society, violence and governance

By chinmoy mukherjee

In recent months the country has been witness to a wave of violence erupting in various parts of

the country and the response of governments both at the Centre and States has been somewhat unsure and one of puzzlement. In fact, there has hardly been a day that we do not get reports of violence

in the newspapers, journals and magazines. While the Home Minister has been talking about taking on

the might of the Maoist militarily, the Maoist cadres have let loose violence of an unprecedented kind

claiming victims who are just caught in crossfires. The irony in this grim human tragedy is that there

is very little realization on the part of the Government that lack of good governance, economic deprivation and backwardness have pushed an otherwise peace-loving, honest and simple tribals or

adivasis into the lap of Maoists. The contribution of the adivasis to our society and civilization has been

truly great and the heroic role they played in our struggle for independence only finds token acknowledgement. Thanks to governmental apathy, insensitivity and corruption we have condemned

them to a sub-human living. Their lot no longer shames us! They are forced to eat leaves , grass and worms and die unreported and the only time they figure in lurid details when they take up arms!

Earlier it was Britishers who branded them as “Criminal Communities” and took away their habitats and now they are being done in by their own people. The other day Madhu Khora the former Chief

Minister of Jharkhand was in the news for self-aggrandizement to the tune of 1500 Cr.! A society which

is founded on gross injustice only courts violence to destroy itself. The violence which has been pockmarking the face of the nation can squarely attributed to poor governance, malgovernance and no governance at all.