RED SUN : THE STORY OF FAILED DEMOCRACY
Red Sun: Sudeep Chakaravarti
Naxalbari has not died and it will never die – Charu
Mujumdar
Naxalism is one of the most debated, controversial and
aggravated threat to India’s national integrity. It was also romanticize
unnecessarily as a fight against injustice and inequality. Typical
stereotypical assessment of Maoism , that it is a socio-economical issue which
can resolve not with guns but with inclusive policy making and uplifting of
the tribal by means of good governance
is partially correct but not ultimate solution of the problem. So many hidden
threads are attached to the issue and author had unfolded the same threads in
the book i.e. Red Sun.
Sudeep Chakaravarti , has travelled through the red corridor
,especially through Dandkaranya and Saranda (second largest area under the
command of maoist after dandkaranya). He had interacted with the kanu sanyal
and abhijeet mujumdar( son of charu mujumdar) along with many underground
comrades of Communist Party of India (Marxist/Leninist). It provides us first-hand
information about the problems of tribal people and how government officers are
ignorant about them.In red corridor, there is blame game. Everyone’s finger is
pointed towards the opposite side. Naxalites are blaming government for the
abysmal condition of tribal and government is blaming naxalites for under
development of red corridor. Equally, author has also depicted the brutal
oppression policy by the naxalites over the poor tribal who are unnecessarily
suffering between SALAWA JUDUM and naxalites. He has assessed unseen facets of
Salawa Judum,(rebellious uprising by adivasis of dandkaranya ), later supported
by the government agencies by providing arms and ammunition.
Vested interests of capitalist companies are involved Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand and Orissa with an eye over rich natural resources. These companies
have cordial relations with high ranked bureaucrats and ministers, so that they
get all discounts and favours to establish a project in these states. This nexus
is subtly narrated by the sudeep with concrete proofs and examples in this book.
Human angle stories are another facet of this book. Interviews
with local people, volunteers of NGO’s working for tribal, Salawa Judum
activist, SP’s and DCP’s of these states provides the arguments from both side
and enlighten us about ground reality of red corridor.
Noteworthy aspect of this book is author has travelled from Naxalbari
(west Bengal) to Bijapur, Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), almost through the
entire red corridor. So how there is also a cast and regional politics for
leadership in naxalites organisation, how Andhra’s leadership is dominating
over the Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, how naxalites deals with the different
issues in different states and still successful in uniting the organisation,
all these thing are brilliantly put by author which gives a profound insight of
the naxalites movement. An interesting anecdote from the book is about a small
group of naxalites from Jharkhand separated from main stream organisation
fighting against exploitation of forest department. They don’t want a different
country or they are not following Mao’s idealogy. Their demands are simple;
they just want peace and justice. Tribal and poor people don’t know anything
about the democracy or Maoism. They are just struggling for basic needs.
In nutshell, Red Sun is an interesting and insightful study
of India’s internal war which raises many questions. A must read book for all
politicians, bureaucrats and also for comrades to understand the sombre issue
of India.
I know they r fight against injustice and inequality by wrong way bt this is the last way.
ReplyDelete@ ur friend 23J