By Namratha Bhat
In a country such as India where several sections of the society are oppressed and exploited, a revolutionary group rising against the government and authorities alike isnt a surprising deal. When this kind of resistance arises among the masses to fight back against exploitation, the government and the media condemn these revolutionary groups to ridicule through campaigns of deception and falsehood. This is especially directed towards those who wish to overthrow the system, the Maoists and the Communist Party of India (M).
It has come to light that the government cannot win the fight against the Maoists if their numbers of supporters keep growing. The battle cannot be won by telling the people the truth about the Maoists, that they are in reality groups that have risen from the masses and work among them, supporting their interests and wishes. The media however, spreads a violent image of Maoists, building hatred towards them from the masses. For a person who hasnt been directly subjected to Maoism or its brand of violence, their only understanding of this phenomenon is by relating it to violence because that is the only backdrop against which the common people have pictured Maoism.
Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky have identified the fifth and final filter of the propaganda model as the anti-communism filter or the fear filter. They go on to explain that creating an evil empire of some kind has been a standard ploy to terrify and maneuver the population into believing, supporting and accepting a thought or perception that a higher authority, like a government, wants to project. This filter also applies to media demonization of rioters or anyone else considered a threat to the dominant ideology. The Maoist scene in India easily comes under this filter. While considering the Indian news media, many cases can be found where the Maoists have been framed for crimes they havent committed. The Amousi Massacre of September 2009 was one such case where media demonstrated their powers of impact on the masses.
Sixteen villagers were woken up at night from the village of Amousi in the Khagaria District of Bihar. They were marched out by around 30 men and gagged and tied up. Later they were opened fire upon and fifteen of the sixteen villagers were found dead, one of them escaped by feigning death. Of the 16 villagers taken captive, 5 of them were supposedly children. The reports by the media following this incident blamed this carnage on the Maoists and CPI (M).
The reports began to run from October 2, 2009 with the Gulf News opinion editorial running a piece titled India Must Check Maoist Menace. AFP agency ran a report titled Maoist Rebels Kill 16 Villagers in Eastern India and the Hindustan Times published a report Land Row Sparks Maoist Carnage in Bihar on October 2nd. These reports relayed the whole event adding a bit of punch lines here and there to bring the Maoist role to the forefront.
The Gulf News report reads that the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is facing a new crisis Maoism. It says that it is not without reason that the Prime Minister has admitted that India is losing its fight against the Maoists. The Home Minister was quoted too saying that Maoists have established their presence in 17 states across India and they are responsible for 90 per cent of the violence in the country. In addition to use of force and terror, Maoists have caused nearly 580 deaths in 2009 alone. This report also mentioned a SMS threat that was received right after the cold-blooded murder of villagers, threatening to kill the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar if their need werent met.
In the AFP report by Imran Khan, the Deputy Superintendent of Bihar was interviewed. He said that the deadly attack was due to some land dispute between two groups in Amousi village and that one group to instill fear in the other to gain control over the agricultural land used the Maoists. The report continued, accusing the Maoists of saying that they are fighting for the rights of neglected people and landless farmers, while in reality they use intimidation and extortion to secure the cooperation of impoverished villagers. The Prime Minister in this article has referred to Maoists as the greatest threat to Indias internal security. History was evoked when the report went back to incidents that had taken place few years back:
In 2007, they assassinated a federal MP and engineered a mass prison break for 300 of their jailed fighters. Last year saw a series of attacks, including the sinking of a boat carrying elite commandos, while in April this year the rebels briefly held an entire train with 300 passengers hostage.
The report went on to mention a grisly newspaper campaign launched by the Indian government to discredit Maoists by running graphic photographs of rebels victims.
Two days after running these accusations against the CPI (M), a doubt began to arise among the people whether or not this carnage was by Maoists at all. The CPI (M) leader expressed ignorance as to who the executers were. He said that if this were their work, leaving behind pamphlets or wall writings would have followed the massacre. They even issue press notes to media, he said. Therefore the media should have known that this wasnt a Maoist act from the start. Since none of these followed the Khagaria charge, this couldnt possibly be a Maoist attack. The leader shunned police theories that this act was probably carried out by an ex-Maoist. He said that the police and are trying to plant all kinds of stories on them.
In 1987, Naxalites had killed 42 villagers, including women and children, at Dalelchak in Aurangabad District. They had received flak even from their sympathizers for killing innocent women and children. After this incident, they had released a press note vowing they would never kill women and children again in the future. They have been careful not to repeat such an event again, ever since. It was observed that in the Khagaria incident 5 of the deceased were minors, aged between 10 and 15. This was unlike the work of Maoists and more like the carnage executed by Ranvir Sena, a private army of landlords, who in their past hadnt even spared newborns. Yet another fact supporting Maoists lack of involvement in the mentioned crime was the bullet casings of .315 bore that was found at the site of shooting. Maoists are known for using sophisticated weapons.
It is true that there have been incidents of violence where the Maoists have harmed or killed those who were actually part of the masses and not the enemy, accidentally. For instance during Lok Sabha elections in 2009, election poll workers were mistaken for parliamentary troops and were blown up by the Maoists in a bomb blast. But such accidents were always followed by the CPI (M) taking blame and accepting responsibility for the accident. They have publicly admitted their mistakes, criticized themselves and have made sure that their people dont repeat such misunderstandings or mistakes.
All sorts of crimes like murder and rapes, which have occurred, including many crimes committed by fascist gangs organized by big landlords, have been pinned on the CPI (M) for years. This is mainly to create dislike in the minds and hearts of the Indian masses against the CPI (M) so as to reduce their support and kill potential support they could have gathered from the commons. It is true that the government looks at Maoism as a potential threat to the internal security of the country. It is due to this fear that media portrays Maoism and Naxalism as another face of terrorism.
The author is a student pursuing a masters degree in Medical and Psychiatric Social Work in Mangalore, India, after completing a 3 year Bachelor course in Journalism and Communication. Not having had as many experiences as the others claim to have, she merely looks for a platform to express her views as well as her ideas. She believes in expanding her thinking and knowledge through the means of writing, experiencing and researching. Drop a mail at namrathabhat17@gmail.com, for she always open to suggestions, comments and constructive criticisms.