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By:

Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Red Romance

For long, the Naxalite in news was recognisable by the gun. But the more insidious version of Naxalism has never needed a rifle. It has thrived in varsity classrooms and newspaper and magazine columns, fostered by men and women sympathetic to it. These academics and other members of the so-called intelligentsia have long enjoyed their status as ‘respectable dissenters’ even when their politics offered intellectual alibis for Naxals carrying guns. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent...

Red Romance

For long, the Naxalite in news was recognisable by the gun. But the more insidious version of Naxalism has never needed a rifle. It has thrived in varsity classrooms and newspaper and magazine columns, fostered by men and women sympathetic to it. These academics and other members of the so-called intelligentsia have long enjoyed their status as ‘respectable dissenters’ even when their politics offered intellectual alibis for Naxals carrying guns. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Independence Day warning about “dimaagi Naxals” should therefore not be dismissed as another political label. His larger point was that an insurgency does not survive on ammunition alone. It survives on ideas and people willing to make violence appear morally fashionable. The most revealing feature of India’s Maoist movement was never simply its brutality. It was the strange attraction it exercised over sections of the metropolitan Left elite. The Naxalite with an AK-47 could be transformed into a romantic revolutionary while the policeman he killed became an instrument of an oppressive state. This was not merely naïveté. At its ugliest, it was the intellectual laundering of political violence. The fantasy of the romantic revolutionary has always been seductive. In this narrative, amplified through sympathetic media priding itself on telling ‘truth to power,’ India was not a constitutional democracy struggling with inequality and corruption but an inherently illegitimate state waiting to be overthrown. In the minds of this elite Left, Maoist violence has often been recast as resistance while attacks on infrastructure as blows against capitalism. The armed overthrow of the Indian republic was the liberation they craved for. Some of India’s most celebrated intellectuals have flirted dangerously close to that moral inversion. The issue here is whether intellectual prestige can be used to sanitise an ideology whose practitioners have murdered civilians, policemen and public servants and terrorised some of India’s poorest districts. A university cannot be the place where Maoist romanticism acquires the legitimacy of a fashionable campus cause. Professors who turn armed insurgents into heroic revolutionaries are not merely exercising academic freedom. If they knowingly excuse violence, they are helping to construct the moral vocabulary that makes violence possible. Let’s be clear here. A professor who criticises the Indian state is not a Naxal while a journalist who exposes state excesses is not an enemy of India. But an intellectual who repeatedly excuses, glorifies or rationalises political violence cannot hide behind the word ‘dissent.’ India has paid an enormous price for the Maoist fantasy. Thousands have died. Entire regions were held back by fear while development was obstructed. The people supposedly being liberated were often the first to suffer. The armed Naxal is now being pushed towards extinction. But the Indian republic cannot afford to leave behind the romantic mythology that made the gun respectable. A democracy can tolerate dissent. It should never be expected to tolerate the glorification of those who seek its violent destruction.

Chatter Box

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

“We are really really concerned about urban apathy. We want to appeal to all voters in urban areas to come and vote. It is not a healthy trend which is reflected. “Look at Gurgaon, look at Faridabad, recently, last election Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Bengaluru South, Gandhinagar, Colaba, Pune, Thane. All are much below state averages of each state.”

Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner


“The moment that we all, as Maharashtra, has been waiting for is here: 20th November is poll day. We waited for justice but now justice will be done by the electorate. Jai Maharashtra!”

Aaditya Thackeray, Leader, Shiv Sena (UBT)


“A desperate Mahayuti knowing it is not coming back to power has spent its last few days bestowing gifts to Modani at the expense of the people of Mumbai and Maharashtra. Modani wins energy contract to supply 6,600 MW power to Maharashtra at inflated consumer prices, 255 acres of ecologically fragile salt pan land handed over to Modani, 140 acres in Madh handed over to Modani, 124 acres from the Deonar landfill in Mumbai handed over to Modani.”

Jairam Ramesh, General Secretary, Congress


“The BSP will contest elections alone in both these states. It is to ensure that its people remain united and strive to come to power as part of their mission to protect dignity and self-respect inspired by dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.”

Mayawati, Chief, BSP


“The Maratha community had hoped that its demands (regarding quota) would be fulfilled, but Fadnavis has worked to ruin the life of Maratha youth. He worked to ensure that the community did not remain united, didn’t progress and was deprived of reservation. Hence, they have announced the elections without fulfilling our demand. Making decisions was in their (ruling parties) hands. But now, the community will decide whether to bring you back to power. The community cannot be ignored while forming the government. The Marathas have shown their power for 14 months and should now show their power through voting.”

Manoj Jarange-Patil, Maratha quota activist


“The biggest festival of democracy was announced today. Diwali is known as a festival of lights, and we shall celebrate another such day on November 23. Maharashtra awaits your blessings and strong mandate for development. Under BJP’s leadership, massive victory was recorded in the 2014 and 2019 (assembly elections). Let us all come together and celebrate Mahayuti’s mega victory on November 23. Participate in large numbers in this festival of democracy.”

Devendra Fadnavis, Leader, BJP


“On those banners, I was described as an old man of 84 years. But you do not worry, because be it 84 or be it 90, this old man will not stop. This old man will not rest until he brings the state on the right track and I am sure of getting your help. It is the policy of those who are in power to indulge in corruption in every sector and that is why it is your and my responsibility to take out the power from their hands.”

Sharad Pawar, chief, NCP (SP)


“From ‘Ladki Bahin’ to senior citizens, from farmers to common man, we made everyone a stakeholder of power through schemes. We have shown this to Maharashtra. It ranks number one in development, industry, basic infrastructure and welfare schemes. This will reflect in the outcome of the elections. We are facing elections by putting a united front on the basis of development.”

Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister


“Be it Jayant Patil (of NCP-SP) or Vijay Wadettiwar (of Congress), they had earlier criticised the Election Commission for holding Lok Sabha polls in five stages. The same EC is now conducting polls in one stage in the state, but the opposition parties criticised that move as well. They are changing colours like a chameleon. They have basically conceded their defeat before the election.”

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, President, Maharashtra BJP

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