Apropos your cover story Red Hot Rage (Jun 10), perhaps it’s time the government got over its squeamishness over taking military action against Maoists. Otherwise, we will have a problem of LTTE or Taliban proportions.
S. Raghunatha Prabhu, Alappuzha
It is plain foolish to close all channels of dialogue with the Maoists on the pretext that they don’t believe in democracy. The solution to violence is not always violence. If laws like pesa are strengthened and tribals are given the right to govern themselves, we can effectively counter the intensity of the Maoist movement.
Vansh Saluja, on e-mail
Let there be no disputing the fact that the Maoists operate by the philosophy of their political godfather that power flows from the barrel of a gun. Their claim that they are fighting for the rights of the neglected and the oppressed is just a political ploy to achieve that goal. Let us also not get confused between the two objectives of empowerment of the neglected on the one hand and combating the Maoist offensive against the State on the other. Any threat to India’s integrity and democracy has to be met with full force. The State should endeavour to push development in areas under its control, and adopt a bullet for bullet strategy in those under Maoist control to enable development work. The Maoist menace is not limited to one state and a coordinated Centre-state strategy and concerted, single-minded action are the only option.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
The Bastar problem is not of yesterday or last year. It has existed for more than fifty years. However, the lot of adivasis has remained the same over this period.
Sudarsana Jyothi, Chennai
I hope Outlook will not follow this up with the balancing act of Arundhati Roy writing 20 pages in defence of Maoists.
Sanjay Mittal, Delhi
Whatever the grouse against the system, violence, destruction of public property and killing of civilians cannot be tolerated. It is imperative that the Centre supplement the efforts of the states and not just blame them for the incident. It escapes me why the problem of Maoism cannot be eliminated forever. Why can’t the Centre mediate between the states and the extremist groups and arrive at an amicable solution?
Mahesh Kumar, Delhi
India might as well swallow its ego and seek Sri Lanka’s advice, minus its hyperbole, to end the Maoist menace once and for all. It might work.
Ashok Raipet, Secunderabad
An all-out war against the Maoists is necessary but certainly not of the Sri Lankan kind. Though they succeeded in wiping out LTTE completely, thousands of civilians were killed as well. What we can do is to target the organisational heads: ideological as well as military. The IB could perhaps build a special anti-Maoist force which could work towards gathering human/technical intelligence and infiltrating the Maoist political/military leadership.
Prasanth Nambiar, Melbourne
Never before has it become this imperative to tackle the Maoist problem on a war footing. Otherwise, the magma of Maoist hatred will creep through the jungles and erupt as volcanoes across cities.
K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
