Lalgarh in the Lal-rajya

The present operation in the Lalgarh district of west Bengal has been in news for quite some time now. In fact there have been many events prior to the present military operation in Lalgarh to flush out the naxals. This article is about naxalism and events which caused Lalgarh to hog the limelight.

The naxal movement has its roots in the uprising in the district of Naxalbari in North Bengal in the 1960s. The agitation was about land,labourers and their exploitation. A problem which should have been resolved in the initial stage itself was allowed to take the menacing form which it has acquired now. And just like any other movement, the naxalist movement deviated from the their original aim of working for the landless to one of recklessly destroying the fabric of Indian nation. The control of the naxal movement passed into the hands of few who had ulterior motives, one of them being establishing a “red-zone” within the Indian state, from Andhra Pradesh to Nepal passing through Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and Bengal.
Lack of land reforms, small land size per farmer, dependency on ancient farming methods(monsoon), falling into the clutches of loans/debts, lack of modern irrigation methods and technical knowhow, not getting the adequate price for their produce, and unequal distribution of wealth are some of the reasons which caused the matter to precipitate further. The West Bengal Government demonstrated the perfect example of ineptness in dealing with the situation. In a state which has been ruled by a single coalition government for the last 33 years, if the ground situation is still such, there is hardly anything left to comment. The government did hardly anything for the farmers, the landless on one hand and on the other hand failed to check the spread of the naxalist movement. One is not sure why the government in Kolkata didn’t take any action against the naxalist movement earlier, perhaps it was of the view that taking action against the brethren would not be good. Infact the Bengal government is still unsure whether naxalism is a menace or not, as is evident from the different voices one hears from the coalition partners after the government at last decided to ban the naxals in the state.
One also must not forget the role of CPM cadres in making the matter worse, especially in lalgarh. They have behaved arrogantly for long and didn’t change their behavior even when the matter started slipping out of their hands. The police in the state have been long accused of being a bunch of sympathizers of the government and they aptly demonstrated this tag by overlooking the atrocities committed by the CPM cadre, often aiding them.
Now what needs to be done? First of all, there has to be sincerity from the part of the government, both Union and the State towards dealing with this problem once and for all. The naxalites have to be convinced about laying arms. Their grievances have to be heard, if not addressed in totality. Land reforms has to be given top priority. Knowledge about irrigation methods has to be imparted to the farmers, especially those with small holdings. NREGA has to be implemented and its smooth functioning monitored on a regular basis. Basic infrastructure like roadways, electricity must be provided in areas most hit by naxal movement. A separate complaint redressal system has to be put in place to address the problems of villagers on a priority basis. They must feel that there is someone who is listening to them. Police atrocities need to be probed and guilty need to be brought to justice.
Invaluable lives must not be allowed to fall prey to naxal movement any more. There has be a unison approach in dealing with the Naxal issue. Democracy in its truest form must be ensured in the block level. India is one and will remain as one should be the message coming out from the thoughts and actions of one and all.