The Eye of the Tiger

Atindranath Dutta, the cop kidnapped by Naxalites/Maoists in Midnapore, is back home and all our Indian news channels and magazines were raving about the negotiation tactics of the Bengal Government yesterday. And this was just an isolated incident in the tales of the Maoist insurgence in the eastern part of India – just an isolated victory for the government. In fact, it won’t be wrong to state that the Bengal Government got lucky this time because had Dutta been moved to a Maoist jail in some part in Jharkhand, Orissa or Chhattisgarh which is their safe haven, none of the negotiation tactics of the police would have worked. And to add to that if Dutta would not have had a clean reputation amongst the locals, Maoists would have done away with him the way they did with Francis, the abducted cop in Jharkhand, who was found beheaded on the Ranchi Jharkhand highway and this heinous act would have still gone favourable in the eyes of the locals.

But what everyone underplayed was the fact that Dutta was let out with a white cloth hanging from his neck with “Prisoner of War” written in large red letters. Yes, it’s no more just a game of hide and seek between the Police and the communist protesters – it has moved on to a much higher level in the last two decades – it spells plain and simple “WAR”. But if this war has brought the realization of hell for anyone then it is the locals of the community where these Maoists reside – the tribals, the poor farmers and all the others inhabiting these villages.

Why am I talking about this today you may ask? In the last one and half months, I have been travelling through these affected areas and yesterday was one of those days. West Bengal is a land of resources – so rich with raw materials that even the English could not help but salivate and began their rule and rampage as East India Company in this part. It saddens me to see this region, which still holds the resources and thus the prowess to give India’s economy its much needed momentum, lying in ruins – factories in dilapidated conditions, burnt houses, small villages and townships with red flags everywhere with hardly a soul to be seen and silence so deafening that the loud honking of cars and fireworks in the middle of the night in Kolkata seem like sweet music.

 Having started their activity in 1967 in a small corner in West Bengal – Naxalbari (and thus the name for the activists – Naxalites), they now operate in 182 districts in India in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The epicentres of this conflict are West Bengal and Chhatisgarh. Once the messiahs for the poor, downtrodden and those suffering from the atrocities of the government officials – mostly corrupt police, the activities of the Maoists are now gradually bordering on Mafia techniques and terrorism with evident greed and corruption in their own leadership. Looting from those tribals and villagers that they claim to protect, violently killing innocent officials and using the women and children of the once loyal community as their shield (Lalgarh incident), the Maoists are gradually losing their support in their new avatar. The local community which once provided shelter to these Maoists now prefer to stay away from the trouble and gore.  The insurgents gradually realize this and before they are cornered from all angles, they are trying to cajole the community back to their side.

Dutta’s release was done with a condition to release the women from the community who had been imprisoned by the police for purported links with the Maoists and there was no demand to release their fellow Maoists. The heart of the affected community might have softened towards the Maoists for the release on either side – the fair cop and the innocent women but what about the innocent kid of the beheaded cop who was seen crying on television saying – “Main bhi police banoonga aur un sabko maroonga… mere Baba ko mara hai na?” (I’ll become a police officer when I grow up and will kill each of them … they killed my father) and many more cops seeking revenge of their beheaded brethren? The war continues between the two groups – the police and the Maoist – and those that both the groups claim to protect are the ones that continue to suffer.

The ‘heat is on’ in the land of the tiger – the Bengal tiger … the never ending war …

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
One stacks the odds 'til the other takes to the street
For they kill with the skill to survive

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight …