A few days ago I wrote my post "India's Maoist threat. Deja vu?" In that post I showed the situation was predicted decades previously. I did not offer any suggestion on dealing with the threat.
I would recommend reading the previous post for context before continuing.
Imagine a child that just learnt to walk. How responsible is that child for wandering into dangerous situations? Adults are responsible for the well being of children including preventing them from hurting themselves or breaking things, doing this with love and care rather than harsh measures.
Like children the proletariat of India have advanced just enough to become somewhat literate and somewhat knowledgeable. Just like children who have just learnt to walk, they are wandering into dangerous territory such as naxalism with no "parent" to care for them. This proletariat may have some elementary and high school education but even then not a quality one. So expecting them to think and act like the more fortunate, educated and sophisticated is like expecting a child that has just learnt to walk, to walk responsibly like an adult.
How to deal with the Maoists? The first thing we need to recognize is the fact that while most Maoists are from the proletariat class (with few exceptions) the entire proletariat class are not Maoists. By sending police and soldiers to defeat them the government is only reinforcing the Maoist concept of capitalism, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proletariat, encouraging others within the proletariat to become Maoists.
So how should the governments of India handle this? I think the best way is to separate Maoist beliefs from Maoist actions and treat these two aspects separately:
1. Recognize that Maoist belief is based on their concept of capitalism. This view is real to the proletariat based on their position in society and fed by the fact they are left behind while non proletariat classes benefit from India's technological advances. The Indian government should with dedication and total transparency demonstrate that the rewards of India's progress flows equitably - I would argue more than equitably, to make up for the past - to India's proletariat.
2. Recognize that attacking and killing others is criminal regardless of political belief. All criminals should be brought to equal justice. The intent here being to punish their deeds, not their beliefs. This is easier said than done when it comes to Maoist criminals because they are embedded within and often protected by the proletariat. They are difficult if not impossible to arrest individually and brought to justice.
So what to do? In June 2009 the government banned the Maoist Communist Party of India (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8112103.stm). This ban in itself is not going to contain or reverse the Maoist movement. It is okay as an interim measure but the government really needs to come up with clear policies and transparent actionable plans based on the principle of separation between beliefs and actual criminal activities. While this interim ban is in place the governments (both national and state) should:
1. Create laws guaranteeing all Indians (including Maoists) the rights to their beliefs (not actions)
2. Create credible plans to ensure fortunes of the country and individual states are equitably distributed to all citizens, favouring the proletariat
3. Create institutions with a clear mandate to deliver on those plans
4. Regularly audit these institutions to ensure there is no corruption and they are delivering on their mandate
5. Engage in discussions with leaders of the proletariat to (a) provide their constituents with their share of India's fortunes and (b) get their support to arrest criminals embedded in their constituencies.
These are just a few thoughts, not necessarily right. Hopefully this will generate conversation in this and other groups, the more the better. Other groups I recommend are:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Swadeswethepeople/
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