Events & Issues
New Delhi, 31 May 2017
Violent Upheavals
RETHINK FUNDAMENTALS
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
Social upheavals in the form of terrorism and violence,
engulfing parts of this world, have become a major recurring problem in this
country too in recent past. In fact, sporadic incidents of violence by
extremist groups -- both within and outside have unnerved the country. Other
than Kashmir being on the boil, special
mention needs to also be made of the killing of around 25 CRPF personnel by
Maoist groups in Chhattisgarh last month and a similar attack the six weeks earlier
which claimed 12 lives. Add to this violence in the Saharanpur, UP. The growing incidents have
made North Block edgy and cautious.
According to Home Ministry figures, terror attacks rose from
170 in 2013 to 305 in 2016 (November). This violence took a heavy toll on
security forces -- 71 killed and 208 injured-- the highest in recent years. Fear
this year is that the figures may double. The escalation of violent activities
is, no doubt, an undesirable phenomenon, which smears any government’s
performance.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh has thus held review meetings
with top officials and discussed a new strategy. In particular, senior IPS officers
handling anti-Maoist operations have been directed to “lead from the front”. Stress
was also laid on the need for effective leadership having ‘vision, mission,
passion and self-belief.’ Though the alertness of para-military forces is necessary,
sociologists and political scientists have linked such violent activities to
poverty and deprivation, social and economic exploitation of different forms
and religious fundamentalism. Moreover, the widening disparity between sections
of the population as also between metros and big cities compared with backward
regions of a State has led to such violence.
Delving deep into the root causes, the most distressing
development today is the power centre that is geared favouring the rich and the
powerful. Additionally, the conflict between religions, specially between
Hinduism and Islam, has taken an unhealthy trend. In fact, Prof Samuel
Huntington had some years back labeled as “clash of civilizations” on a global
scale, due to the conflict between Christianity and Islam and the growing
animosity between the two cultures as also social and economic differences.
Current trends in india are manifest of a deep-rooted
cause of dissatisfaction in society. The obvious cause has been lack of
development or such development that is beneficial to certain segments of
society and doesn’t reach the masses.
While lack of development had been the obvious reason for
armed rebellion of the Maoist groups, specially in the backward areas, this has
been noted. However, the problem hasn’t been tackled in a comprehensive manner.
Moreover, corruption of government officials and certain contractors have
accentuated the problem. It is quite obvious that in Chhattisgarh, backwardness
may be attributed to this unhealthy phenomenon.
The case of terrorism in Kashmir
too has an economic angle though religion is at the forefront. It is well-known
that Pakistan
has been successful in promoting unrest in the Valley which has increased in
recent times, largely due to the lack of development and large unemployment
amongst the young generation.
Other than religion, the country has had to deal with caste
divisions. No matter, how modern India may claim to be, caste
rivalry refuses to ebb. Uttar Pradesh is certainly one such example, where
every now and then the enmity between Thakurs and Dalits leads to mayhem.
The Government needs to introspect. Though there can be no two
opinions efforts are being made to check violence, there is need to go into the
root of the problem, as strategies till now are not quite comprehensive. There
has, no doubt, been a thrust towards rural India during the past two years yet
there is need for gearing more resources towards social infrastructure
development.
Over the years the urban bias in Indian planning has led to
neglect of rural areas. Further, the lack of a decentralised structure has
thrust plans and programmes from the top without keeping into consideration the
needs and demands of the people at the grass-root level.
Another aspect of the rural distress has been the virtual
grabbing of farmers’ land without arranging proper rehabilitation, thus throwing
laws to the winds. This has led to violence and unrest among the impoverished
farmers, who wrongly were deprived of their livelihood. Worse, it is tragic
that all this is taking place in the land
of Mahatma Gandhi, and western
model of development is taking precedence.
One is reminded here of the gramdan-bhoodan movement of Vinoba Bhave, who wanted that land of
rich farmers be given to the poor so they cultivate the same. The Government
didn’t help in making this movement a success. It died its natural death after
the demise of Bhave. Also there was no help and support from research agencies
to help farmers cultivate their land for productive use.
It is generally agreed that violent political mobilisation
may increase if deprivation is not tackled. Moreover, as we talk of good
governance, enforcement of rules to make the establishment more transparent
needs to be undertaken. Corruption at the lower levels remains as people still
have to pay extra amount for getting their work done in panchayats.
Thus, there is dire need for rejecting the western model of
development and replace it with an appropriate development strategy. One may
refer here to the ‘New Economics’ which should be considered a challenge to the
conventional one, as it is aimed to forge an “economics as if people mattered”.
Today, this has become a challenge of bringing material arrangements of life
and society more in line with systems that are both equitable and ecologically
sound.
The fundamentals of this economics may be enumerated as: Foster
social and economic systems that encourage self-reliance and enhance
self-development capacity of individuals and communities; Conserve natural
resources and restore the balance of global ecosystems; Works for a system in
which each larger unit is geared to enabling the smaller units within it to be
more self-reliant and conserving; and Redefine wealth that is to draw a distinction
between well-being and ill-wealth and re-examination and redefinition of basic
economic concepts like efficiency and productivity, dependence, interdependence
and self-reliance, and needs, wants and scarcity.
The economy has to be conceptualised in a different way and
consumerism cannot be the order of the day. In India, there is also need for a
change in our planning strategy geared towards true decentralisation, as
enunciated by Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan and many others, so that the
basic units, the panchayats, have enough political and economic power and can
involve the people and utilise local resources in the development process. Then
only will true development emerge.
Thus, human development to become a reality has to follow
the course of inclusive development which, in turn, calls for uplift of the
backward districts and ensuring that these become what in today’s parlance
maybe called smart blocks/villages. There is need to ensure balanced approach
in evolving the process of development.
Further, discrimination per se has to be done away with
which, of course, is difficult to achieve in a caste-based society. But the
present Government should make sincere efforts to ensure that the lowest tiers
of society, specially dalits, adivasis and other economically weaker sections
are able to enter the mainstream of life and activity. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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