Pragmatic Euphony  

Better governance, not violence by Maoists, is an answer to a lack of governance.

Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed.~Mao

Here is a list of phrases often used in the discussion about the Maoists and the Indian government’s response to them by all leftist, bleeding liberal hearts: development, tribal rights, forests, mining rights, employment, social justice, empowerment, grass-root movement, local bodies and human rights violations by security forces.

Here is a list of ministries of the government of India that are supposed to be taking care of exactly these specific subjects:

• Ministry of Environment and Forests
• Ministry of Labour and Employment
• Ministry of Mines
• Ministry of Panchayati Raj
• Ministry of Rural Development
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs
• Ministry of Home Affairs

And then there are three statutory bodies that take care of any issues in the debate that do not fall under the jurisdiction of any of the ministries.

• Planning Commission
• National Commission of Scheduled Tribes
• National Human Rights Commission

This — rather unintended commentary on the bloated nature of our government — leads us to two simple conclusions. One, if there are instruments of state responsible for each of these perceived grievances and the resentment still exists, it shows only one thing — a complete failure of governance. The governments, both at the centre and the state, have to take a rap for it. Rather than indulge in some wishy-washy, quasi-theoretical, either violence or development kind of shrill debate being witnessed now which ends up targeting a faceless Indian state, the emphasis of the media and leftist intellectuals should be on holding the specific institutions of the government accountable for each of these areas of grievance. It just might goad these ministries and commissions into action to the betterment of all concerned.

But, more importantly — and this is the second point — if any section of the population has a grievance against this lack of governance, the remedy is not violence and overthrow of the state. The correct response for the aggrieved population is to use the democratic means available to all Indians — to win elections, form a government and ensure that these ministries and statutory bodies do their job properly.

Simply put, there are no excuses for any of the parties involved here, least of all the Maoists and their sympathisers, to shift the focus away from governance. They would do well to take heed of these words of Abba Eban.

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.