Need to come to the light of democracy

The Maoist activities seems to have resurfaced in Kerala with the Maoist leader Roopesh, his wife Shyna and three others arrested on Monday and sent to police custody for further interrogation.

The Coimbatore Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Wednesday passed the verdict following a plea filed by the Kerala police and Q Branch of Tamil Nadu police requesting their custody to facilitate the investigation. Maoism had its moment in Kerala in the late 1960s and 1970s. The main goal was to save the villages, topple the ‘class enemies’ thereby leading a democratic revolution. The naxalite activities in the state included attacking police stations, destroying check posts, torching government vehicles and taking officials as hostage urging the people to take up arms against the government. Youth, writers, activists and others with a record of political activism were drawn into the movement.

With the recurring of naxalite activities, the state government had deployed Special Forces known as the Kerala Thunderbolts to tackle the possible counterinsurgency operations in the state. There forces have been involved in a combing operation to hunt down the suspected Maoist insurgents in Kannur, Palakkad and Malapuram. The government is allowed huge funds for this purpose. The naxalites have been able to intervene in at least some of the civil protests against the anti-public and anti-environment moves of the government. The vandalism of the corporate office of Nitta Gelatin India Ltd (NGIL) at Panampilly Nagar in Kochi that caused extensive damage is an instance. These revolutionaries have succeeded in allowing the government a chance to dub the civil protests as akin to terrorism and suppress them. There have been several instances of tracking down innocents and branding them as Maoists.

Roopesh, who was in charge of the Western Ghats zone of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), had been leading the Maoist movement in the state along with his wife and is the most wanted Maoist leader in the state. According to the police sources, Roopesh, his wife along with three others were arrested from a bakery in Karumathampatti in Coimbatore by the Andra Pradesh police on May 4. But sources close to Roopesh said that he had been arrested several days ago. Roopesh, on the way to the court, revealed to the media that they were forcefully taken by the police. There has been rampant and severe violation of human rights while hunting down the naxalites. The government policies regarding the Maoists and their issue have not always been transparent. So has been their mode of operation. Many journalists and analysts believe that the naxalites and the police move hand in hand on several matters dubbing them as an agency favouring the police as well as the government.

Maoism today has a waning influence, particularly in the state. The movement has already faded in China and is losing momentum. Even if the naxalites are fighting for a genuine cause with sincerity, the path they choose to accomplish their goals should be rectified. Their activism has been a reason for the government to suppress many democratic and transparent civil protests. The sorcery and the injustice of the government towards the Maoists should be brought to light and strongly opposed.