I read a report about the Home Secretary’s statement that the Maoists are receiving arms from China. However, Chinese trucks had not been seen making arms delivery trips in to the interiors of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, have they been? The Naxalite/ Maoist problem has serious dimensions. One must read what Kobad Ghandy wrote, which I could not. I read one sentence out of his comments, which was adequate for me. It should be adequate for a reasonable person to understand the problem. Problems of the rural poor in India, especially the “adivasis” are multiple. They live in abject poverty. Civilization is a far cry and an unrealizable dream for them. Government at Center, as well as in various states, pays very little attention to the development of those regions. Rural land upon which these “adivasis” lived has been taken over by one group of people or another from time immemorial. For example, the Aryans, the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Parsis, the Muslims, the Europeans, and now the Congress party leaders, all have grabbed their land from time to time in large blocks paying little compensation to the native people who owned it. Religious organizations have exploited their problems extremely well. Now either their souls are being harvested or made to deliver babies with Arabian chromosomes. Those people have not only been deprived of what belonged to them, but also deprived of their social dignity and way of life. They have struggled for centuries. Their land has been owned by people who have nothing to do with them and controlled in the form of “Estates,” “mining properties,” Waqf properties, etc. The laws of the land have always protected the rich and powerful.

The native people so struggling have no sovereignty or representation. The other day, I read a statement by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the Chief Minister of CPI (M) ruled West Bengal. He said, “We are ready to take on Maoist/Naxalites or something in those lines. If people even casually thought loudly of the problems of these people, they become the dreaded Naxalite/Maoist. Police hunt them down and torture them at the slightest suspicion. Congress government knows no other law enforcement methods other than those practiced by the oppressive occupying powers. Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, etc. talked about these problems forty years ago. Charu was hunted down, tortured and died in police custody in 1972. Is there any difference between the patriotism of Jawaharlal Nehru, Jyothi Basu and Charu Mazumdar? There are thousands of memorials for Jawaharlal Nehru all over India. The old house in Calcutta in which Charu had lived has been reported to be falling apart. There was a brilliant Engineering student in Kerala, named Rajan, who was tortured and killed in police custody, just for an unfounded suspicion. It was about 35 years ago. Are K. Muraleedharan, Pinarayi Vijayan or Umman Chandi better patriots than Rajan? Had Rajan ben allowed to live his normal life, he might have become the top man in the Department of Space, Atomic Energy or the Defense Research Organization. His father died a heart broken man.

The other day, I read a report about the Kerala government planning to build a super fast railway line in the coastal area from Kasargode to Thiruvanandapuram at a cost of Rs. 50,000 crores. The report is that the survey has been completed. That government also has plans in advanced stages for the construction of an airport in Kannur and for the construction of multiple line super fast roads, which too will be in the coastal areas. I don’t hear of any developmental plans for the areas in the high altitude areas, thirty miles from the border with Karnataka towards the west, where most of the poor people of Kerala live! The situation could not be different in other states. Through the reports of various Committees like the Sachaar Committee, the governments have learned and understood the problems of the Muslim community, who mostly live in developed villages, suburbs and towns in coastal areas and it has allocated large amount of money to up lift that community. Political parties are clamoring to include Christians converted from Hindus in SC/ST schedule for preferential treatment. When would the government appoint a committee to study the problems of “adiviasis?”

There was land reform limited to taking away the ownership of cultivated land and distributing that land to those who cultivated it. However, smart land owners took advantage of the loopholes of the law and formed “Estates,” “Waqf properties,” etc. and kept the land. Most of the lands owned by the former Muslim land lords were never surrendered to the government, in spite of the law and government officials never bothered about it either. Forest lands have been cleared and made into estates of cash crops. Areas which have mineral resources have been bought or leased for throw away prices and are being mined. All these are being done by a few rich people, who have formed corporations. The livelihood of “adivasis” who lived on hunting and gathering has been taken away by one law or another. Their hunting land have been encroached, animals have become few and pushed away into ever reducing patches of land and various species of flora and fauna have been declared protected. They also need to make a living. Do you disagree? Adivasi children have to walk miles to attend schools. If diseases invade them, they have no alternative, but to die. Fatal snake bites are numerous. There is no infra structure whatsoever not to mention health clinics.

The government has no idea of the existence of the problem those people face. Political parties are not focused on them. There are a few people who have studied their problems, but they are in the list of most wanted by the government. What the “hell” is the government doing with “Kobad Ghandy” in custody? Is Man Mohan Singh or Chidambaram more patriotic than Kobad Ghandy? If the government wants to understand the problem, it should talk to Kobad. (I might have spelt his name wrong for which I seek his forgiveness). It is easy to recruit poor people, teach them to walk left right, left right, issue them a couple of pairs of khaki uniforms, shoes, a belt, a cap, a rusted single shot rifle and a couple of dozen cartridges and send them to kill their struggling brethren hiding from the government. Does it solve the problem?

One should do a casual reading of the history of various revolutions in the first half of the last century. The problem of the rural poor in India is not different from what existed in those countries then and which exists in South America now. Having said all that, I must say that, if there are reports of foreign governments helping rebels in in India in one form or another, government should do everything possible to stop it by monitoring the border.