Opinion Reign of terror

Travelling across the Maoist heartland of Bastar,at the other end of the state,the story is therefore familiar. People near Jagdalpur are only concerned if the mega Tata or the NMDC projects will come to life. Both have become frozen due to the Naxal threat — the euphemism is “delay in land procurement”. The only other subject they are animated on is corruption. Since I wasn’t in a government vehicle, people were willing to talk about what they wanted. And all they wanted was to join the growth story.

In essence,the Naxal uprising in central India has often drawn upon this very longing and then brutalised it. The state administrations have of course often pointed to the long years since the Eighties,when these people assembled their force,but there is an absolute one to one correspondence with the explosion of the growth of the economy since 2003-04,and the flare up in the Naxal menace in the so-called strongholds across the affected states.

But since it has got crystallised into a clear dogma whose basis is the overthrow of the state,there is no question these Maoists have to be cleaned out from central India. To believe such a force can be offered placebos of development crumbs to make them turn around is a hopeless mistake. The Maoists have already taken over a large percentage of those development grants,in the areas where they dominate — the expenditure network in states like Orissa,Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for panchayat-led development. This includes control of the tendu leaf and the sal seed trade too,wherever the states have formed village level cooperatives. The Central government transfers serious funds to the panchayats and so for all those who wonder how the Naxalites get access to funds,this is food for thought.

The reason why they succeeded is because they too have exploited the same corrupt delivery system that has been the bane of the governance system.

In fact one suspects that even in cities,it is corruption that blocks segments from accessing the India growth story,which makes people often praise the romantic view of the Naxalites as the stormtroopers against corruption. Since they are nowhere near the reign of fear that the Maoist story essentially is,they are happy to believe in the chimera.

An example of the ground conditions that lead to such misplaced correlation is the aftermath of the Bhopal gas disaster. Large swathes of the old city,until a few years ago,were scarred by tales of misappropriation of the not-so-meagre funds available to be distributed as compensation. When the state seems to connive with such corruption,the hunger for a false alternative takes hold. But as the villagers of the Maoist-dominated areas will tell you,they have had enough of such promises and instead want the state to do two things: get rid of the reign of terror,and then give the locals a chance to showcase their entrepreneurship.

In Jagdalpur,the headquarter of Bastar,the first set of billboards that greet you as you enter the town from NH 43 are those for schools and assorted institutes. While it is hard to come by clear data,local television channels in the state carry possibly the longest series of ads for management institutes and schools,anywhere in the country.

Yet,the waffling on the Naxalite issue by the states and parts of the Centre has confused local officials. I don’t want to take his name as it would seriously compromise his position,but a very senior government officer blanched when I made a gaffe and told him that the Maoists would not dare touch him. My reasoning was that a person at the helm of affairs,even in a troubled region like Bastar,carried the stamp of the central government’s authority. The officer,after he recovered,told me he hoped the Maoists meant him no harm as he was not executing any development programme they had objections to. Another one: The district administration in at least one of the five districts of the Bastar region usually informs the Naxalites in Bijapur of their movement plans so that they are no “surprises”. But the best: the top cop of the state,in all seriousness,explained that the Naxals have sat in internet cafes to acquire military training and that he has evidence to back it up. It is no surprise that one of the state’s senior police officers has sent his family away to shield them,even as the local IAS chaps in the state cadre tend to successfully avoid getting posted to places where are there is “left wing extremism”. To bear this out,just look at the names of the collectors and commissioners of the region.

writer is Executive Editor (News),‘The Financial Express’

subhomoy.bhattacharjee@expressindia.com