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‘Samadhan’

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) led regime has literally taken the previous UPA government’s anti-insurgency policies including the notorious 'Operation Green Hunt', re-branded it, and projected it as innovations to assuage the concerns of the corporations who are closely watching the climate of investment. This is visible in its operational policy dealing with the 'single biggest internal security challenge' ever faced by the country—the Maoist movement. Offcially, the government calls it Left Wing Extremism (LWE). This term is variously elaborated as an internal politico-socio-economic issue or a violent insurgency. But a closer reading of the government policy documents on dealing with this internal crisis reveals that it is a protracted war of opposing political ideologies and control. The deployment of well over 3,00,000 paramilitary forces under the direct command of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the largest concentration in Central India to contain and crush the armed resistance is indicative of a full-fledged armed conflict in the Indian subcontinent. Over the years, the muffled objections to this crisis being called 'war' have given way to open declarations of war in Central India. The logic for war is barefaced as one think-tank strategist says, "...for exploitation of mineral wealth in Chhatisgarh, the government has approved several investment agreements with major corporate houses. But these initiatives have been met with strong opposition from tribals (sic). Thus, it is imperative for the government to eradicate LWE and create conditions for secure investment and un-interrupted mining activities". Thus in a single breath all adivasis who oppose exploitation of minerals are extremists. These are declared developmental goals of the government and are meant to help 'win the hearts and minds' of the local people. Winning hearts and minds, a strategy avowedly used by colonial and imperialist powers in the last century to subject territories to its rule, is used by the Indian State without irony on the people of this country.

In his presentation on Samadhan last year, Rajnath Singh made some illuminating comments. He called LWE a 'cancer' that flourishes on poverty or backwardness. He stressed the need for Unified Command along with Strategic Command among several phrases familiar to military personnel as well as the Hindutva forces. Without hesitation, the PIB statement reads, "I believe that the efforts to suppress democracy through the influence of the gun will never succeed". Phrases like 'multi-pronged strategy', 'paying dividends', among others are littered generously throughout the text. These phrases are familiar to corporate executives with interests in investing in the region. The most revealing statement is, "(i)n the yagya for the security of the country many soldiers have been martyred". By invoking the notion of sacrifice and devotion within the Hindu ritual traditions and utilising it to show his expectations from the paramilitary, Singh poses the state policy as an act of righteousness and virtue. This directly feeds into the logic of Hindutva as it projects any form of dissent through the moralistic notions of protecting the nation.

'Operation Green Hunt' dealt with area domination. ‘Samadhan’ is in reality the continuation of UPA government's anti-insurgency policy by ensuring that the CRPF is well funded, equipped with advanced weaponry, ensures involvement of locals in operations and relies on pointed human intelligence on the ground.

Frontier
Vol. 50, No.51, June 24 - 30, 2018