Arundhati Roy and Maoists of Chattisgarh

Arundhati Roy in Outlook Magazine:

I was reading the entire article very carefully. The jarring note was Arundhati's prejudice exposed in saying" The Maoists are not the only ones who seek to depose the Indian State. It’s already been deposed several times by Hindu fundamentalism and economic totalitarianism."

She writes well and she has the gift of communication. But she also seems to suffer from some strange hallucinations of antipathy towards nations' own ancient cultural history. natural being brainwashed by western education and conditioned to believe that all old and Indian was fundamentalist.

Fact is her statement indicates deep ignorance and also arrogance of her own greatness to say what she likes. Very un- journalistic , considering that she set out to to find out the truth.

Human history shows there has always been clash of civilisations and one group exploiting another.

There has never been a time when full ideal free living without getting exploited by some one or the other.

Fact remains adivasis, aboriginals, Bhumiputras of Malaysia, Red Indians of US, africans, not well to do immigrants to any country, poor villagers who reach urban areas for a living, slum dwellers... the list goes on... all are exploited.

Strange it seems we liberate a group from clutches of one group only to exploit the weak in another form! The gun runners and merchants make money with these conflicts.

Arundhati truly covered the matter she set out to cover well. She made me travel the jungle. That reminded me of my time I spent in sub-sahara with poorly clad africans dust covered and practically dried up looking like sub-humans, scared of us and scurrying away from us. Very pathetic indeed! Drops of water and shade- a modicum of it-- are sought. But they live... yes, they continue to live.

Here in our forests the tribals were fighting over centuries even during Moghul periods and the dacoits were a reality, or even today a reality.

The kings made peace with them, the Britishers too in their own way, and even GOI tries to leave them alone if they can.

Looking back further Dandakaranaya seems to have hosted rebel and unruly elements even during Rama's time(?) not many may like this mention but, Rama as per record of Valmiki( a tribal), happens to have killed thousands of " rakshas" even female ones, like Tataki.

Well may be current writers can say Maoist/Naxal movement of those ancient times was also put down by the rulers?

Three to four hundred years ago most of the Europeans who created colonies had to kill the "barbarians" spreading almost over the entire world. All the natives had to be subjugated.

Then the land lords of Telengana too unleashed a reign of terror during Nizam period, and almost all land lords of agricultural lands in India during British rule, enjoyed unfettered rights to control thousands of acres and pay revenue to the British rulers. The weak and poor were exploited and a few who fought and escaped to jungles like Seetha Ramaraju, were killed as again some kind of state security threat!

Congress did very well to introduce land reforms and giving rights to small and weak. But the forces of exploitation thrived in the form of money lenders, practically exercising life and death power over them even after independence.

Even after 50 years farmers across India kill themselves helplessly unable to fight the system Vidarbha, Andhra pradesh come to my mind. Even today at least a double digit deaths would have taken place.

Tyranny prevails and humans have specialised. It is the case even in urban areas.

Take for instance services-- highly educated lot but how many of us have not experienced the tyranny of the system to force a conformity to the rulers' wishes? We invariably surrender to survive. Why did we not run away to forest? Yes a few do!

An odd IAS officer who went on hunger drive, then resigned and started own educational institutions! A brilliant son of one of my colleagues who excelled doing MBA etc, then vanished in to the poor villages of MP to serve the weak and down trodden. This boy refused to accept the cash attached to the prestigious Magsaysay award.. because it is the money from financial looters of western countries , he felt!

Then for every contract awarded in Mumbai, the man who gets the work must pay his respects to three political parties, then two mafia gangs along with a percentage of his contract to be able to finish the work and take his profit. Else he can never even start the work.

Same in forest areas. For every road work to progress, the local mafia, and Mao group has to be taken care of. So more projects, more funds for the extremist groups.Urban or forest areas do not matter. Gun runners make merry.

The forces of exploitation collaborate too very well. The only losers are the weak and down trodden.

Olden days too, the paid henchmen lose lives as they do even today in mafia or gang wars or activities of Mao groups. The discipline is enforced by goondas with carrot and stick policy, and same thing happens in any extremist group. Talk of vlues and principles too is only a way of giving what it takes to keep your footmen in good shape to fight for your interest. Police footmen lose lives as well as Comrade Kamla likes! Both are innocent!

Humans are difficult to analyse. We think a clerk is too small and will remain exploited always. But the tyranny exercised by a clerk on a hapless guy who wants to move his file, has to be seen to be believed. Simple booking clerk to issue ticket at Kharagpur station, treats you with such a contempt when as a IIT student I used to present my concession form. Since I picked a fight, the clerk remembered my face. So when I presented the Green pass as first appointee in IRSE, one day in 1970, the same clerk, looked at the pass, then at my face, eyes widened, stood up from his chair, walked out and took me inside!!! I felt an odd sense of satisfaction still that mans gauky face comes to my mind with widened eyes, as much as the bulging eyes of the sub-sahran children-- they trouble my conscience.

There is inherent cruelty in humans. Most of the time those who are meek, who are said to inherit the earth end up doing so only to till the same for others.

Even after decades of education, we help the rulers to exploit better, using improved means of camouflage.

Globalised economy has only increased the depth and extent of exploitation on a very grand scale and the ruler is always the victor who writes not only history but news too.

Arundhati too is falling victim to her own need to nurse her ego. Genaralised condemnation is not the way a sensitive person like her should see the world.

My heart goes out to all the poor, downtrodden and weak whether in urban or village or forest areas who are merely used by those who are greedy and hungry for more power and pelf.

I can only pray for these hapless victims to whom crumbs are thrown in the name of reservations or some settlements or self-employment schemes ,all of which get operated again to fill pockets of the ruling class only; that wisdom will soon dawn in rulers who ever they are.

Honesty and commitment are conspicuous by their absence.

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सत्यं परम् धीमही
बी. राजाराम
Rajaram Bojji M.Tech. IRSE (Retd.), FIE, FNAE, AMASCE
Fmr. MD Konkan Railway /Min. of Railways India
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