58% in Andhra Pradesh think Naxalism is good

[Saorsa]

58% in AP say Naxalism is good, finds TOI poll
TNN, Sep 28, 2010, 01.40am IST

A clear 58% majority of those polled in Maoist-dominant areas of AP, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa said Naxalism had actually been good for their area.

India's biggest internal security threat, as the Prime Minister famously described it, may be worse than you thought. That's because even in Andhra Pradesh, where the battle against the Maoists has apparently been won, it turns out that the government is losing the battle for the minds and hearts of the people.

It's a debate that's been raging within the Congress, and outside it. Should the government adopt a largely law-and-order attitude towards the Maoists and deal with them like criminals or should the focus be more on cutting the ground from under their feet through a development agenda that wins over the population of the affected areas?

An exclusive survey of the once Maoist-dominated districts of the Telengana region by IMRB, well-known market research organisation, for The Times of India has found that while attitudes towards the rebels are ambivalent, the condemnation of the government and its means of tackling the problem is quite clear.

The findings raise disturbing questions about whether focusing largely on the policing aspects of the problem may be a flawed strategy in the long run. They also throw up another poser: Has the battle in AP truly been won or can the Maoists stage a comeback in a few years?

Tied to this is the question of how the Maoists are viewed by the populace of these parts. Are they perceived essentially as a bloodthirsty, extortionist bunch or as rebels standing up for people's rights?

TOI decided to do an opinion poll of the affected areas to find out. The problem, however, was that this was a region where pollsters found very difficult to enter. We finally decided to conduct the survey in those areas of Andhra Pradesh which were till not too long ago strongholds of the Naxalites but where their activities have been checked. The survey was conducted, therefore, in five districts of the Telengana region Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam. These districts were chosen not only because they were till recently severely Naxal-affected, but also because of their proximity to current hotbeds in Chattisgarh and Maharashtra.

To tap into the mood of the aam admi in these areas, the survey was restricted to the not so well off socio-economic categories, SEC B and SEC C and to men and women between the ages of 25 and 50. What we found has come as an eye-opener for us and should be worrying for everybody. The state may have won the battle of the guns, but the Maoists are clearly ahead in the perception game. This is particularly true in the districts of Warangal and Nizamabad as the accompanying charts show only too clearly.

The root cause of the disaffection is the overwhelming feeling of neglect of the areas by the government. About two-thirds expressed this view and in Warangal the figure was as high as 81%. That, you might say, is hardly alarming. Similar figures would probably be thrown up anywhere in India. True. But when two-thirds also say that the Maoists are right in choosing the methods they have to highlight the neglect, it is difficult to dismiss it as normal.

Perhaps the most revealing answers are in response to questions on whether the Maoists — still better known as Naxalites in this belt — were good or bad for the region and whether their defeat by the AP police has made matters better or worse.

Almost 60% said the Naxalites were good for the area and only 34% felt life had improved since they were beaten back. As for whether exploitation has increased after the Naxalite influence waned, 48% said it had against 38% who said it hadn't, the rest offering no opinion.

Those answers are buttressed by the responses to three other questions. The first of these was on whether the characterization of the Naxals as extortionists and mafia was accurate. Two-thirds disagreed. An elaboration of this came in response to a slightly more open-ended question. Over half said the Naxalites worked for the good of the area, another one-third said they had the right intentions but the wrong means. Only 15% were willing to describe them as just goondas.

Equally importantly, 50% of the respondents felt the Naxalites had forced the government to focus on development work in the affected areas. What these responses show is just how negative the perception of the government is in these parts.

That the people here are not entirely comfortable with Naxalite methods is also quite clear. Even a question on what explained their strength in these parts showed that very few attributed it to popularity alone, a majority saying either that it was due to fear or that it was a combination of approval and fear. That despite this ambivalence there is a sympathetic view of the Naxals only betrays the people's desperate search for any means to shake shaking up the state.

Given these findings it is hardly surprising that killings by Maoists are looked upon more leniently than those by the government and that the state's claims about encounters are viewed with extreme suspicion.

The government may say, and with some justification, that the Maoists represent the biggest threat to India's internal security, but what this poll shows is that the aam admi in these parts views government apathy as the biggest threat to his wellbeing.

The towns in which the poll was conducted were Kamareddy in Nizamabad district, Gudi Hathnoor in Adilabad, Sirsilla in Karimnagar, Mahbubabad in Warangal and Palwancha in Khammam. A total of 521 people were polled in these five towns, a statistically robust sample size.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/58-in-AP-say-Naxalism-is-good-finds-TOI-poll/articleshow/6639631.cms#ixzz10ryFho8I

[mosfeld]

I bet that everyone who voted "yes" were arrested by the police afterwards.

[maskerade]

I'm surprised it isn't much higher than this...to be honest, i think it must be. People are probably afraid to answer yes, so they say no in oder to avoid further state interference?

just a thought

[The Vegan Marxist]

I'm surprised it isn't much higher than this...to be honest, i think it must be. People are probably afraid to answer yes, so they say no in oder to avoid further state interference?

just a thought

This poll was done within Maoist-controlled areas, not where the Indian state controls the lands. So I highly doubt that's the reason.

[Sir Comradical]

I would have expected an article like this to come out of The Hindu since the Times of India is a pretty right-wing publication.

[Ocean Seal]

This poll was done within Maoist-controlled areas, not where the Indian state controls the lands. So I highly doubt that's the reason.
Still though, the government has a long arm. People in the Andhra Pradesh probably voted against the Maoists because they feel that the government will persecute them if they align with the Maoists and since the government recently took control of that area their military presence is probably very strong.

[Sir Comradical]

Still though, the government has a long arm. People in the Andhra Pradesh probably voted against the Maoists because they feel that the government will persecute them if they align with the Maoists and since the government recently took control of that area their military presence is probably very strong.

You have a point, if this poll was conducted by the right-wing Times of India, then yes, people in those areas would probably be afraid that their support for the Naxalites will be known by the police.

[Saorsa]

This poll was done within Maoist-controlled areas, not where the Indian state controls the lands. So I highly doubt that's the reason.

There are no parts of India where the Maoists are in absolute control. They are far weaker than the state and with sufficient numbers the state forces can pretty much go wherever they want.

I suspect that maskerade is completely right. The people in those areas would be suspicious of some educated outsider questioning them about their views on the Naxalites... and they have bloody good reason to be.

[Devrim]

People are probably afraid to answer yes, so they say no in oder to avoid further state interference?

As has been said, it is a Maoist controlled state. The Maoists have a lot of support. It is well known. I would be surprised though if there weren't at least some people who answered yes because they were afraid of the Maoists.

Devrim

[NaxalbariZindabad]

As has been said, it is a Maoist controlled state.

Yes, it has been said. It's not true however.

[Devrim]

Yes, it has been said. It's not true however.

I don't think that anyone imagines that there is a state where the Maoists are in as, Alistair put it, 'absolute control'. I doubt there is any one place in the whole of India that they could control against a concerted push by the state. Yet, there will be places where they effectively control all the time, some they control part of the time, some where the security forces can't go out at night...etc... I could change the sentence to ' a state where the Maoists have established partial control in particular places at particular times...'.

It doesn't change the point though. Of course there are people who are intimidated by the state. I imagine there are those intimidated by the Maoists too.

Devrim

[Ol' Dirty]

I'm still on the fence about the Naxalites, but it makes sense that people would support them over the government: the government and transnationals treat the dalits and adis like trash and the Naxalites are one of the only groups standing up for them. I don't agree with their Maoist program, but it's arguably a better idea than what the govt. has in mind.

I don't know too much about India or South Asia in general, but it's looking more and more like the Maoists are the smaller head of the hydra, which is still frightening.

[Saorsa]

Why do the Maoists frighten you?

[pranabjyoti]

As has been said, it is a Maoist controlled state. The Maoists have a lot of support. It is well known. I would be surprised though if there weren't at least some people who answered yes because they were afraid of the Maoists.
Devrim
In anywhere India, it's highly dangerous to say affirmative in favor of Maoists.

[bricolage]

There are no parts of India where the Maoists are in absolute control.
Although in that article you posted just above this one it says 'Left wing extremists are calling the shots in 40,000 sq kilometre area in Naxal affected states where the government has no control, a Parliamentary panel was informed on Wednesday.'

[Sir Comradical]

As has been said, it is a Maoist controlled state. The Maoists have a lot of support. It is well known. I would be surprised though if there weren't at least some people who answered yes because they were afraid of the Maoists.

Devrim

I wish!

The Maoists don't control the entire state of Andhra Pradesh. They control rural areas but not the state.

[Ocean Seal]

As has been said, it is a Maoist controlled state. The Maoists have a lot of support. It is well known. I would be surprised though if there weren't at least some people who answered yes because they were afraid of the Maoists.

Devrim
I disagree, how could the Maoists ever find out that certain people support the state when the state media is conducting the poll?

[Saorsa]

Although in that article you posted just above this one it says 'Left wing extremists are calling the shots in 40,000 sq kilometre area in Naxal affected states where the government has no control, a Parliamentary panel was informed on Wednesday.'

It's a bit misleading though. There are areas where the Maoists have de facto control, but these would generally be areas where the state never had any real presence anyway. Most of these areas are quite lightly populated.

We shouldn't downplay the achievements of the People's War and the social transformations taking place in the Red Corridor... but nor should we overestimate the strength of the CPI (Maoist). It's not yet able to stand toe to toe with the state and come out equal.

[Ol' Dirty]

Why do the Maoists frighten you?

The Maoists don't frighten me personally, but I'm afraid of what will happen if India repeated what happened in China. cough backyard steel furnace cough

[Sir Comradical]

The Maoists don't frighten me personally, but I'm afraid of what will happen if India repeated what happened in China. cough backyard steel furnace cough

In China life expectancy increased from 45 to 62 years between 1960 through to 1970. In that same decade India's life expectancy increased to a mere 48 years, even Chomsky praises China's remarkable achievements. If India repeats what happened in China, living standards would probably improve.

[scarletghoul]

The Maoists don't frighten me personally, but I'm afraid of what will happen if India repeated what happened in China. cough backyard steel furnace cough
I advise you to look into the achievements made by China after 1949, especially compared to the pre-49 era, rather than only considering the problems in isolation (which is obviously what the bourgeoisie would like us to do to discredit socialism)

[NaxalbariZindabad]

About the achievements made by revolutionary China,
you can have a quick look at this RCP leaflet, it's short and has interesting stats/arguments:

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7473/chinaquiz.th.png (http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7473/chinaquiz.png)

[Devrim]

I disagree, how could the Maoists ever find out that certain people support the state when the state media is conducting the poll?

Er...because in villages everybody knows what everybody says.

One of the things that quite amazes me about these threads is the idea that of course people would be afraid of the government, but people don't even consider that they would be afraid of the Maoists.

The Maoists obviously have a lot of support, but if it is anything like the guerrilla war in this country between the state and the Kurdish nationalists. I would imagine that there are some peasants who are intimidated by both sides. They get threatened by the Maoists if they don't support them, and threatened by the state if they do.

That is not to suggest that many people don't genuinely support the Maoists, but I would be extremely surprised if some aren't intimidated by them too.

Devrim

[Saorsa]

Devrim's right of course - it's naive to think that there aren't sections of the masses that oppose the revolution. Luckily however, the advance of the revolution and the growing size and strength of the section of the people enthusiastically supportive of it means that the reactionary elements are forced to back down.

There were large sections of the peasantry and proletariat in 1917 Russia that opposed the revolution. Ultimately many of them had to be militarily defeated in the Civil War. The masses don't neccesarily unify in a revolutionary situation - like all other forces and classes, they split.

[Devrim]

Devrim's right of course - it's naive to think that there aren't sections of the masses that oppose the revolution. Luckily however, the advance of the revolution and the growing size and strength of the section of the people enthusiastically supportive of it means that the reactionary elements are forced to back down.

It all works very well if you think that there is a revolution. I doubt that that is the way that many experience it. In Turkish Kurdistan, I would guess that the experience for many people is just one of continual guerilla war stretching back nearly 30 years, which means that for young people today it is all that they know. I imagine that it is similar in parts of India.

Of course their are some active supporters of the Turkish state, which runs its own 'militias' called village guards. Though I imagine that at least some of them were forced into them. Of course many more people are in support of the PKK. This is hardly surprising considering the brutality of the Turkish state, which I would imagine makes the Indian armed forces look a bit like amateurs.

Many people though just try to get on with their lives against a background of state and nationalist terror. I don't think that that many of these people would be particular against the ideas of the nationalist movement. Indeed, I would expect many to be sympathetic to it.

Imagine a scenario though; A village helps the guerrillas with food. The the army comes to punish the villagers as a response. One villager give the army some information on the rebels, quite possibly under torture. The rebels then come back and deal out some sort of 'punishment', often collective.

Don't you think that people in that situation would feel under threat from both sides.

Also guerilla armies have to eat, which means basically getting food from the peasantry. Now maybe the peasants are supportive, but the majority of the poor peasantry are people who live on the edge of subsistence. What happens when the harvest is bad. There are people in the village who don't have enough food, and guerrillas in the mountains who don't have enough food. One group however is an armed trained military force. You can guess the results.

Even without 'abuses' by the guerrillas conflict will arise. When you add to that the fact that there obviously are abuses, and even if only 5% of the things reported in the Indian press are true, there are some pretty shocking abuses by Maoists in India, it becomes quite understandable that poor peasants become afraid of the armed gangs who operate in the vicinity of their villages.

Devrim

[Rousedruminations]

poor pesants get stuck in the middle between a guerrilla group and the 'army' but maybe these are the possible consequences of guerrila warfare. Unfortunately the innocent will be killed, starved to death, harrased ...

[pranabjyoti]

poor pesants get stuck in the middle between a guerrilla group and the 'army' but maybe these are the possible consequences of guerrila warfare. Unfortunately the innocent will be killed, starved to death, harrased ...
At least they can draw the attention of the rulers to them by this way. They are living in the worst condition and it can not be worsen by the guerrilla war. What you have said is a natural outcome of every kind of class struggle. Do you suggest to stop class struggle to "save" the poor peasants from state "harassment"? At least, such state activities can clear the real class character of the state to them which will ultimately lead to the advancement of history.

[t.shonku]

Yes, Sir Comradical is absolutely right! In India life expectancy is very low and the reason behind this is poor public health system.In India the health system is very bad particularly in rural areas (one of the key reason why rural Indians support Maoist is bcoz of this).Now you people might not know this but most doctors in India are more or less quacks or crooks, they most of the times intentionally administer the patients to wrong treatments so that the patients come to them again and again and they can earn a lot of money.Now that’s not all there is a nexus between the corporate pharma companies and Indian doctors too,the doctors prescribe bad pills and use the patients as guinea pigs.Now we can’t also forget the negligence shown by doctors in public hospitals in India,many doctors during operation have left their handkerchief and watches inside patients belly (this is no joke it’s true!)
The only place in India where you can find good treatment is in corporate hospitals where only superb rich and corporate honchos can go.So you see how intentionally Indian govt is destroying public hospitals to aid the corporate hospitals.
Off course there are few good ethical doctors in India who still worked for mankind like Dr Sen ,but now they are in jail bcoz the govt has accused them of being Maoist.There are also some good free clinics which still run in India which happens to be ran by Human rights activists but I fear they will get closed one day bcoz the govt will accuse them of being pro-Maoist.

[t.shonku]

Yes, Sir Comradical is absolutely right! In India life expectancy is very low and the reason behind this is poor public health system.In India the health system is very bad particularly in rural areas (one of the key reason why rural Indians support Maoist is bcoz of this).Now you people might not know this but most doctors in India are more or less quacks or crooks, they most of the times intentionally administer the patients to wrong treatments so that the patients come to them again and again and they can earn a lot of money.Now that’s not all there is a nexus between the corporate pharma companies and Indian doctors too,the doctors prescribe bad pills and use the patients as guinea pigs.Now we can’t also forget the negligence shown by doctors in public hospitals in India,many doctors during operation have left their handkerchief and watches inside patients belly (this is no joke it’s true!)
The only place in India where you can find good treatment is in corporate hospitals where only superb rich and corporate honchos can go.So you see how intentionally Indian govt is destroying public hospitals to aid the corporate hospitals.
Off course there are few good ethical doctors in India who still worked for mankind like Dr Sen ,but now they are in jail bcoz the govt has accused them of being Maoist.There are also some good free clinics which still run in India which happens to be ran by Human rights activists but I fear they will get closed one day bcoz the govt will accuse them of being pro-Maoist.

In past I have always talked about India's greedy,dirty and inhumane public health system,and now I have prove.


‘Negligence’ by docs kills mom, half-delivered baby



Tirupati, May 4: Blatant negligence on the part of doctors led to the death of a mother and her half-delivered baby at the Government Maternity Hospital here on Tuesday evening.
According to information, Venkatamma, 22, wife of a farm labourer, Mr Nagaraja, from Naidupeta in Nellore district, was first admitted to a government hospital at Srikalahasti in the morning soon after developing labour pains. During the delivery, the head of the baby emerged but the doctors were unable to get the baby out. Venkatamma was then rushed to the Government Maternity Hospital in a precarious condition, with the baby half delivered, travelling a distance of 45 km between Srikalahasti and Tirupati through the Tiruchanur bypass road.
She was admitted at around 10 am but was not attended to by doctors till 1 pm. Then the shift changed and another hour went by with the woman unattended. Her relatives begged hospital staff to attend to her and were told that “the right doctor will come.”
At 4 pm the relatives were informed that both mother and child were dead. The doctors blamed her husband and relatives for admitting her at the last hour. The ward staff maintained that the child was dead at around 1 pm. The hospital superintendent, Dr Sudhakar, allegedly behaved rudely with the relatives; he told them to get lost, when they cursed the doctors. He was also reluctant to speak and blamed the relatives.


Source
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/hyderabad/%E2%80%98negligence%E2%80%99-docs-kills-mom-half-delivered-baby-004




Look Comrades at the wonder of India's Democracy,the govt is a complete failure,a govt who fails in providing people with proper health care system has no right to exist.

Believe me this are the reasons why I always say that revolution is inevitable in India,IT WILL COME AND NO ONE CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!