Restrictions on the movement of people and goods have been imposed from time to time in certain areas, particularly those held by the Maoists. They have also announced the formation of local and regional “people’s governments.” They have formed several “people’s courts” to replace the established ones. And they have imposed their own laws and rules in those areas. The security forces go into the interior in force only occasionally, but that, or the visits of very highly placed persons to those areas under heavy security, hardly indicate that the government has established its authority in those areas again. Besides, the general people have been caught in the cross-fire between the two sides. According to a report, three “people’s regional governments” are to impose a blockade on district headquartes of the “old regime” for two weeks starting from March 8, a date that coincides with a nationwide bandh called by the women’s wing of the Maoists.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by Maoist-affiliated bodies representing several geographic regions and ethnic groups, the blockade is aimed against the security forces and government offices as well as at seeking resignations from those appointed by the government to the various municipalities and district development committees. The blockade will seek to stop the flow of people to and from those offices, halt the movement of food and other essential goods, and paralyse transport, communication, power and water supply. The Maoists have also decided to force government employees and pro-government organisations to quit the “liberated areas.” Accordingly, no representative of the “old regime” will be allowed into those areas without a permit from the rebels, and all land, equipment and infrastructure of the “old regime” will be seized.

No doubt, what the Maoists are doing run counter to the Constitution of the country. But it is a war between the two domestic forces, one trying to retain the existing order and the other to uproot it by force. But both the government and the rebels owe it to the people that their actions do not go against the very people in whose name they claim they are fighting. The impact of this blockade will fall hardest on the common man who is finding it increasingly difficult to make both ends meet. This war is unlikely to lead to any useful conclusion. If both sides are to save the nation and the people from ruin, there is no alternative to their coming together for dialogue to find a political settlement in the larger interest of the people. Leaving politics aside on such occasions, both sides should think twice before they announce such programmes as bandhs and blockades if they have some consideration for the people.