Who are the urban naxals and why are they in headlines?

Naxals are basically the members of Communist Party of India. The word takes its identity from the village named Naxalbari in West Bengal, where the movement of Naxalites was started. These people are considered as extreme leftists who are influenced by the idea of Maoism, the teachings of Chinese Political leader Mao Zedong.

Often, Maoism shares the same lines with Marxism that has the political and social belief that capitalism be abolished, and social equality be achieved through the equal distribution of properties and goods. The key difference between Marxism and Maoism is that the former idea/movement was centered around the labor class and the later one is shaped around the farmers.

Now, theoretically, at least for the middle and lower class, the idea of “equal distribution” may seem fine. However, historically, we have seen that such an ideologue often pave way for dictators, which always end with mass violence and distortion of basic human rights. Along with a few other flaws, this is the reason why Maoism (and Marxism) has gotten a very bad name across the world. (Communist parties, by the way, are entirely based on this ideology.)

In India, there’s a whole different meaning of Maoism though. For whatever reason, our mainstream media has created a perception that Maoists live somewhere in the distant forest, with their own rules and regulations, and they attack (and kill) people who come close to them and challenge their ideas.

(Courtesy: Samaa TV)

In fact, it’s very likely that you have heard of many instances when Police, CPRF and Army vans have been attacked somewhere distant in Chhattisgarh by the hiding Maoists. Or, for that matter, you have heard of many gun battles taking place between Maoists and authorities. This is why when we hear about Maoists and Naxals, our negative sentiments peak.

Indeed, Naxals, who follow the ideology of Maoism, is much more than just being against capitalism and ensuring farmers’ welfare. They have so many flaws. However, it must also be noted that they are extremely misunderstood. People casually classy them as the opposite end of the right wing. In reality, some of their demands, falling in line with the idea of socialism, are justified. At least today when inequality is at its all-time high.

Mainstream media and the leaders of their own groups have done a lot worse to the core and refined idea of Maoism, communism, and Marxism.

Now, in the current context, urban Naxals are basically the followers of Maoism who live in the urban area. Maoists are usually believed to be living in distant, rural areas. So, those in the urban areas have now got a separate label of “urban naxals”.

Why “urban naxals” are now in the headlines is because RSS wants it to. Recently, it organized a seminar called ‘Know Your Urban Naxal’, where it pinpointed how to identify Naxals and insulate the society from their influence. It believes the news outlets like BBC and Al Jazeera, along with folk culture, are promoting Naxalism.

If you look closely though, as we’re closing to General Election 2019, this is a simple attempt to polarize the society by RSS and push for their political ambitions in the garb of the missorted definition of Naxals and Maoism. What they are doing is basically shielding BJP from the critique for their incompetency by terming everyone on the other side of the rope as “naxals”. A couple of years back, they polarized the society in a similar way under the carb of nationalism. This time it’s naxalism. Sure, they never run out of ideas to mark new lows.

Don’t expect this controversy of pro-naxals and anti-naxals go away anytime soon. Expect more of right-wing media to propagate this issue.

With history as evidence, Maoists aren’t exactly the good people. But without proper research and knowledge of their struggles and demands, you also cannot call them bad. So, before taking sides here, which is exactly what the latest in the ‘national syllabus’ is meant to do, it’s important that you do the background check, understand every aspect and then make your opinion.

And above all, don’t get carried away in yet another political agenda. Don’t let this topic overshadow the core issues of unemployment, inflation, poor infrastructure and social inequality.