Naxalite Violence has assumed threatening proportions in recent times and has engulfed Andhra Pradesh completely and the contiguous areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa partially. Chief Ministers of the affected States met recently under the Chairmanship of the Union Home Minister at Hyderabad to consider ways and means to deal with this problem. At the end, it was mentioned to the Press, that all of them had a "firm resolve and a strong collective determination to put the problem of Naxalism behind us". The methodology suggested was to enact more stringent laws and to equip the police to deal with the problem more firmly! A high powered monitoring group has also been set up to coordinate police action in all the affected States and to review the situation on a monthly basis. The Centre has also expressed its willingness to share the expenditure.

It is unfortunate that this conclave failed to appreciate the basic tenet that the root cause of Political violence is the alienation of the common man and the cures should be sought within political process only. Police can at best deal with the Criminality involved in Naxal violence and they cannot remove the deep seated socio-economic causes. The meeting failed to recognise the chronic backwardness of the affected areas and the unrelenting exploitation of the rural poor by the vested interests. It would have helped a great deal if the Central Government had provided additional funds for developmental works in Naxal affected areas.

When dealing with complex problems like left-wing extremism, concep-tual clarity is essential. Naxalism is a political ideology and is not a socio-economic movement dedicated to the upliftment of the poor. It is the brand name for Marxist-Leninist ideology, which extols violence as a means to seize political power and debunks Parliamentary Democracy. It exploits the discon-tentment among the rural poor and tribals to further its own cause. Naxals operate in the Forest and Tribal areas of the affected States, because they offer ideal conditions to carry out guerrilla warfare namely, alienated local population and discontentment among the poor and tribals due to their exploitation by the vested interests; difficult terrain making it impossible for the security forces to operate effectively and facilitating ‘Hit and Run’ tactics; and the absence of effective grass roots administration. Effective anti-dote to Terrorism is a good and corruption free, people friendly administration. To say the least, grass roots administration in these areas is anything but people friendly. The tactics of Naxalites is to ‘kill one and frighten thousands’ and to harass, weaken and vanquish the established authority. The disgruntled local population looks upon Naxalites as saviours as they are able to stand up and fight against their oppressors. As Charu Mazumdar once observed, "Militant struggles must be carried on not for land, crops etc., but for the seizure of State Power". So, the aim of the Naxalite is clearly to seize State power through violence. This is being made easy by the deplorable socio-economic conditions in the affected areas and neglect of these areas by the Governments.

To fight Naxalites, Police need tactical intelligence, which can be obtained only through the cooperation of the local people. Intensive Police action, by its very nature, will be intrusive and oppressive. Rural poor value their privacy and resent intrusions. Added to this, senseless custodial violence and ‘Fake encounters’ by the Police, exacerbate the alienation and also provide the grist to the anti government propaganda mills. While the State has a duty to protect its citizens from Naxal violence, it has also an equal responsibility to protect the people from police excesses unleashed in the name of anti-naxalite operations. The basic rights of the have-nots to lead a dignified life should not trampled upon. It should be remembered that no where in the world, Force alone had succeeded in eliminating Political Violence and in fact, far sighted Political moves have brought peace to the troubled lands.

It is an undeniable fact, that the socio-economic conditions of the rural poor and the Tribals in the affected areas are deplorable and all the proclaimed developmental activities are only on paper and do not exist on the ground. Exploitation by the money lenders, land grabbers, forest contractors and petty bureaucracy goes on unabated. There are well thought out and well meaning schemes on the board but none have been faithfully implemented.

To bring peace to the affected areas, we must get rid of the mindset that police action can solve political problems. A two pronged approach should be adopted. In the first place, steps are to be taken to remove the basic socio-economic causes for rural discontentment. Secondly, a well conceived highly professional plan to deal with the Criminality unleashed by the Naxals should be implemented.

To alleviate socio-economic problems, there is a need to set up a high powered machinery to eliminate Benami holdings in the affected areas; assign surplus land to the landless poor; ensure payment of minimum wages; supply of essential commodities at subsidized rates; launching of ‘Food for Work’ programmes for the rural poor-particularly in the Forest areas; permitting the Tribals to collect minor forest produce; abolition of bonded labour; etc. Special Missions are to be launched to improve communications; provide Vocational training to local youth to obtain employment locally; provide drinking water and medical services in the interior villages; etc. A senior officer of the rank of Additional Chief Secretary should be appointed to deal with this problem in each of the affected districts and he should be granted full financial powers of the Government to take quick decisions on the spot. Special efforts are to be made to provide employment for the tribal and rural youth in Police, Forest and Agricultural departments.

Rural poor are to be saved from the tyranny of lower ranks of Police, Forest personnel and Excise staff. There is need to run special reorientation programmes to make these categories of public servants to treat rural poor as human beings. There is need to lay greater emphasis on friendly behaviour with the have-nots and the need to observe their basic human rights.

As for the Police are concerned, they should eschew the ‘Rambo’ mentality and ‘trigger happy culture’. Value of human lives is to be emphasised. Better and closer supervision by senior officers to prevent custodial violence and ‘Fake Encounters’ is called for. Special training programmes are to be organised to bring about an attitudinal change and to make them people-friendly. It should be ingrained in them that they cannot succeed without people’s cooperation and the same will be forthcoming only when police become more humane and respect the Human Rights. Police personnel should be associated with developmental activities in interior areas so that they come closer to people in positive environment.

Often, Police compare themselves with Naxals and point out that the Human Rights violations by Naxals are not condemned and only Police are taken to task. It is necessary to educate the police, that law enforcers are duty bound to honour the constitutional obligations and the ‘Outlaws’ are under no such obligation.

Governments cannot tackle the Naxal problem without the cooperation of the enlightened public. They should take the help of well meaning individuals like the ‘Committee of the Concerned Citizens’ of Hyderabad. Transparency in administration and quick response to public grievances in the affected areas will go a long way in securing public cooperation. People are to be educated about the true colours of Naxalites and a propaganda offensive should be launched to inform the public about the harm being caused to developmental activities by the Naxals. People should develop a vested interest in having peace in their areas. Police can only act as the executing arm in achieving this purpose.

Combating Naxalism calls for a multi-pronged approach. It is a test to the sagacity of political leaders. Patience and firmness alone will deliver the goods in the long run. Resort to Arms and Force, without initiating ameliorative measures, will only worsen the situation.

(The author is a former DG of C.R.P.F and N.S.G.)