The Indian State, The Naxalites and Political Violence

The most recent outrage against the Indian Railways by the Naxalites in Midnapore District of West Bengal once again drives home the fact that the Indian political establishment lacks the material and the intellectual capacity to counter the Naxalites. In fact the spate of recent attack on civilian targets suggests that the Maoists now consider civilians as fair game due to the absolute erosion of the very authority of the state. The Indian political establishment is capable of unheard of levels of brutality against unarmed civilians but is utterly incompetent to deal with armed groups motivated by ideological or religious considerations. It trumpets its dubious success against a hand full of stray "hindu" extremists who seem to be to be absurd elements in a theatre of death. In order to re enforce its dubious secular credentials some hot heads like Mutalik are paraded by the establishment as "proof" of the even handedness of the India sate. The fact is that the present political Establishment has lost all claims to the loyalty of its citizens and the mere fact that some MPs like Lalu Prasad Yadava and his criminal ilk "win" elections is no reason for such men to be regarded as part of the political process or leadership. Even P Chidambaram, the Home Minister has dubious credentials. His premature announcement of Telangana once again ignite ed a firestorm in Andhra and the Centre has just bought time by constituting the Sri Krishna Committee.
The main reason why the Naxalites menace has risen to such levels is because the UPA has within its fold powerful parties that have a vested interest in Maoist violence. Lalu Prasad Yadava needs the support of the Naxalites in Vidisha district from where he can hope to win by using Yadava and naxalite muscle power to rig the elections in the cow belt. The unholy nexus between the Mamta Party and the Naxalites are there for all to see. This is not to say that the CPM are a bunch of innocent bystanders. In fact the CPM routinely used the sate machinery and muscle power to crush opposition and I remember that when that old thug called Jyoti Basu was the Chief Minister, he had the skull of Mata broken when she led a demonstration against the CPM Government before the Writers' Building. Having supped with the devil of violence, the CPM now cannot cry foul.
My appeal to the Naxalites is as follows: Target the political establishment and no one will complain. But do not kill civilians. The Indian political class is a criminal gang and deserves to be punished in the name of patriotic forces.