Yippee, another attack at Dantewada.
Great, just another 999,998 to go.
Detest It, Hate It, Loath It
* God, we hate the three-letter word Mao.
* God, we hate the brute Mao who killed millions with his senseless policies that led to great famines and the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution.
* God, we hate the Communist ideology associated with the Maoists.
* God, we hate Mao because the Chinese Yellow Monkeys stole vast territory from the Indian pussies in the 1962 war.
* God, we even hate the stupid-looking Mao suit.
Traction, More Traction Needed
And yet we desperately want the Indian Maoist rebels insurgents freedom fighters who are waging an all-out war against the Indian state to gain traction.
Caveat: Significant traction but not enough traction as to succeed in toppling the state.
After all, the history of Communist states like the erstwhile USSR or China have been more than anything a cosmic catastrophe for their citizens with the state devouring tens of millions of its own.
Who would dare argue that Stalin and his terrified minions were less cruel than the Tsar and his officials. Or that Mao and his acolytes were better than Chiang Kai-Shek.
Why, Oh Why, Must Maoists Gain Traction?
Because the Indian state has been hijacked by vested interests to benefit the few to the detriment of the many.
To think we’re pouring countless millions on long-range missiles with boastful names like Agni and Prithvi but not enough on delivering basics like clean water and toilets both in rural and urban areas is utter callousness.
To think we’re expanding the number of IITs but not investing enough on primary education and vocational schools is nothing short of a travesty.
To think we’re still focusing our energies on software and biotechnology and ignoring low skill hardware assembly jobs is sheer madness.
There are plenty of other examples where the Indian state has willfully pursued policies that benefit only certain classes but leave out a large group to languish on the periphery and margins of existence.
So, the primary reason we want the Maoists to succeed is because these freedom fighters act as a powerful pressure group on the Indian state to pay at least some attention to the needs of the subaltern classes living in sub-human conditions both in remote hamlets in the hinterlands and urban hovels of our vast country.
Notwithstanding the babble of the chattering classes, it’s naivete to expect that those who benefit from the status quo will share even a wee bit of the spoils of the state with less fortunate beings unless compelled by the barrel of the gun, the sharp tip of the bayonet or the stealthily buried Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) to do so. Continue reading »
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