प्रति, बाप!

As common citizens we have a lot of pre-conceived notions about the Maoist movement in India. People often tend to confuse Naxalites as terrorists. Maoist movement is something greater than socio-economic problems associated with tribal people is known to all but the actual hardships faced by the general populace in the red-corridor are seldom reported in print and electronic media. I recently read these 3 books on travels to the heart of Maoist zones in the country. If at all I had to place these books in order of ‘biased to less-biased’ preference I would put them thus:
*Walking with comrades- Arundhati Roy
Honestly, I don’t have any high regards for Arundhati Roy as a person but her 15 day venture into Chattisgarh is commendable. Sadly this is an utterly biased book. It has many shocking and dismaying stories about the life of Naxalites but it doesn't provide any solution to it either. It is flooded with the author's own opinions and views but fails to paint the other side of the scenario. Mere romanticism does no good to a serious ailing such as Naxalism. A 15 day venture may very well have given her an insight to what it takes to lead a movement against the flow but calling the state machinery as the main culprits is unconvincing. As far as the literary qualities are concerned I haven't any slightest doubt that she is one of the greatest (and wasted) authors this world has ever seen.

*Hello, Bastar- Rahul Pandita
I am a religious follower of his editorials and blogs. This book has a firsthand account of the information as to who actually the Maoist leaders are/were, and the reasons which instigated the Naxalbari movement into a fully-fledged armed struggle. This book starts with a great fiction-coated chapter citing the incident leading to Kobad Ghandy’s arrest (which later, we are told are actually the inputs given by intelligence sources.) Sadly, the book loses the clarity and focus in the later part in spite of brilliant style of writing which has all the ingredients of fictional socio-political thriller. We all know that this movement of battle-hardened guerillas sure has a human side to it but the trick is not to get carried away with it. The author is all praises about the educational reforms brought about by the Maoists but he fails to paint the larger side of canvas where most of the schools are blown up, teachers are threatened and children are trained to make IEDs. The afterword by Kobad Ghandy makes you re-think about his journalistic impartiality. That doesn’t befit the title of the book, I think.

*Red Sun- Sudeep Chakravarti
Red Sun- Travels in Naxalite country is a great travelogue in a true sense as the title suggests. The uniqueness lies in the fact that the author himself has travelled throughout the red-corridor putting his life at risk in incidents such as Police ambushes. Great style of writing, beautiful use of imagery and enormous research makes it a must read book for students, legislators, administrators, policy makers and analysts who live either in willful or inadvertent denial of the Maoist phenomenon as the author rightly says. His genuine journalistic observations and impartiality have made this book different from others for not getting carried away while you are travelling in these areas or staying with Maoists for a longer duration is very important. Rather than portraying Naxalites as Anti-India lumpen elements Sudeep Chakravarti has described them as “misguided citizens driven to despair”. Author’s direct interactions with former Maoist leaders, Senior IPS officers and people like Charu Majumdar’s son; Abhijit Majumdar make this book a complete read.
I am absolutely stunned by Sudeep Chakravarti’s style of writing. Looking forward to read all his books in next few days.
“Let the real power flow through the pages of books.”