Chandigarh: 27 years after the Khalistan movement pushed Punjab into a cycle of violence and instability, the state finds itself on the brink of another bloody movement. Reports suggest that Naxalism in again on the rise in Punjab.
The threat is so imminent that even the DGP of Punjab has told IBN7 that the Red menace has penetrated the villages and mohallas in the state, posing a major threat to the security scenario.
DGP claims that the Naxals have formed district committees, and are now running recruitment drives across Punjab.
Police say they have already arrested half a dozen Naxal leaders in the past one year. Among the arrested are farmers' leader Surjeet Singh and Jai Prakash Dube, accused of killing more than 25 people in Jharkhand.
Punjab was an important centre of Naxalism in the 1970s. But with the rise of the Khalistan movement, the Maoists left the state. The question is why has the movement risen again in the state?
Experts say that the prosperity and wealth of the state is now on the decline, and that Punjab is now going back to what it was almost 40 years ago.
People outside might find it difficult to believe that a state as prosperous as Punjab is going back to its Naxal days. But the truth is that many farmers in the state, especially in the Malwa region, suffer from major debts and have even lost large chunks of land to greedy moneylenders.
Experts also suggest that the growth of Naxalism can be nipped in the bud if it is seen not as a law-and-order question, but a socio-economic one. They say effective government policies are the best bet against Naxalism in Punjab.
Comments
0 comment