"State-sponsored terrorism is a threat to democracy", said Prime Minister Vajpayee. It was a great news. At last, it seemed, wisdom had downed upon our rulers. But ... Vajpayee was referring to terrorism sponsored by another country and not the one supported or sponsored by us.

The greatest threat to our democracy and human rights is the increasing lawlessness and terrorism in our own so-called soft state ... When we everyday see our state incarcerating, beating, maiming, torturing and killing our own struggling people, a question naturally arises – where is our state moving in the 21s Century ...

But soon after independence ... our hopes, aspirations and dreams were shattered. In our craze for unity and strength, we neglected the demands and aspirations for diversity, identity and autonomy. This ultimately led to many regional, autonomy, separatist or secessionist movements. Instead of responding to them positively and constructively; we treated them as anti-national moves and suppressed (them) forcibly ... We could not satisfy even the minimum needs of the masses ... It led to discontent and protest struggles - non-violent protests to Naxalite movements.

Instead of trying to understand the genesis and nature of these struggles, we considered them to be law and order problems to be suppressed ruthlessly. Instead of unity in diversity our rulers want a militarily strong, unified, monolithic and authoritarian India ...

.. The socio-cultural revolution has been hijacked by communal forces that are championing and imposing "cultural nationalism" - the Hindutva ideology of "one people, one nation and one culture".

The result is state and social terrorism in various forms. The- every expanding armed forces with modernised weapons of mass destruction, increasing budgetary allocation for defence and security, growing (size) of police and para-military forces, use and abuse of TADA and other anti-terrorist legislation, custodial violence, deaths-in-encounter, police excesses, illegalities and abuses, criminalisation of politics and the collusion of state and private armies - these are the increasing forms of state terrorism (which is) justified in the name of national security and unity ..

... We see innocent Kashmiris being brutally killed by our armed forces in retaliation for the killings of Sikhs by terrorists, J&K under a repressive regime, workers being killed in police firings, demolition of slums, thousands of tribals being uprooted in the name of development, persecution of Muslims in the name of cow protection and attacks on Christians in the name of opposing forcible conversions, cultural terrorism of Hindutva forces and so on.

A state which is soft on corrupt politicians, ruthless bureaucrats, errant capitalists, defiant landlords, anti-social contractors and buildings in ruthless with the common people who are struggling for their right to life – simple survival.

.. Terrorism of our own state and rulers is a threat to democracy and not terrorism from outside. We will fight against the latter, but if we do not check and eliminate the former and if we do not democratise, humanise and socialise our polity, society and economy, we will perish .. (Source: The Times of India, 27 April, 2000)