From the barrel of the gun
By Kalyani Shankar

Recently, in the thick forests of Nallamalai in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, top Naxalite leaders were holding a secret meeting. Getting wind of this, the Greyhound police squad surrounded them. These leaders could have been easily arrested had the police search not called off. The Naxalites had top contacts in Delhi to get them off the hook. All that they did was phone a Central Minister, who even took up the matter with the UPA chief Sonia Gandhi.

This is just one example of how the extremists have some kind of nexus with political parties. If Naxalites use political parties to broaden their base, the latter use their support to come to power. It is well-known that Naxalites have sympathy with the Telengana Rashtra Samithi, which was born to demand a separate Telengana state. The TRS, which has two Central ministers, also acts as a buffer between the Government and the Naxalites.

At the invitation of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy - who has taken a softer line towards Naxalites - the extremists and the State Government sat on the negotiating table from October 15 to 18, 2004, merely out of expediency. Mr Reddy began the peace negotiations out of political compulsions without forethought or careful preparations. He failed to assess the true intentions of the Naxalites or the full ramifications of adopting a liberal attitude towards them. He did not know if the naxalites had control of the dalams.

The Congress had said in its election manifesto 2004 that it would initiate peace talks with the extremist group. Also, it is alleged to have struck an unholy deal with the Naxalites. The latter, on their part, came to the table to get the much-needed "respite" from being hunted down. More importantly, their campaign of violence was fast eroding. They needed to replenish their arms and mobilise funds to keep their struggle afloat. The People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India subsequently merged on September 21, 2004, to form the CPI-Maoists.

Interestingly, after the failure of the first round, the State Government was not able to resume talks. The TRS blames the Chief Minister for inviting the Naxalites without any conditions. However, the Telugu Desam is critical of the Government. Meanwhile, Naxalites availed of the opportunity and began to mobilise arms and funds. They have top class communication facilities. The dalams are getting stronger with better leadership. They have the run of many villages and now run a parallel government there.

What are their demands? The Naxalites want the Government to seize land from the land grabbers and distribute the surplus land to the landless. But the Government says it has only one lakh hectares for distribution. Also, the Naxalites want social justice and want the Government to stop the encounters. They want their men in jail released and all cases against their leaders dropped. Since there was no meeting ground, the first round of talks between the two sides failed.

The Naxalite problem is there in other states as well. Interestingly, in most Naxal-infested states, it is the Telugus who are leading the movement - whether in Chhattisgarh or Karnataka. They are active in 157 districts, according to the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, and their number is increasing. They are also present in some adjoining districts of Maharashtra, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and have even spread to Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

What is the Centre's policy on Naxalites? It has left it to the State governments to hold talks with them. The parameters within which the talks are to be held, however, are also specified by the Centre. It wants the states to impress upon the Naxalites to lay down arms and return to the mainstream. Mr Patil has said in the Lok Sabha, "If they are wrong, we are not going to treat them as enemies. We are telling them to reduce their reliance on arms." The states have been told to share intelligence on Naxalite activities and work in a coordinated manner.

The Centre wants the states to modernise their police force and communication facilities to tackle the extremists. The Centre's policy is not to treat the Naxalites as enemies since "they are born and brought up here". In the words of Mr Patil, "We want to deal with them as the karta of the family and punish the child if his advice is not respected." The Centre claims that it has not shrugged off its responsibility and left the whole thing to the states, and that it is a joint responsibility of both the states and Centre.

However, the real problem is that various political parties want to keep their vote-bank politics intact, and often resort to getting help overtly or covertly from extremist and insurgent groups to come to power. This is true of Andhra Pradesh, Assam and many other states where insurgency is on the rise.

The Naxalite problem has intensified with the royal coup in Nepal. The hunted Maoists are slowly moving towards India and there could soon be a corridor starting from Nepal to Karnataka. Already there is linkage from Kathmandu through UP, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. There is no doubt that the Indian Maoists have been providing training to the Nepal Maoists. It is worth mentioning that the LTTE is also said to have links with the Naxalites.

Basically, Naxalism can no longer be treated as a mere law and order issue; it is something more than that. Extortion and parallel government by the Naxals have become the order of the day in the Naxal-infested areas. If amendments are required in the law to tackle the problem, they must be considered. The Congress is waiting for the Sasidhar Reddy task force report. Once it comes out, the party can think of what course it should take.

The Government should go to the root of the problem. Land reforms must be implemented to ensure that the tribals do not feel alienated or that their land is taken away from them. Another solution is to create more jobs for the youth. The delay in judicial system should be avoided. Good governance, a catch word these days, could be an answer. Dealing with the extremists with firmness is another way of containing it. There should be a policy to deal with the Naxals and this should not be left only to the states; the Centre should step in. Above all, political parties should not be allowed to make use of Naxalites to ride to power.