Exclusive to IndiaMahesh.com by U. Mahesh Prabhu

On hearing words like Urban Naxals most people often think them to be different than those terrorist Naxals planning to overpower the Indian government and establish their version of the utopian state through ruthless means. Not many people understand Urban Naxals, their ideology or modus-operandi?

Naxals have their name from their brutal slaughter that incurred in Naxalbari village of Bengal.  Driven by Socialist ideas shaped by China’s most brutal dictator Mao Zedong who’s is the worst barbarian the world has ever known. With over 17 million Chinese people killed under his leadership, he could put even the Nazi despot Hitler to shame who killed not more than 2 million Jews. Fundamentally, these Naxals, like Communists, have their origins in Socialism. Particularly the one propounded by Karl Marx’s work Das Capital.

To simplify the naïve ideology of socialism let me recollect the story of Ants and Grasshoppers: The story goes that during the harvest season the ants worked day in and out building a home and their food reserves while the grasshoppers wasted it away in play. When the winter arrives, the grasshoppers were without food or shelter and starved to death. The conventional wisdom would place the blame on the grasshoppers for inaction, but the Socialist wisdom blames the ants for not sharing their hard-earned food or home – even it means depriving ants of their legitimate right to survive!

According to Marx, for everything that is wrong in your life, some else is responsible. There’s no sense of self-accountability in the ideology of socialism. Not many know that even the Nazis were socialists in their thinking – although with more corrupt ideas. The full name of the Nazi Party was National Socialist German Workers’ Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei). Although often referred to as Communists, the Soviets nation was called USSR – United Soviet Socialist Republic. India’s first woman premier – Indira Gandhi – went so far as to declare India as a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.” There’s one thing common about these socialist leaders and their ideologies: they are often monumental failures unless they are “martyred.”

It is a travesty that the most known face of socialism – Karl Marx – was a daydreamer who held no jobs and never earned a salary. Had it not for the generous handouts from his friend Friedrich Engels who inherited his wealth from his family of die-hard capitalists.

It’s natural for people to wonder “If socialism is a failure why are they alive in various hues and colors even today?” The answer is that people are often naïve. Consider this you are without money and have no education. Your understanding of life is limited. You are unaware of your potential. If someone approaches you and suggests that the reason for your ills is not because you but someone else and that (s)he will help you to get what you deserve by just supporting them – won’t you rally your vote/self behind such individual(s)? Socialism has managed to survive by merely blaming the wealthy class for ills of the poor.

In the 1900s, Socialism spread in Russia by pitting the working class against the bourgeoisie, in India they pitted the Dalits against the Brahmins and in Africa they pitted the black against the whites. I do not suggest that Brahmins, wealthy or the whites were always fair and beyond reproach. But they did take the right path – they believed in education and hard work thereby doing well for themselves. And given the working class never channelized their energy it’s but natural for them to fail. To put the blame squarely on those who are successful for your failure is not just to be unfair but also downright stupid.

There’s a wise saying about being a socialist “If you are 20 and not a socialist you don’t have a heart – if you are 40 and still a socialist you don’t have a brain.”

There were two Naxalite or Naxalite supporters I had interacted well in my life. One was the infamous Saketh Rajan and the second one was Gauri Lankesh. Both died an untimely death.

Once, I happened to visit Gauri Lankesh at her newspaper’s office, started by her late father. I observed a chair designated for the editor. Although she was the editor for a long time, she never sat on it – even once. During our casual conversation, I couldn’t help but ask why it was so. “It was my father’s and to keep his memory alive I chose not to sit on it as a mark of respect.” she replied. Somehow, I couldn’t resist asking her “Gauri, if you have so much of emotions in you why don’t you consider even listening to Hindu’s emotion for cows?” To my sheer surprise, she was so infuriated that she started abusing me before asking me to “get lost!”. Every Naxalite, communist, rationalist or self-styled atheist in India, I’ve met, have a very similar attitude. Inability to show compassion towards those who disagree with them is rampantly common.

There’s a sage saying in the Vedic texts “Those who chose to blame others for their ills; lead a miserable life and also make other’s life miserable.” Socialism has always survived by blaming the wrong people, supporting the corrupt individuals and propagating flawed ideas. They’ve gone scotfree just by re-branding themselves as Socialist, Communist, Maoist, Naxalists, etc. We often forget that these are the very people who openly support narcissistic Islamic fundamentalists when they are behind the bar in the guise of “Human Rights Activists.” Unless exposed – they will remain to be the most lethal threat to the world economy as well as order.