As many as seven local journalists, namely Ganesh Mishra, K Shankar, Mukesh Chandrakar, Yukesh Chandrakar, Ranjan Das, Chetan Karwat and Ravi Runjey went into the Bastar forest and ensured the safe release of the CRPF jawan Rakeshwar Singh Manhas, who was abducted by Maoists.
This is a commendable achievement by these journalists who mediated between the government and the Maoists to get Manhas released. This has become a popular point of discussion.
But, shouldn’t the discussion revolve around more serious issues relating to Maoists and Maoism? Shouldn’t the discussion revolve around the criminalities of the Maoists?
I think the left machinery has succeeded in shifting the focus on the journalists’ role in this whole episode.
I want to ask – is this kind of mediation good at all? This type of mediation has all the potential of creating a band of egoistic journalists who would feel that they are the go-to-people to seek political solutions.
This could be as dangerous as we are witnessing today a gang of Lutyens journalists who think they are the ultimate solutions for political problems.
So, shouldn’t the discussion revolve around the total eradication of the Maoists? Shouldn’t the central government launch limited military operations to clean out Maoists?
I, for one, would say – yes, the government should, because these Maoists neither recognize the sovereignty of the Indian state, nor do they abide by any rules of warfare.
They also subjugate the civilian population in some of India’s poorest areas whom they have forcibly kept cut off from civilisation.
The government should launch the limited military operations and must not get swayed by criticisms from the leftist propaganda machinery.
Carrying out these operations should not be a problem because the Narendra Modi government enjoys unprecedented public support. And, it has shown to the world the successful limited military operations in Kashmir while abrogating Article 370.