Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Rise of Red....a Reason for us to be Red Faced..

What picture do you conjure in mind when you hear the word 'maoist' or 'naxal'?Is it some creature in fatigues and a red bandana who jumps from behind the bush brandishing a Kalashnikov? He can't appreciate the sleek features of your iPhone or tell apart that authentic Gucci  from a fake yet he's also a citizen of India or maybe a Bharatwasi as you can call him.This gun toting native seems to be living in intense obscurity shunning away these fruits of a shining India.To say that the state never bothered would be unjust, the state did try to "develop" him and his community.They brought industries to color the skies and rivers black.Dams were built to supply power to the hungry and deprived.Employment was also given to them as laborers because they weren't skilled enough to survive in the corporate jungle.Lush greenery was transformed into systematic grey of mines and steel.The asthma and bronchitis were the added bonuses that most of the workers shared.Hence the effort has been very commendable indeed,only it made these people more anguished.The lines of their thought and ours seem to be meeting at infinity and the gap is increased when we take into account the benignity shown by our corrupt officials and politicians in matters of rehabilitation and environment protection.If only we had reached out and lend them a ear.This bharatwasi is not here to propound some theory of Mao or Lenin or Marx in the state politics.In fact he's not educated enough to circumspect their implications.I believe he doesn't even care also for who stood for what. All he needs is his forest to sustain his community.He needs relinquishment from the atrocities by state protectors turned perpetrators.He doesn't even need food or wealth as he says nature takes well care of those requirements.However some education in nature conservation and basic healthcare won't go unheeded.Unfortunately this humble being ends up at the hands of some bigoted egoists who readily place guns in hands begging for food.People struggling to make ends meet end up in a protracted armed struggle against the state.It is these people the tribals that suffer the most in the war between the state and those against it.

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