The seemingly endless problem of Maoism in Jharkhand has a solution in public cooperation, national security threats can be battled with an aware community. Based on these notions, experts on national security and crime control, scholars and representatives from various organisations gathered to deliberate on ‘Maoism: Challenges and Solution’ during a seminar organised by Forum for Awareness of National Security (FANS) on Saturday.
“Be it extremism, terrorism, influx of fake currency notes and drugs or illegal migration, threats to the nation’s security are many and multifaceted. Police authorities and Indian Army are trying to put an end to these problems. But in addition to their endeavours, it is the responsibility of citizens to make efforts in this direction,” said FANS National General Secretary Jasveer Singh during inaugural session of the seminar.
He further added, “To include civil society members in curbing national threats, we need the experience of retired officials who have worked on these topics during their tenure. We are one such group, comprising of retired IAS, IPS officials and ex-Army top brass, working to sensitise people about internal security concerns. Along with this, we also aid government in policymaking process against national threats.”
Addressing the gathering, RSS leader Indresh Kumar said, “After Independence, India has come face-to-face with four kind of violent movements – terrorism, separatism, Naxalism and riots. Here, we are talking specifically about extremism, which began as Naxalism in India but later reverted to its original form, Maoism, which originated in China. This left no doubts about where the ideological support for this movement came from.”
“The foreign monetary aids to naxal outfits needs
to be researched upon in detail, along with its solutions,” he said.
Kumar blamed churches along with local and international factions for the spread and sustenance of extremism. He recounted how he was told by a clergyman that they are informed and cautioned by extremists in advance about their significant actions.
“On asking a churchman why they are never hit by extremists, I was told that the naxalites tell them about any big incident beforehand. They are asked to avoid that particular spot. Despite knowing this, they do not go to the authorities,” Kumar said.
“Poverty, unemployment and illiteracy are often cited as reasons behind extremism, but I do not support this school of thought. The 26 per cent of Indian population living below the line has still not taken up arms, which shows the faults in posing these three as reasons behind spread of naxalism,” he added.
“The recent form of Maoism is very different from its original ideologies. Criminals are spreading terror in its name. Such elements need to be identified and acted against to solve this problem,” said former IPS officer and FANS State head Kumud Chaudhary.