Intellectual Frontiers of Naxalism!

"The genesis of Naxalism is the Mantralay in Mumbai"--this according to Dr Abhay Bang,who has been working in the field of community health for 25 years in Gadchiroli district,is the cause of the problem of naxalism. Dr Bang was speaking at the 85th Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Chandrapur, on the border of naxal-affected Gadchiroli district in Vidarbha.

With due respect to the Doctor this line of thinking is materially flawed. No doubt the naxalism had its roots in the oppression of tribals and peasants. But ‘Allegiance to the armed struggle and non-participation in the elections’ is the motto and core ideology of the naxalism which is the extremist form of leftist movement. Under the garb of " people’s government" it vowed to wage armed war. If today, Naxalism is considered as the greatest internal security problem and Naxals claim to be running parallel government in different parts of the country, its credit mostly goes to the PWG,whose proclaimed philosophy is "The People’s War based on Armed Agrarian Revolution is the only path for achieving people’s democracy i.e. new democracy, in our country."

[Flawed] policy decisions and apathy of bureucracy towards tribals ,for the sake of arguement,may justify its birth.But its "Continued Existence" have no raison d'etre.Even if the said cause of genesis of naxalism as given by Dr.Bang is rectified it would not be going to subside the naxalism. Simply because the naxalism has nothing,at least no longer, to do with plight of tribals and peasants. Either way naxals want to overthrow the parliamentary democracy established by law to be substituted by "The Dictatorship of Proletariat."

The reasoning given by Doctor may seems innocuous, as there is no gainsaying the fact that the pathetic attitude of the govt has not changed. But the point is that it is not. Such theory put forth by Intellectuals like Dr Bang do provide the idealogical base to the naxalism, eventhough in the instant case Doctor may not have such intention. Real threat is not from the violent deeds of naxalites which can easily be dealt with an iron hand. The Idealogues of naxalism are the real danger posed to the society buttressed by the "Guilt Complex" of middle class.