: Hindutva ideologue and former BJP office-bearer K.N. Govindacharya believes that the Centre should ensure that its crackdown on activists does not create the perception that it is being vindictive.
“The Supreme Court has come out in a way in defence of those (arrested activists). Perceptionally, it has treated them as if they were the likely victims,” Mr. Govindacharya told The Hindu in a conversation. “So, for the credibility of the Government it is better to ensure that no impression goes out that the Government is becoming vindictive.”
He said the Centre should ensure that there is proper documentation and the charges made are fool-proof.
Mr. Govindacharya said work among the poor was of utmost importance in India but added that such activism must be non-violent. “Shedding violence is the first requirement for any movement that is pro-poor. Even advocating clinical violence will not be in the interest of the pro-poor and pro-people forces. They should understand that the state is capable of multiple times the violence that private violence is advocated by the so-called Maoists,” he said.
He, however, said the state must be empathetic to the cause of the marginalised, as peaceful protests could sometimes turn violent if results were not forthcoming.
He pointed to the Pathalgadi movement – a movement where tribal villages install plaques outside villages declaring the Gram Sabha as sovereign and restricting outsiders’ entry – which, he said, was initially not in the hands of Maoists.
“It was all started by a man called Brahmadev Sharma whom I consider like a guru. He formulated the tribal land regulations. He started the Pathalgadi to make people of tribal areas responsive to take initiative about their sensitivity to their own problems and asking the bureaucratic machinery to be accountable for all developmental works that have been assigned to them. For this, Pathalgadi was started,” he said. “But if peaceful means do not tend to bring results, some of the frustrated elements in the rear end of the movement turn violent or turn towards organisations that are violent in nature.”
