The Indian Media worked itself up to a frenzy after 74 Jawans were gunned down in the jungles of Chattisgarh, and several well-meaning and not-so-well meaning folks have asked me why I haven't written on the issue.
What's there to write about that hasn't been said already?
We've already expressed our collective shock, we've done our posturising and milked as much media mileage as possible from the incident, we've shed our crocodile tears and hardened our stand against all the 'so-called liberals'.
That the Indian state continues to ignore the rights of the indigenous people, those in power have not stopped destroying everything in sight and subverting the laws of the land for their own greed. When the Constitution of India is being systematically and continually subverted to fill the coffers of the greedy few, a time will come when it will have no relevance, and that will be the time for civil strife.
A house divided against itself cannot stand, nor a State at war with its own people.
It’s chilling to see the beginnings of strife. More poor Jawans will be sent as cannon fodder against more poor tribal people, both groups being mere pawns in a blood soaked game of chess. The Maosists hold no real solutions, their ideology is flawed and vision stunted, on the other hand the promises of the State to the indigenous people are hollow and insincere. The Indian State is committed to the destruction of forests, mountains, rivers, seas, all in the name of ‘progress’, no matter which bunch of politicians are in power.
So what does one say? What goes round must come round.
Hang around folks, don’t panic at the first gust of wind, the tornado is yet to happen, and if we’re not taking note of the early warnings from the activists at ground zero, well, I guarantee we’ll just all be blown away by what’s going to happen next.
3 comments:
Thank you Frank
Good pieces to read
Jacob
A very well thought out piece, basically saying what Dr Vinayak Sen has : two trains hurtling towards each other on the same track - a collison and a disastrous one at that can be averted if only there is political will to stop the looting supported by the State ... if that's done, then the Maoists will run out of steam.
I have often wondered how desperate must people get before they cross the final threshold and engage in violent defense of territory and resources?
And each time I have been too afraid to answer that question. The state power is immense but a progressive state must be an inclusive one: one that is committed to the protection of the most disadvantaged among us. Violence of any kind is unacceptable and the state must take immediate steps to rescript the tales of horror. Where the elected representatives and the bureaucracy has failed, try to involve social scientists and educators. Often such people can show the way although there are not many in the government who wish to believe that.
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