Text Credits: Shibul Pavithran 

This article is an attempt to argue with the narrative that rebellion is not only possible, but sometimes its the absolute necessity to combat autocracy. An appropriate definition of terrorism could be based upon accepted international laws and principles regarding what behaviors are permitted in conventional wars between nations. The normal version would be relating to a state of war between two countries, that can be extended without difficulty to a conflict between a non-governmental organization and a state. This extended version would thus differentiate between guerrilla warfare and terrorism. The aims of terrorism and guerrilla warfare may well be identical; but their modes of operation may be quite different from each other. The guerrilla fighters usually target military, state and tyranny, while the terrorist deliberately targets civilians. By this definition, one can fairly say that guerrilla warfare is not an act of using power to hurt civilians but rather it is; using power to fight power. It is an act of revolt which goes against the unfair rule of the land, and in the due process takes care of the marginalized and ignored bunch of people.

Some one has rightly said that: “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” – Unknown

Source: theleaflet.in

Urban Naxal

Urban Naxal, the term has been coined and intentionally put forth in the public discourse to threaten and challenge the mere voice of dissent. The phrase loosely means people of Naxalite bent of mind who reside in urban areas and work as activists, supporters and protectors of the ideology while the active Naxals battle it out in the jungles and vast swathes of Maoist-dominated areas.  And it is the perfect time in history to hit a refresh button and re-understand the original term: Naxals .

Source: The Week

Naxal entered Indian glossary in the decade of 1960 and has acquired a certain meaning over the years. The term Naxal comes from a village called Naxalbari in Siliguri district of West Bengal. Naxalism is understood at two levels – as a socio-economic issue and a law and order problem. The people who were involved in the launching Naxal operations/movement were frustrated with growing inequality among the various classes of society and government’s apathy to address the routine grievances of the poor. They launched armed rebellion against the system and the government dealt with it as a law and order problem.

The recent outrage 

There has been a recent outburst all around India since the unprecedented arrest of five people by Maharashtra police, they were literally picked up from their houses, all of sudden, without any notice in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence and have been accused to plan a conspiracy to kill PM Narendra Modi. Those arrested are well known social activists and professors. The police have have said they are Urban Naxals and have naxalite and maoist connections. A brief profile of the five activists arrested who were arrested are:

1)Vernon Gonsalves: He is a writer, social activist, poet and trade unionist, who was arrested in 2007 under similar charges. The security agencies had filed 20 cases against him, of which he was acquitted in 17. He was formerly a professor of Business Organisation at a prominent Mumbai college.

2)Arun Ferreira: Ferreira is a Mumbai-based human rights activist and lawyer. He is an alumnus of the St Xavier’s college. In 2007, Ferreira was detained for of being an alleged Naxal operative; however, he was later acquitted. He was charged in 11 cases and had been acquitted from all of them in 2011. Ferreira was part of the ‘Indian Association of People’s Lawyers and and the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights.

3)Gautam Navlakha: He is a journalist, civil rights activists and is an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly.  He has been a convener of the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir and the secretary of People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR).

4) Sudha Bharadwaj: Bharadwaj is an independent civil rights lawyer and activist who has been working in Chhattisgarh for 29 years now. The 54-year-old is the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and the founder of Janhit, a lawyers collective. Bharadwaj was born in the USA and gave up her citizenship and returned to India at a very young age. She graduated from IIT-Kanpur with an integrated degree in Mathematics. After witnessing the poor condition of labour and working class in several states when she had been a student, Bharadwaj moved to Chhattisgarh to work toward providing better opportunities and working and living conditions to the people of Chhattisgarh who work in mines and plants.

5)  Varavara Rao: Revolutionary writer, poet, sharp critic of the current government and a naxalite sympathizer. He has been writing revolutionary poetry since 1957 and founded Srujana (creation), which is a forum for modern Telugu literature.  Rao is currently 77 years old and was one of the founders of Viplava Rachayitala Sangahm (Revolutionary Writers’ Association), popularly known by its acronym Virasam, that supports and propagates Naxalite ideology and practice. He was associated with many a progressive and revolutionary journal in Telugu.

Intellectuals such as Arundhati Roy, Aruna Roy, Prashant Bhushan and Ramachandra Guha have condemned the recent arrest of these five activists and highly spoke against government’s stance about their arrest. Arundhati said,“This is an attempt to divert attention from the losing popularity that the BJP is facing right now and to fracture Opposition unity. This means we are living in a dangerous time and there will be a ruthless and continuous attempt to divert attention from the loss of popularity. Divide and rule is an old method but now it is divert and rule.” And ever since their arrest the social media is raging with hashtags such as #urbannaxal and #metoourbannaxal.

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