AP Govt scoring a self-goal?

(Courtesy : http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=AP+Govt+scoring+a+self-goal?&artid=|ZA3OuTwrsw=&SectionID=e7uPP4|pSiw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2uYAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=)

The Andhra Pradesh Government found itself in a cleft stick on its claim before the Supreme Court about the presence of Maoists on the Osmania University campus, which had become an epicenter of the ongoing movement for a separate Telangana.

Having come under flak for the deployment of paramilitary forces on the campus, both in the High Court as well as the apex court, the government sought to justify its action citing infiltration of Maoists but was caught in a quandary with the Supreme Court seeking evidence of the same.

There was more than one reason for the government’s weak defence, a) none other than Tirupati Rao, Vice-Chancellor of the Osmania University, had himself denied Maoist presence on the campus; b) The Maoist-sponsored Telangana bandh on January 2 was an utter failure while similar calls by the students and political parties evoked total response; c) extremist violence in 2008 and 2009 had been the least in the state since the emergence of the CPI–ML and the Maoist group itself had admitted having lost its base in Telangana; d) in the past three months, neither had there been any evidence of the arrest of any Maoist nor any student had been caught with any weapon; e) on various occasions, the state government had claimed that the Maoist presence in the state, Telangana in particular, was negligible and, in fact, Delhi had started citing Andhra Pradesh as a model for other states in checking Naxal activity.

The government, it appears, was preparing to highlight the statements issued by some Maoist leaders in support of Telangana as a pointer to their active participation in the movement but whether it will cut ice with the judiciary remains to be seen.

The matter will come up for hearing on Friday. In fact, a section of the police officers were of the view that the government was playing with fire by using unwarranted force on students taking out peaceful rallies on the campus, creating further unrest among a section that was already frustrated for a variety of reasons.

In the long run, this approach might prove counter-productive too, one of them reasoned.

He is not off the mark.

This was precisely what had happened in the late 60s when the then government crushed the separate Telangana movement with brute force, a process which saw the death of more than 300 students in firing or lathicharge. The frustration caused by the deaths resulted in substantial recruitment into the Naxalite movement and a majority of the current top ranking Maoist leaders are those who joined it in the early and mid 70s.

While a majority were from the upper classes then, the students, who are bearing the brunt of the police force now, are mostly from the backward classes and the Dalits clamouring for a rightful share in the socio-economic structure.