This statement did not come from any Maoists sympathiser nor from Team Anna, but, from Union Minister of State (home), Jitendra Singh on Sunday here.
The new Congress cabinet minister admitted that the Maoist problem branched from years of negligence and underdevelopment in different parts of the country and the government and the political system in India are to be blamed for that. He was interacting with officials at the North East Police Academy at Umiam.
Singh, reportedly a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, added that there has been a “lack of communication between the government and the people” in different areas of the country, which has led to impoverishment.
He observed that “people with vested interest” are now taking advantage of the underdevelopment and negligence and instigating the poor to take up arms leading to the Maoist movement in India.
“Chhattisgarh would not have happened if there was better communication between people and government. Now some people are taking advantage of the situation,” the Minister of state said.
Singh earlier in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha confirmed that the Maoists have international links. He said that the CPI (Maoist) has close links with foreign Maoist organisations in the Philippines and Turkey and is drawing support from several organisations based in Germany, France, Holland, Turkey and Italy.
In fact, some of Singh’s observation on the root cause of the spread of Maoism resonates with those made earlier by Team Anna and Maoist supporters, although the latter are silent on the support base of the Maoist. The Union Home ministry, significantly, in a recent study has suggested that development and not force would be a key factor in fighting Maoism.