In a democracy, political power is born through the ballot box. The old Maoist clich? that power flows from the barrel of a gun has no place in a democracy. Thus the prime minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, provided sage advice to the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh when he told them to use the legislature and the media to draw attention to the issues that they consider to be central to society. The context of this statement is important since it is clear that the process of dialogue between the Maoists and the Andhra Pradesh government has entered a cul de sac. The Andhra Pradesh government is determined to begin far-reaching counter-insurgency measures against the Maoists. It also wants to take action against journalists who report on the activities of Maoists. In this context, Mr Singh?s advice to the left extremist groups who still advocate armed insurrection assumes a certain significance. As long as these groups remain committed to an agenda of violence, they can be made targets of counter-insurgency operations and reduced to the status of criminals. The programme of removing oppression through violence against the state is somewhat self-defeating. The interests of the oppressed and the marginalized can be better represented and served from within the democratic process. Today, the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh waste an enormous amount of valuable time fighting the law and order machinery instead of serving the oppressed. This time can be better utilized within the political system.

It cannot be anybody?s case that oppression and marginalization are non-existent in Indian society and polity. These are legacies of the caste system and of structures of economic domination. But the Indian political experience shows that the Constitution provides enough scope for the empowerment and participation of groups that were formerly marginalized. The entry of such groups has in fact served to deepen the reach of Indian democracy. In West Bengal, a party previously committed to armed revolution has demonstrated that from within the democratic process it is possible to remove some of the worst features of economic oppression and discrimination. The significance of these achievements of Indian democracy should not be underestimated. The prime minister has pointed to a window of opportunity which is open for the Maoists of Andhra Pradesh to use. To spurn the opportunity and to imagine that a violent overthrow of the state is still within the realms of possibility is to continue to live in an illusory world. To chase the illusion is to invite the power of the gun which the state can exercise with great effect and little mercy.