Editorial
Maoist insurgency fall-out in India
Indian home minister's resignation offer
INDIAN Home Minister P. Chidamabaram's offer of resignation in the face of the massacre of 76 security personnel in an ambush by Maoist guerrillas brings two important points to the fore. The first is of course an image of democracy as it should be working. By offering to quit and by taking full responsibility for the tragedy, Chidambaram has only underscored the vitality along which Indian democracy, warts and all, continues to function. At a time when not many men and women in powerful positions around the world are willing to admit failure or acknowledge responsibility for things that go wrong, Chidambaram's act truly reflects the spirit in which a democratic system of government should work. A fundamental principle of such a system is the readiness of the individual at the top to be fully accountable for everything done in and by his organization. That his resignation has not been accepted is of course another matter.
The second point here relates to the increasing ferocity with which the Maoist guerrillas have been making themselves heard across wider swathes of India. Indeed, there are at this point centres where these radical leftists have a free run of the place, to a point where they have set up training camps and the like and have, as part of their ideological programme, attracted the poor and the disadvantaged from many sections of the population. In recent weeks, Indian security forces, for all their determination to root out the guerrillas, have found themselves in serious difficulties. Paradoxically, however, there is the other side of the story as well. It is that the Maoists, having more or less operated at will in the matter of recruitment and training of their young followers, have lately felt the pressure of the security forces. That their back could be up against the wall is not something that can be easily dismissed. It can, therefore, be argued that the killing of the 76 security people was an act of desperation on the part of the Maoists.
There is little question that a quelling of Maoist activities is of intense concern for the Indian authorities, given that the guerrillas now are reported to be operating in 20 of India's 28 states. With anywhere between 10,000 and 20,000 guerrillas operating, the Maoists are a clear and present danger to India and the democracy it has espoused since it became a free country in 1947. More tellingly, unless the Indian authorities are able to tackle the menace, the ramifications of the Maoist revolt may be felt beyond the country's borders. Chidambaram is on record with his offer of talks with the rebels. One will simply have to wait and see the response, of there is any at all. The alternative is focused action to put an end to the danger. Either way, stopping the guerrillas is a necessity if, in the future, India's democracy is not to haemorrhage.
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