Maoists’ new demands. Why the new demands? Because they were emboldened by the soft front the state government put up. What’s been at stake is not only an innocent life and promising career but also Krishna’s brand of work. Beyond that,there is the question of ending the Maoist insurgency. But the lazy,submissive manner in which the Orissa government proceeded to negotiate the case has lost it ground to the insurgents.

Do Naveen Patnaik’s administration and interlocutors think their efforts at negotiation secured Majhi’s release? It was the spontaneous and large-scale public anger,right there in the tribal areas,at the popular collector’s kidnapping that scared the Maoists into releasing Majhi and kept alive hopes that Krishna’s release would be secured too. What the government’s speedy capitulation to their original 14-point demands,backed by the interlocutors,produced was the new set of demands — that five additional Maoists in jail be released and that the interlocutors travel to the Malkingiri forest with released Maoists for a direct prisoner exchange. For the record,the Orissa government had ceased anti-Naxal combing operations in the immediate aftermath of Krishna’s abduction; and among the set of demands agreed to is a mandate to Maoists for all practical purposes to question future encounters. This will certainly make it more difficult for security forces carrying out their operations.

Expressing his surprise,G. Haragopal,who leads the team of interlocutors,said they didn’t expect additional demands to be made. This betrays the disconnect with the Maoist reality that some members of civil society continue to display,whether intellectual-moral sympathisers of Maoists,social activists,or those interfacing with the rebels on behalf of the government. Maoists are not fighting in behalf of deprived sections; they never were. They are waging a bloody,protracted war against the state and civilians — a war they had been losing ever since Operation Green Hunt gained momentum. The background to Krishna’s abduction is a cornered Maoist organisation,desperate to do something to swing the scales again. The Orissa government’s handling of the case seems to have given them just that opportunity.