The Times Of India

Weakening the warrior and ignoring Mao's orphans

24 May 2010

Tarun Vijay

Mrs Sonia Gandhi is weakening the fight against armed and violent Naxalites. Her 'cause and consequence' statement published in her party's mouthpiece Congress Sandesh followed a pattern and made the home minister crestfallen.

First she allowed Digvijay Singh and then Mani Shankar Aiyar to have a dig at the country's home minister when he needed support most. Then her own statement caused a strange situation which gave a clear message that she doesn't approve of Chidambaram's approach. There couldn't have been anything more damaging to the morale of the chief leading a difficult war against Maoists, who had so far rejected all appeals by Chidambaram to shun violence and come to talks with government.

Sonia Gandhi didn't have a word of sympathy or praise for India's home minister, who also happens to belong to her party. Leave aside appreciating the security forces and assuring all help to Raman Singh, chief minister of Chhattisgarh. After all, Raman Singh too is an Indian and has been trying to wage the battle against the barbarians, which is singularly in stark contrast with other Naxalite-affected states. The victims of Naxal violence too are Indians and hence shouldn't it be the dharma of polity to help forge a unity on the issue of protecting Indians?

But instead she has encouraged her party men to criticize not only her own government's chief strategist against Naxal violence, but also the chief minister at a moment when both need the country's undiluted support.

Surprisingly not only the 'otherwise independent and objective' media are silent on her statement's devastating effect on the morale of the home minister and that of the security forces engaged in a difficult fight with one hand tied and the other wounded. The honourable Prime Minister has simply gone invisible. This is an atrociously amazing feat. He doesn't know whether as the head of the government, at least constitutionally, he should help his colleague fight to the finish successfully or support his mentor Sonia's prescription which amounts to help Naxals. The lone voice of protest on Sonia's pro-Naxal stand came from the inimitable Arun Jaitley. Isn't it a sad reflection on the so-called 'independent and fearless' leaders of public opinion?

It would be unacceptable that Sonia Gandhi didn't know of Chidambaram's earlier statements and interviews in the media. He had been constantly appealing the Naxalites to come to the talking table and shun violence. He is on record saying that the Naxalites are not allowing any developmental activity to be carried out in the region under their effective control. Hospitals, schools, road construction, farming activities, nothing is allowed to be helped by the state government apparatus. They are murderers and criminals, he said. It's not the Naxalites but Sonia who has defeated the warrior midway. Chidambaram's interview on a channel showed him in a dejected and anguished mood. The one who was roaring like a charged infantryman with his home secretary Pillai religiously following the line and expressing the pains and anguish of Indians on the support South Delhi's intellectual elite provides to the murderers, suddenly changed track and offered talks to the Naxals. Not wasting any time Sonia's 'development seeker' boys rejected the offer. Then Chidambaram issued a statement saying meekly: "We have to change our approach to deal with Maoists." What approach and which changes?

Why?

As a mother she must know the security personnel too belong to mothers and their families too mourn their martyrdom. Security forces are there to protect the Constitution and they act on the orders of a democratically elected government. Their death is often unsung in a 'secular' media and polity that finds it more fashionable and 'bold' to glorify those who are simple murderers for the sake a revolution whose implementation they have not been able to show in any of their pocket boroughs.

The Naxalites have been found collaborating with Islamist jihadis through the ISI and the ULFA in West Bengal. Their sophisticated weaponry and guerrilla warfare expertise to take on the Indian security forces show how deep they have been entrenched in the anti-India circle of foreign powers.

Besides, there is another issue, too sensitive and significant to any patriotic citizen, especially those who understand the feelings of a mother. The Naxalites have killed hundreds of farmers and small agricultural labourers on the suspicion of their being police informers or simply rejecting their demands to send their kids to join the Naxalites' ranks.

When a father is killed by the Naxalites, where do the children of such families go? With no earning member surviving in the family, such children land up in orphanages run by various NGOs in Chhattisgharh. The plight of children when their parents are slaughtered, often before their own eyes, is unimaginable. There are hundreds of kids in Chhattisgarh whose parents were brutally killed by Maoist 'development seekers'. Has Sonia Gandhi or Arundhati Roy ever, even once, tried to wipe the tears of those children who have been turned orphans by the savages of Mao?

I am giving here the pictures of some of such kids, turned orphans by Maoists. Our 'secular' sirens are worse child abusers than paedophiles. Not only are they making Indian children of parents unyielding to Naxal blackmail orphans but also forcing young kids to join their gangs to do menial jobs and take up guns in their jungle hideouts when their age demands them to go to school, study and play games.

For example, in just one family Shanti Teram, Jayavati Teram and Janaki Teram, sisters, were orphaned when their father was murdered by the Naxalites. All the three are sisters are now in an orphanage at Raipur. I have a list of 50 children, 39 girls and 11 boys, of the age group 5 to 14 in one district area only. Imagine little girls and boys of this age group living without their parents in an orphanage. What was their crime?

Can this be an 'appreciable' or 'understandable' act of 'development seekers'? Instead of consolidating the pro-India voices of reason and social welfare, why are people like Sonia Gandhi and Digvijay Singh weakening the battle that Indira Gandhi once won through Siddhartha Shankar Ray in Bengal showing grit and nationalism?

It's high time an all-party meet devised a consensus on tackling the Naxalite problem. I strongly recommend Lt. Gen Jacob to be consulted on this issue to improve more effectively the present method of anti-Naxal operations. It's noteworthy that Gen Jacob conducted counter-insurgency operations in Nagaland that led to the signing of the Shillong accord in 1975. Twelve years of peace followed. He also led operations in Mizoram, which resulted in the insurgents going to Kolkata conference for peace. He also set up the counter-insurgency school in Mizoram in 1970.

Pictures of children who became orphaned as Naxal s killed their parents. They are almost all tribals and belong to poor and marginalized farming class.