A Maoist Murder...or is it?


I was exremely intrigued to read about Mahato's murder. I am now reading more and more about Maoists in India than i have ever read before. What could be the reason for this, I thought to myself and you know what happens once I start thinking like this!:)

Sunil Mahato was gunned down on March 4 in Baguria in Jharkhand as he was watching a local football match. At first, politicians disbelieved the theory that Maoists were involved and there were rumours that this was a political revenge murder dressed up as a maoist killing. However, since then Maoists have accepted responsibility of the killing. Somen, West Bengal secretary of the CPI (Maoist) justified his death by saying it was necessary to kill him so as to prevent from raising another Salwa Judam like militia against the Maoists.

Salwa Judam like Millitia?? I was taken aback...what is this man talking about...how come i do not know about this? upset about my lack of knowledge, i decided to research further...

Salwa Judam is a recent anti Naxalite tribal militia that assists local police and authorities. In 2003, this outfit was responsible for the murder of 14 Maoists- known as the Lango incident. Mahato was planning to enact another Lango like incident and it was this decision of his that proved to be his undoing and made him a Maoist target. The Naxalite (so named as it first erupted in Naxalbari, a town in West Bengal) insurgency has been around for 40 years and has a presence in 28 states. It is a force to reckon with politically in the poor states like Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa. According to reports, the movement has spread to 40% of India.

Wow!!! and the major headlines are still about Abhishek-Aishwarya....

The Maoists have great support among the rural poor and apparently this has been a major reason as to why they have not yet been nabbed. Whatever is their idealogy (and everyone is entitled to their own idealogy) an interesting point to be made is that many believe that the Naxalite problem lies in issues like exploitation, low wages, unemployment, a lack of access to resources, geographical isolation and an underdeveloped farm sector ....

aaahhhh....my pet cause...the progress of rural India.

The areas that the Naxalites operate are poverty stricken and are in need of economic opportunties but with recent developments (and you know what they are) one needs to take care to ensure that investment in infrastructure or industry does not lead to exploitation percieved or otherwise.

National level economic policymakers need to step up fast and now!!!....no more thinking,plans,committes and such nonsense...take action!!!!

i did some reading on rural development models and there are some interesting ones out there...how successful they will be if they are transplanted into the indian scenario remains to be seen but at least there are options....i have more or less decided to start a social venture capital fund addressing health,education and alternative energy focusing on rural India when I have the money and resources to do so!!!:):) something on the lines of Acumen fund.

Good news....this friday, the suspense on my 16 month long job search got over...my company finally filed my H1B papers after considering for almost 20 days (hence no blog post!)....Marc (my boss) went out to bat for me....in his words, i was a good employee, not worth losing...after such an agonising job search, it was music to my ears...i could barely stand...i was a difficult employee to hire....i had capped out and will be out of status for 4 and half months but he convinced the company mgt that i was worth it....i could not believe it....is this happening to me?
what research had i done in my month long internship that he would go to such lengths for me?am i that good?

i shall be heading out to the toronto office for the interim period...i could not believe that my luck has turned so...i was branded a fool for specialising in a humanities subject in a world where technology is god....why would anyone sponsor a visa for a humanities person???....i should have done something else , i was told....why don't i apply for everything under the sun, my strategy is not correct...and it went on and on and on....

I am glad at the end of the day, i stuck to what i believed in...SRI research...i am glad i listened to myself and not to others and pursued the people in this field aggresively....i did whatever it takes but i did it with no regrets...the goal is not to do anything under the sun but to do what you believe in...what you are passionate about....unlike a techie, i was under even more pressure-SRI Research as a field does not exist in India, it will come up soon but as of now there isn't.... if i went back to india (which i was beginning to look forward to bcoz of my long struggle), i would have to make a career in a field that i was not interested in ( a job for the sake of a job)...that's why i was knocked off my feet when Marc told me' what do i need to do to keep you back here?i'll do whatever it takes.'

now, i understand why all the wise men of our world have always said...follow your heart.

do believe in your dreams and follow your heart no matter what society says....the reward of doing so is always far greater than what you would have achieved if you had treaded the beaten path.