Opinion - Naxalism should be addressed as a socio-political issue, not as a law and order problem

Photo: Nishpaqsh

Starting from the Garibi Hatao (Poverty Alleviation) to “Poverty is a state of mind”, Antyodaya (serving the last man in the queue) to "sabka ka saath sabka vikash‟ (Collective efforts, inclusive growth), all of it looks like poll platitudes. Since independence many governments and political leaders have come and gone but nothing has changed in India‟s infamous Red corridor. 

In metros, people run miles to burn fat while nature's own people "the Tribal‟ do the same in search of a meal. And this is the difference between India's poorest countryside and affluent cities. The 40-year-old Maoist rebellion started due to mass poverty and Delhi's acceptance of corporate neoliberalism. 

Expropriation of land, forest, rivers and other natural resources at the cost of poor peasants, tribal community, who live by these natural resources is widespread. The intense reflection of this inclination is clearly visible today in Indian economy's neo-liberal developmental phases which started in 90s. Moreover, for 200 years British had ruled and exploited India, but during that particular period Indian elite was somehow able to maximise their wealth. 

After independence, capitalist class of India carries forward the rapacious legacy of British colonialism over the 8.6 percent of tribal population. Successive governments, multinational companies such as TATA, Jindal Steel, Mittal etc have been grabbing mineral rich lands of the 106 million people. It impoverished, dispossessed and exiled tribals in their own land and pushed them into Maoist movement. Exploitation of tribals by the government officials and police is rampant. 

Photo: Nishpaqsh

There is a large scale corruption on the grassroots in the states like Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh. And the poor tribals are the worst victims of corruption and it also gives impetus to Maoist insurgency. Public Distribution Service (PDS) for food security, the much talked about developmental programme, works under police stations instead of gram panchayat in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. "There are schools but there is no body to teach,‟ this one sentence sums up the education system. According to a report by Times of India, “CRPF men have died due to malaria and heart attack than have fallen to Maoist attacks in the 106 Naxal-affected districts in the country. Diseases, not Maoists, kill most CRPF men in Red zone.” 

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Diseases-not-Maoists-kill-most-CRPF-men-in-Red-zone/articleshow/46522966.cms) 

It shows government has no responsibility to provide good healthcare to security personnel in Naxal affected places, forget about common man. Sometime media exaggerates the police brutalities, but rape, loot etc happens under the nose of security forces. Recently, media reported that in Basaguda block of Chhattisgarh police gang-raped 13 innocent women. Maoists and their brutal attacks are not justifiable at all. Violence in any form is condemnable but these brutalities also deserve equal condemnation of people.

However, State should also start engaging with people. Economic disparity and growing distance between poor and rich needs to be filled to counter Naxalism . The downtrodden still face the discrimination from upper caste people. Government needs to make sure that tribals enjoy equal participation in electoral process, especially contesting polls.

Schemes like MGNREGA should not be side-lined as it generates employment and increases wages for the deprived section of the society. Government should initiate a practice through which rebels and state can work out a solution. Once upliftment of the socio-economic condition of the rebels is achieved, Maoism in India will be vanished. For this India needs good governance in every sector without any loopholes. State should tackle the Naxal menace as a socio-political issue instead of a law-order problem.

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Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of Nishpaqsh

The writer has lived in Bastar, Chhattisgarh for a long time and has expressed this opinion as per his/her experience on the grassroots.  

Opinion: Fatwa against 'bharat mata ki jai' but Darul Uloom is the same insitution which declared 'Jihad' against Britishers during freedom struggle

Source: thenutgraph.com

One of world's most reputed Islamic seminaries Darul Uloom‬ ‎Deoband‬ has issued a ‎fatwa‬, a religious ruling, on chanting of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', saying the slogan goes against the tenets of ‎Islam‬. If we go through Islamic texts, Qur'an and sayings of Prophet Muhammad, they teach the entire humanity to be fair, love each other, display compassion towards your mother-land but at the same time they strictly prohibit depiction of any personality or even your mother-land as a deity or goddess.

What people must understand is that Darul Uloom doesn't issue a fatwa on its own. For a fatwa to be issued, it first needs a Mufti (expounder of Islamic law) or a group of Muftis who thoroughly reflect upon the issue. These scholars go through religious texts and issue Fatwa to the one who sought for it. In other words, Darul Uloom usually doesn't issue a fatwa on issues highlighted by the politicians unless someone goes to the seminary for seeking a ruling. Blaming Darul Uloom for issuing the ruling is futile as one must have gone there to seek Islamic view point over the ongoing controversy. After the fatwa has been issued it’s up to Muslims to follow it or not. Darul Uloom, unlike ‎RSS‬ and other pseudo-nationalists, doesn't force people to accept its ruling.

One can easily understand the Fatwa doesn’t prohibit saying “Hindustan Zindabad” which means ‘Long live India’ rather it specifically prohibits chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jay’ because therein ‘Bharat Mata’ is taken as a deity, a goddess. That is how simple it is.

Darul Uloom is the same institution which during freedom struggle had declared ‘Jihad’ against the Britishers. You might have not read this in history books but it is among those institutions that has raised the call for India’s freedom struggle. Many of its Ulamas (Teachers/Scholars) fought for ‎India‬, sacrificed their life for this country. Most of these unsung heroes raised the banner of revolt against the English government, fought face to face with the Britishers and many of them passed a good part of their lives in jail.

No doubt, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as frontier Gandhi, has once said, “We used to make plans, sitting in Darul Uloom, for the independence movement as to how we might drive away the Britishers from this country and how we could make India free from the yoke of slavery of the English”.

Keeping itself away from politics Darul Uloom now aims to preserve the Islamic culture and educate the children and the youth in the knowledge of Islam. Fatwa, the seminary issued, must be taken positively as it caters to the beliefs of Muslims. Suppose, if a Muslim living in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia or in any ‪‎Muslim‬ majority country depicts his mother-land as goddess, Islamic ruling would prohibit that act too. This is why, Darul Uloom humbly says, “India is without doubt our country. We and our ancestors were born here. We love our country, but we do not worship it”.

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Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs and views of Nishpaqsh