Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday sounded a warning on what he termed “increased Maoist activities in areas other than usual extremism-affected areas” in the wake of Wednesday’s arrests in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.
In a blog, released by the BJP, Mr. Jaitley said it was a “dangerous tendency which all political parties must realise and react to”.
He said sympathising with Maoists was akin to “riding a tiger” and in doing that “you may be its victim”.
“The Maoist believe in the violent overthrow of constitutional system and not just the government. In their perceived system, there are no fundamental rights, no rule of law, no Parliament and no free speech. But to expand their political base, their sympathisers make full use of the democratic idioms,” he said.
Four categories
He said as Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha during the second term of the UPA government, he had analysed the phenomenon and categorised Maoists as those who indoctrinate ideologically, others who carry out violent operations against the state and a third category of “innocent tribals or others who face injustice, who have been misled to believe that Maoist will get them relief” whose issues need to be addressed.
“The fourth category is what I have always called “half Maoist”. Willingly or otherwise, they become over-ground face of the underground. They are a part of the democratic system. They masquerade as activist; they speak the language of democracy; they have captured the human rights movement in several parts of the country but always lend support to the Maoist cause. They are unwilling to condemn. Unfortunately some political parties see the Maoist as their instrument in the anti-NDA cause. The history of terrorism and extremism teaches us one basic fact. Never ride a tiger, you may be its first victim,” he wrote.
The Pune police arrested five persons on Wednesday and claim to have recovered documents pointing to an attempt on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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