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Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been...

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been reduced to an annual ritual of tree-planting drives and clicking selfies for social media, though 90 pc of the saplings don’t survive even a day. “Only the government knows where those trees really are,” said Raj sternly. He recalled a "Blueprint of Maharashtra’s Development" he had proposed in 2015, in which he advocated how development without environmental sensitivity is hollow. Justifying, he said that the consequences are visible where roads, bridges and infrastructure projects are hailed as achievements, but even a short spell of rainfall can paralyze entire cities. Referring to recent reports on farmers returning from the fields after 10 am due to the scorching heat, Raj said that the worsening climate crisis has become an everyday reality. Citing official statistics, Raj claimed that extreme heat has caused productivity losses of nearly USD 159 billion and slashing of 160 billion work-hours annually in recent years. He mentioned the World Bank estimates that India’s GDP could plummet by 2.5-4.5 pc while 57 pc of the country’s districts sheltering 76 pc of the population stare at serious climate-related crises. Taking a swipe, he said while the governments boast about growth figures and economical rankings, they are silent on the staggering costs of environmental destruction. He questioned the development model “whether flooded cities, washed-away crops and unbearable summers” genuinely indicate progress. Claiming that Maharashtra was increasingly becoming unliveable for upto 8 months in a year, he said excessive monsoon rains disrupt rural life and urban floods cripple cities, while extreme heat make normal life a torture in summers in both urban-rural areas. Targeting the Centre, Raj alleged that nearly 173,984 hectares of forest lands were diverted in the past 11 years for mining and infrastructure projects to benefit the PM’s single favourite Adani Group. He said that these lands amount to 1,730 sqkm, or equivalent to the area of 16 Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) that is spread over barely 104 sqkm. Dissolve state wildlife board: Aaditya Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has accused the Maharashtra government for issuing a permit to carry out mining activity in the sensitive tiger corridor between the Tadoba-Andhari and Indravati sanctuaries housing the big striped cats. In a strongly-worded letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Member-Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Thackeray sought his immediate personal intervention, sacking the Maharashtra State Board for Wild-Life (SBWL), revoking the permit, and probe against the Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) M. Srinivasa Reddy for the alleged lacunae. Aditya’s two-pager says the permit has been granted for “scientific exploration and excavation/systematic recovery of low-grade iron ore in existing mines in villages Hedri, Bande, Parsalgondi and Round Parsalgondi, in the Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli district”. Last January, Aditya – MLA from Worli – had first raised the issue saying that the proposed mine would create only 120 jobs, including 32 permanent, and the estimated output is pegged at 1.1 million tons in a year. Referring to two letters of Reddy – on April 28 and May 21 – the SS (UBT) leader claimed that in communications to the state government, the PCCF had changed his stance on the issue. Aditya said that in the first letter, Reddy had effectively opposed the government plans for mining activity but in the second letter, he took a somersault, ostensibly due to government pressures or some commercial interests, “the U-turn is disgraceful and detrimental to India’s national interest” – and this abrupt shift in stance must be investigated thoroughly. In view of the contrary stance of the PCCF Reddy, entrusted with protecting the wildlife but failing to defend the NTCA and NBWL, point to serious malfunctioning of the SBWL, and hence it must be dissolved, besides reviewing all its decisions in the past three years, particularly those pertaining to hazardous activities in sensitive areas, demanded Aditya. 444 tigers roam in 11,000 sq.km As per the Status of Tiger Report (2002), and the Maharashtra Economic Survey 2025-2026, the state boasts of 444 tigers prowling in the wild along with other menacing creatures. The state’s total protected wildlife network of 88 Notified Areas of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Conservation Reserves - including 6 dedicated to the striped big cats – is spread over 11,092 sq. kms as per current data.

How Demonetisation Hit the Red Corridor

While Dhurandhar 2 dramatises a fake-currency crackdown, the real 2016 shock may have struck far deeper — at the cash lifeline of India’s Maoist insurgency.

In the 2026 blockbuster Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge, director Aditya Dhar stages a sequence that has already become a cultural talking point. Using actual footage of the 2016 demonetisation announcement, the film depicts a Rs 60,000 crore fake-currency racket aimed at destabilising Indian elections, collapsing in a single night. But while Dhurandhar 2 keeps its focus on counterfeit syndicates and urban kingpins, the real-world “strategic masterstroke” may have hit a far more dangerous target: the financial heart of Naxalism.


Beyond Pashupati to Tirupati

For decades, the “Red Corridor” was a chilling reality — a belt of insurgent influence stretching, in popular shorthand, from Pashupati in Nepal to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. It functioned like a shadow state, openly challenging the authority of the Indian Constitution. But after 2016, the corridor did not merely crack; it began to recede. Government data for 2025–26 points to what officials describe as an “irreversible decline”, with the number of most-affected districts falling from 36 in 2014 to just two by March 2026. This retreat was driven by several factors, but it was undeniably accelerated by a sudden and devastating cash crunch.


Turning Paper into Trash

Naxalism was never just an ideology; it was also a cash-dependent insurgency. Intelligence assessments suggest that the CPI (Maoist) collected hundreds of crores annually through so-called “revolutionary taxes” levied on mining contractors, tendu leaf traders and infrastructure projects. Much of this money was reportedly held in physical cash, largely in ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes. That liquidity enabled cash-based procurement of arms, explosives and IED components, funded monthly stipends for full-time cadres and their families, and sustained an extensive network of urban informants.


Then came the rupture. Overnight, large parts of that underground cash economy were either frozen, exposed or rendered unusable. The most immediate blow was the disruption of the insurgents’ procurement cycle. Unable to finance arms, ammunition or logistics as easily as before, Maoist units were increasingly pushed into a defensive posture. By 2024–25, this financial squeeze appears to have contributed to a sharp rise in surrenders. More than 1,600 cadres laid down their arms in 2025 alone – a stark sign that an insurgency unable to feed its fighters or maintain its supply lines is already in decline.


The clearest confirmation came from within. Mallojula Venugopal Rao, better known as Bhupati – a senior CPI (Maoist) leader, Politburo member and brother of the late Kishenji – surrendered in Gadchiroli in October 2025. In interviews aired the following year, he acknowledged that Maoist rhetoric had diverged sharply from ground reality and identified demonetisation as a major financial blow. He said large amounts of cash could not be exchanged. According to Bhupati, his division alone had lost an estimated Rs 20–30 crore, gutting reserves that had long financed Maoist operations.


The ultimate legacy of demonetisation in the Red Corridor may have been not just financial ruin but psychological collapse. Once the money dried up, trust between the commanders and the cadre began to fracture. Bhupati’s surrender, along with 60 of his associates, symbolised that deeper implosion: the “Red Dream” became far harder to sustain when the cash stopped flowing.


Dhurandhar 2 may dramatise the end of fake currency, but the real story is larger. In the real world, the 2016 move appears to have dealt a blow far beyond counterfeit networks, forcing hardened insurgents to confront the gap between revolutionary rhetoric and mainstream reality. By April 2026, as the government pushes its “Naxal Mukt Bharat” narrative, one conclusion stands out: this was a conflict shaped not only by bullets but also by the sudden destruction of underground wealth.


(The writer is a brand strategist and a political commentator. Views personal.)

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