Thank you for translating veteran writer Khagendra Sangroula's brilliant observations ('Re-education at gunpoint', #203). Sangroula has shown us that he IS not afraid to call the Maoist abductions of children and school teachers a big blunder both for the Maoists and also for the country's future. If the revolutionaries want true support from the people, they are not going to get it by marching children off to remote locations, haranguing them about their goals. "Can you force someone to love you?" Sangroula asks. Never. The Maoists should learn from their teacher, Mao Zedong who told his followers never to alienate the people, to take hem into confidence, to convince them about the cause. He never told them to kill the people most respected and popular in the village just because the person couldn't afford to pay them Rs 50,000 extortion money. Mao would never have condoned the killing of people who disagreed with his methods, he would try to convince them about the ultimate political goal of liberation. Like fish, Mao said, revolutionaries swim in a sea of people. I wonder how long it will take the Maoists to realize they have got it wrong. Maybe they should start by reading Sangroula.

Sangita Sharma,
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