Escalating violence - Terrorism, Maoism and the myth of military solutions

One more round of violence and one more round of news coverages and political talk!

Where are we proceeding from here? What are our solutions to such a terror attack? Be it Maoist or Islamic Terrorist or a Hindu Chauvinist.

We all talk of violence breeds violence syndrome. What was the cause of violence? Who started this violence, where and how? Is there an end to this violence in sight? Will it end at all? Many questions arise during these post bomb blast days and we promptly forget it after ten to fifteen days when new scams and news dominate our newspaper front pages.


Many people call for very strict action! What they mean by it I do not know. But all that I know is every time when a police man stops my vehicle for checking its contents, I get irritated. Is it right for the government to step into my private land? Yes, for the sake of lives of so many people, including my own, I should allow it to happen. There cannot be a privacy that could endanger the lives of so many others.

Remember the emergency days. It is this trespassing of the government into private territories that ruined the life of Congress and dethroned them creating a fresh new government. A new challenge to Congress that never existed before!

I for one, think that all these manifestations of violence and blood from whomsoever it might term as terrorists, Maoists, etc., are all but repercussions of the violence and high handed behavior of the Government. If only, the government and its forces had not misused the power the people gave it to monitor themselves, all these would not have arisen.

We, the people, has made the government a trustee of our trust. We have given powers to the government to execute the will of the people! There is no will of government that exists.

When the power that we bestow upon the government is misused by them, then the people react in a number of ways. Three of them is very common!

One, they elect a different person to head the government. This is repeatedly happening in India. People are trying to see if this guy would be better than the other. Every time there is an election, there is a change in the government. People feel that the government is misusing its powers and is not performing as they are supposed to!

Two, they respond with the weapon that they are free to have. Money! Money is used to buy what they want. The officials of the government who need to implement the power that the government has, are bought by the people resulting in large scale corruption.

Three, there would be people who would respond violently at the use of power by the government. Or rather, misuse of power. This results in terrorism, Maoism and other forms of violence.

But there is one common cause for all these. And that is misuse of power by the Government. The real cause of corruption, terrorism and change of government is the large power that the government is enjoying. Whenever any of these happen, instead of reducing the power in the Government, what we normally respond is with a new law. Either a new anti-corruption law or a new  anti terrorism law or a new law that would ensure that there is no change in the government at least for five years.

In all these cases, the government is contra to the requirements of the people. It will result in more of all the three. A government where it might have to depend on multiple parties for its existence resulting in an absolutely unstable government. A large scale corruption that cannot be stopped by any law that this government could think of. If they put their foot down and could really implement the law, then it would result in an escalation of violence!

And what is the best and the easiest of solutions! Work for a carefully planned reduction in power in the Government and make them more federal! All others are temporary and might lead to more complications.

Meeting at CII Chennai on Corruption

It so happened, I was in Chennai on 12 July 2011 and happen to participate in the discussion on Corruption Free India!

It was an occasion to meet many individuals who are possessed of this idea. Representative of Indians Against Corruption and members of 5th Pillar made a mark. I personally, could discuss and present my viewpoint of the whole thing. I could see some of them were impressed and seem to spend a thought or two on my proactive theory rather than reactive response to any of the problems that this country is facing including corruption.

I had a reasonably long chat with Mr Vijay Anand, the President of 5th Pillar. We thought there are many common interests, naturally, between India Tax Payers and 5th Pillar. We should try and work together. That should synergize our efforts to a great extent.

The solutions offered at CII otherwise were more in the line of implement stricter rules and make things tougher for the corrupt person to lead a life. At the same time, we had positive notes coming up from Shankar Vanavarayar and from other speakers particularly, TT Ashok on the strengths of our Industry and people of country to fight this evil out from individual level to the country level. Bottom up system!