T he recent killing of the 13 police personnel of the Jharkhand Special Task Force in the hands of the Naxalites amply vindicates that the Indian Maoists are nothing less than a terrorist organisation, who only want to further their mean objectives of grabbing power by force and spreading fear. At a time when the Left parties world over are regaining popularity and taking recourse to ballot boxes, and at a time when the Maoists of Nepal gave up their arms struggle for the sake of democracy after toppling the monarchy, their counterparts in India would have the world believe that even today the best way to bring change is through a revolution dipped in every day's bloodbath. And that is becoming a dangerous norm in India too. The latest data from the Institute of Conflict Management states that till October 1, 2006, 628 have already been killed in left wing extremism preceded by a casualty figure of 717 in 2005 and 566 in 2004. And a majority of the victims have been the hapless tribals who are being massacred by the Naxals for not towing to their dictum.
For once, the Maoists should realise that even police personnel, who they kill, belong to the lower middle class and even to poor families, on whose behalf Maoists pretend to fight benevolently. It is precisely because of this mindless violence that Naxals have lost mass support. At this rate, it is not far away when most parts of India would be mired in a bloody civil war like situation unless drastic steps are taken by an otherwise myopic Indian Home Ministry. Bob Dylan asked it right, "How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?" The Indian politicians have been calculating for decades now...