Urban naxals provide the pipeline for arms, money to reach jungles: Ex- Spl Secy, R&AW

New Delhi, Aug 29: The arrest of five persons alleged to be naxalite sympathisers has led to a major debate.

The Pune police arrested five alleged naxal sympathisers from different parts of the country.

The five arrested include Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Fereira and Gautam Navlakha.

Pune's joint commissioner of police, Shivaji Bodkhe said that the five persons were arrested on the basis of incriminating evidence.

He further said that the police are probing the organising and funding of the Elgar Parishad during which provocative speeches were made, following which violence broke out. This had contributed to the Koregaon Bhima violence.

Over the years, the security agencies have often warned about the strength of the naxal movement in India. Although currently the movement is on the decline, security officials say that it is being kept alive by their friends and well-wishers in the urban areas.

OneIndia caught up with Amar Bhushan, the former special secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing to discuss the issue.

Creating a pipe-line for arms:Bhushan says all along he felt that when the movement initially began there were idealists who were part of it. Lately what has happened is that there is no ideology left anymore. There are a few on the top, but a major chunk of them today are nothing but criminals. The naxal movement has become a good business and is being organised by the local dons in states such as Jharkhand.

Now coming to those in the urban areas, Bhushan says that getting arms is not easy. Contrary to what is spoken that most of the arms are looted, the fact is that there is a proper channel from abroad. This is when the persons in the urban areas come into the picture. They are the ones who build the pipeline so that both arms and funds reach the naxals safely. These are the same persons who have helped institutionalise the extortion in the rural areas.

Various agencies have for long said that these persons in the urban areas are providing support to the naxalites. They help in channelising the funds from abroad and keep India on the boil. I have no doubt when I say that the movement to a large extent is being funded by external forces and those who are interested in destabilising the nation. These persons in the urban areas are in turn promoting a political culture that is violent which in my view is a sinister plan, Bhushan also says.

Why urban naxals are more dangerous:

Bhushan also adds that these urban naxals are more dangerous than the naxalites themselves. They keep an idea alive. The cadres in the jungles can either be killed or acted upon. But these persons working under the cover of NGOs, universities keep an idea alive. They keep creating a cadre and once the idea is alive, it is only a question of getting it organised. This is why I feel that there is a need for a strong government. Once a weak government is in place such ideas get translated.

There is a need to constantly monitor such persons. Such a movement cannot be sustained without money and weapons. Their economy is based on black money in the form or loot and extortion, while 40 per cent of the funding comes from abroad, Bhushan says. It is this syndicate in the urban areas that gets in the money through hawala channels and provides it to those in the jungles.
To sum it up, there is a hue and cry over these arrests because the idea of 'right' is catching up. This is what has left every one rattled, Bhushan also says.