Most of the current thinking in many hotspots around the world focuses on ways to control the conflict. This ignores the underlying fact that in most cases the origin of the conflict is about the control - people who do not have control in conflict with people who do.

India, the land that originated the concept of holistic healing and gave the world (arguably) the greatest leader of the twentieth century - Mahatma Gandhi - is being beset by a Maoist insurgency in the twenty-first century.

The Indian government is importing not only weapons but unfortunately in some instances, also the brute force and counterproductive tactics used by the weapon states.

While combating the Maoist insurgency the use of repressive and lethal force by security personnel against the insurgents has resulted, in some occasions, in innocent victims getting caught in the crossfire. This has further alienated the local populace, which was already reeling from the effects of the insurgent violence.

The references to holistic healing and Mahatma Gandhi are not unrelated to the Maoist insurgency but in fact constitute key parts of the solution.

One of the ideas Gandhi championed was "Panchayat Raj" - devolving control to locally elected councils at the village level. This would ensure that the officials were directly accountable to the local population and they would have a personal stake in seeing their localities flourish. The local populace would in turn feel empowered by having control over issues that affected their daily lives and by having representatives who not only understood their concerns but who shared them also. This "Panchayat Raj" system, if implemented correctly, would obviate the feeling of alienation of the common people and also preclude the external intervention of higher-level civic officials, who may not be familiar with or fully share the concerns of the local populace. Citizens. empowered and in control, are not likely to harbour or be sympathetic to insurgents.

The "Panchayat Raj" system would ensure that any problems are dealt with before they develop into insurgencies.

For existing Maoist insurgencies, there needs to be a holistic cure - the solution should address the historical, geographical, economic and governance aspects of the disease.

The historical reasons of the disparate insurgencies need to be fully understood in order not to repeat the same mistakes. The key stakeholders of the insurgency and their motivations

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