Internal Security

KEY POINTS

·         The Home Minister of India recently claimed that the challenge of Naxalism in the country is on its “last legs”.

·         His assessment stems from the fact that the security forces have been achieving signal successes against the Maoists.

·         The trajectory of Maoist violence has been showing a downward trend.

·         It is also a fact that the total area affected by Naxalism has shrunk to 90 districts of the country.

Validity of such claims

·         The above trends are, no doubt, positive. It would, however, be naïve to think that we are about to see the end of Naxalism/Maoism in the country.

·         Historical overview has suggested that though Naxalism/Maoism had been disintegrated even in the past, it revived with a new phase.

Basic problems fuelling Naxal movements

a)     Inequality

b)     Corruption

c)      Agrarian unrest

·         Such factors always have seeds of discontent, which have the potential to explode into a rebellion.

How to use the situation?

·         The government now holds the upper hand again. It offers an ideal opportunity to solve the problem completely.

·         The government of India has two options before it.

·         One, that it goes ahead and crushes the Maoist movement. But, the possibility, in that case, is that the movement would resurrect again, maybe in a new avatar.

·         The other option is to offer the olive branch to the Maoist leaders and carry out sincere measures to redress grievances, particularly those relating to tribals’.

·         Any offer of peace from a position of strength is always credible and has greater chance of success.

·         Simultaneous efforts in the direction of minimising the basic fuelling factors would go a long way in completely eradicating Naxalism/Maoism in the country.

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