World
View:
1. the Red Army Faction
or BaaderMeinhof Gang in the former
West Germany
2. the Red Brigades in
Italy,
3. the 17 November
Movement in Greece,
4. the Shining Path of
Peru,
5. People’s Revolutionary
Army and the Motoneros of Argentina.
6. The Maoist groups in
India and Nepal
Overview:
1. PM calls it as
"India's single largest internal security Problem"
2. 8,000 people have been
killed between 2001 and 2012.
3. Govt estimates of
Maoist forces : 15000-20000 army, atleast 40% of them are women;
avg age in high teens and low twenties.
4. Various estimates
suggest Maoist rebels could number up to 40,000. Of these, thousands may be
armed with weapons ranging from AK-47s to light machine-guns raided from police
stations or bought from dealers in Nepal. The cadre mostly comprises farmers,
landless labourers, tribals and the extremely poor, including women and
children.
5. The Indian government,
led by the United Progressive Alliance, banned the CPI (Maoist) under the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as a terrorist organisation
6. Naxalites have been
charged by the government with running an extortion economy in
the guise of a popular revolution, extorting vast amounts of money from local
branches of mining companies and other businesses
Origin:
1. The peasant movement
in Andhra Pradesh just after India’s independence was a precursor to the rise
of Maoist thought. But it was an attack on a tribal man in the Naxalbari
village of West Bengal on March 2, 1967 that sparked the violent, extremist
left-wing movement.The Communist Party of China hailed the movement as the
“Spring Thunder of India”.
2. The Communist Party of
India (Maoist) is an ultra-leftist political party in India which aims
to overthrow the government of India through people's war and to
establish a class-less society; ‘seizure of power’ through an agrarian
revolution. Eight articles written by Charu Majumdar at this time—known as
the Historic Eight Documents—have been seen as providing their ideological
foundation: arguing that revolution must take the path of armed struggle on the
pattern of the Chinese revolution.
3. Groups occupied vacant
lands in parts of Naxalbari, Khoribari and Phansidewa police station areas of
Siliguri sub-division on the plea that such lands were in excess of the
permissible ceiling on land holdings
4. The Naxalite movement
spread in the West Bengal State as a wildfire and particularly the
urban elite youth and the bhadralok class got attracted to it.
5. the extremist faction
could not mobilise people for further organised militant activities because
govt. arranged redressal of the long-standing grievances, especially in respect
of the hapless and poor tea garden labourers and landless or marginal farmers.
6. 1972 : Death of Charu
Majumdar
7. A police research
paper says the movement was subdued for two decades till 1991.
8. Various splinter
groups of Naxalites started resurfacing in various parts of India during the
early 1980s. Thus, the Naxalites of Andhra Pradesh regrouped as the CPI-ML
(Peoples’ War Group/ PWG); likewise the Bihar Naxalites rechristened themselves
as the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). Of all the newly organised Naxalite
groups, the CPI-ML (PWG) turned out to be the most active not only in Andhra
Pradesh but also in Orissa, in the tribal belt (Bastar-Dandakaranya) of Madhya
Pradesh (now mostly in the State of Chhattisgarh) and Maharashtra, causing
considerable violence in these States.
9. In Bihar : greatest
adversary was not so much the administration and the police but the
armed gangs (senas) of the landlord class - the RanbirSena, the
BhumiharSena; instead of assuming the characteristics of class struggle as
propagated by Maoist ideologues, the skirmishes took the shape of caste
warfare.
10. Later reincarnated as the Maoist movement
since 2004 : barring a few splinter groups, Naxalites have largely completed
their process of merger and consolidation with the formation of the CPI
(Maoist) on 21 September 2004
FAQs:
1. What is India's Maoist
challenge all about?--
Ideological challenge to the very foundation
of Indian state.-challenges the very edifice of Parliamentary democracy and
constitutionalism
2. How are the objectives
of Maoist challenge to be accomplished?
They hope to accomplish these
objectives not through Gandhian methods or Ideological debates, but by
the stride of violence and terror as fundamental instruments
3. Where is this
challenge most visible?
1. It started off in a
small village called Naxalbhari;
2. 70s saw Maoist
challenge in Urban areas; Today it is predominantly and overwhelmingly rural.
3. Geography of this
challenge : Mostly Central India; Mineral Rich areas, Forest Rich Areas
and Tribal dominated areas with Bihar (everything is related to
caste-lower castes and under-classes have been mobilised) as an exception;
4. 88/620 districts are
classified as LW extremism affected. {8 in AP, 2 in MH, 10 in MP, 10 in CH,17
in JK 18 in OR, 3 in UP, 11 in Bihar and 3 in WB} 500-600 Gram
panchayats are badly affected
4. Who are the foot
soldiers of this Movt.?
 |
1. Leadership is 99% from
AP; Telugu is Lingua-Franca of Maoist Leadership
2. Majority of Foot
soldiers are tribals but few exceptions.
3. Tribal participation
b/c of 4Ds tribal Displacement(from their land), Deprivation(of
their rights), Disconnect(from the mainstream) and Discontent(with
the Govt.)
5. Why has this grown?
1. Once it was confined
to 6-7 districts(of AP) in 70s and 80s after demise of Urban oriented
Naxalbhari movt.
2. factors : (Way our
Political economy and Administration works)
1. Political Neglect
of this issue
(Eg: No political party in India can afford to ignore
Dalit issues; They are central to India's electoral fortunes (300
constituencies). Similarly Muslim populations(can affect 200 constituencies).
Tribals no more than 50 constituencies). Tribal vote is not central to
electoral performance.Dalits and Muslims live with other communities which is
not the case of Tribals. This has affected the nature of political mobilization
of political parties. Sankaran Committee. condemns Maoist violence
for its focus on military actions rather than on the mobilization of
people for social transformation.
2. Mining contributed
to misery of Tribals. Tribal areas to the policy makers are simply
mineral rich areas. (Ecological unsustainability & Social devastation
has contributed to their discontent). Poor regions in the world are invariably
mineral rich regions(Eg: Applachian mountains, Russia, Australia, China). The
way extraction industry operates environmentally or socially doesn't lead to
prosperity of the locals but it certainly leads to prosperity of outsiders. 40%
of the total population displaced post-independence due to development have
been tribalsie nearly 10-15 Million. At times they are subjected to not
just one displacement but to multiple displacements.Our track record of
land acquisition, Rehabilitation is pathetic.
3. Insensitive Forest
Administration :
First symbol of Government in Forest Areas is Forest
Guard. Forest Guard is armed with Indian Forest Act of 1927. 1000s of tribals
in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh are jailed on flimsy charges of collecting items of
daily existence. 2006 : Forest Rights Act was enacted. But Forest Bureaucracy
continued its hostility towards it.
6. What are we doing to
deal with this?
1. Our first and
instinctive response was to expand our security operations; Today 70000
para-military forces in 88 districts, 30000 local police
2. Lately from Security
only approach(Security Response) to Security Plus approach (+Development
Response)
3. Some security
successes to integrate these areas with mainstream societies.
7. Missing pieces of our
strategy and what needs to be done?
1. We end up having
Half-hearted responses if we don't recognize this as an ideological challenge
& Development Challenge
2. Fundamental
requirement is Political response(Where Political parties are weak,
Maoists are strong and vice-versa). There is a political impasse (classic
case of "immovable object" meeting "irresistable force")
1. India's Response to
Maoists(P.Chidhambaram): "Do not give up arms, Do not give up Ideology, Do
not disband your cadres, Come for Dialogue";
2. Political conditions that
Maoists want(Comrade Ganapati gave his 3 conditions in an interview ) : All out
war has to be withdrawn, For any kind of democratic work the ban on party and
mass organization has to be lifted, illegal detention & torture of comrades
has to be stopped and released. If these demands are met, then the same leaders
who are released would lead and represent the party in talks.
3. Ultimate solution to
Maoist problem is political. We defeated militancy in Punjab politically. We
defeated insurgency in Mizoram,Tripura politically(insurgent PuLaldenga now is
CM of Mizoram; Similarly Prafulla Kumar Mahanta of AGP(AsomGanaParishad)). 155
militants belonging to four groups surrendered in Manipur boosting the peace
initiative
3. Restitution and
Reconciliation on past injustices. The facts that injustices have been
perpetrated is undenial.
4. Expansion of
institutional space for other organizations (ie engaging Civil
Society). Constitution of Peace seekers and Gandhian organizations. Multiple
tracks of engagement and find out via-media
8. Conclusion : The
tragedy of our society is it required Maoists to wake India up to Tribal
predicament.
Approach:
1. On Security Front
1. 1908s in AP : Police
operations created a sense of insecurity among sections of the Maoist cadres
which prompted them to resort to brutal murders and tortures of villagers on
the slightest suspicion of being police informers. This created alienation of Naxalites
from locals. Victories of Greyhounds against Naxals with substantial support
from locals in Nallamala forest areas.
2. Treat Naxalism as a
national problem(the way Central government engaged themselves, with all the
force and strength, in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir). Information
dissemination and intelligence gathering is the Key.
3. "There should be
one centre from where all information regarding naxalism should be disseminated
to the States"
4. Designing proper
SOPs(Standard Operating Procedures) to avoid casualties
5. There is debate over
involving the army and the air force to drive out Maoists hiding in dense
forests.
6. AP's special police
force "Greyhounds" role in recent Sukhma encounter in Chattisgarh.Usage
of UAV(Unmanned aerial vehicles) to track the movements of maoist cadres.
7. Chattisgarh : the
creation of resistance groups from amongst the tribal people known as the
SalwaJudum or Special Police Officers(SPOs)
8. Their arsenal now
boasts of self-loading rifles (SLRs), AK series of rifles and INSAS rifles. It
is believed that currently the Maoists have also gained access to the
technology of fabricating rockets and rocket launchers.
2. On Developmental Front
1. Challenges of Naxalism
can be understood in ecological terms of Forests, people and
livelihoods which due to to our failure to address, have grown up to emergent
state in such areas.Unless we understand the ecological basis of
conflicts and evolution of local/regional terrorism we often fail to
find sustainable ceasefire solutions
2. Improving security
situation through Participatory development based on inclusive governance;
lapses in enforcing PESA,Forest Rights act resulted in deteriorating situation
in 5th Scheduled areas
3. AP's WHAM (Winning
hearts and Minds) strategy to fight Maoist forces.
3. Measures to preserve
integrity and sovereignty
1. strengthening of Rule
of Law. Conviction rate for Terror crimes is quite low since tribals(refuse to
become witnesses) are engulfed in fear.Tribals are picked up
randomly and remain for four, five, six years in jail as undertrials. The
judicial process is slow and families suffer, they get frustrated. Maoists
campaign that innocents are kept in jail for no reason.
2. Fostering respect for
human rights and provision for reparation for violations
3. reversing ethnic(NE
insurgency), national and religious discrimination(Kashmir issue, communal
riots), political exclusion(Regional movts like Telangana) and socio-economic
marginalisation(backward regions).
4. listening to people
and becoming more responsive to society.
4. Negotiation/ Peace
Talks:
1. "I would rather
listen to them than fight. A lot of times, they have got legitimate
grievances packaged as political positions" - Roger Fisher,
Negotiation Guru
2. Physical safety of
Naxals is an impeding factor (How can a banned party negotiate without
lifting the ban)
3. Political
structures need to build confidence by dialogue; Acts of terror
contain the seeds of rejection of political structures.
4. High profile Kidnaps
:Sukma district collector in Chattisgarh, Italian tourists in Odisha. Capturing
hostages is believed to be the only way for naxalites to the govt. to lend them
their ears. Collector and tourists happened to be there when they were
looking for a hostage to communicate their demands to govt.
5. CCC(Cmt for concerned
citizens) convened 1994 Andhra Peace talks
1. earned legitimacy in
dealing the issue impartially
2. But failed to
design a realistic agenda
6. The Andhra Pradesh
government initiated peace talks in 2004 but the ceasefire did not hold for
long. The Maoists made an offer in 2010 but the central government rejected it.
7. By the end of 2012 :
GOI important move towards negotiations. Promise to put up CMG(Crisis
mgmt. groups) - teams to negotiate hostage situation in LW Extremist
states. Can CMG address the root of the problem?
1. CMG must be prepared
for two realistic issues Naxals are known to rise
1. Release of imprisoned
Maoists or the return of tribal land occupied by Non-tribals(direct and
tangible demand - cost-benefit analysis can be applied)
2. Involving underlying
needs and perceived injustices that drive their movt.
2. Such skills should be
taught based on Principal negotiation techniques "Never
start negotiate the demands, start with needs and wants underlying them";
Need active listening that doesn't come naturally to conflicting parties;
"Give and Take based on needs not on demands"
3. CMG needs to
anticipate the potential challenges to its implementation in order to avoid
failed promises of the past (Eg: CCC)
8. Imprisoned Maoist be
brought under police custody to negotiate on behalf of the party rather than
roping Civil society who are removed from realities of Parties interests.
Affected
Regions:
1. Eastern Highlands :
From "Pasupati"(Pasupathinath temple in Nepal) to
"Tirupati"
2. mostly active in what
has come to be known as the “red corridor” from Andhra Pradesh
in the south to West Bengal in the east. But they do have some sort of presence
in 21 out of 28 states in India.
3. In some areas, Maoists
run their own people’s court (62 Jan Adalats were held last year) and levy
taxes on traders.
Debate:
1. 2008 : Bandhopadhyaycmt report
on "Development Challenges in Extremist-affected areas"
2. Initially, it was
discrimination ,oppression, and landlordism (essentially Feudal order)
that gave rise to naxalism; and now alienation of tribals from
their natural habitat is driving it.
3. The feeling of
'parentless' (Discontent with the Govt.)makes people vulnerable to
anti-state ideologies(Tribals in MP eat Kesari Dal which has
paralytic effect)
4. SC made an observation
" the whole issue of development appears to be so simple, logical and
commonsensical. And Yet, to the millions of Indians, development is a dreadful
and hateful word that is aimed at denying them even the source the sustenance.
It is cynically said that on the path of 'maldevelopment' almost every step
that we take seems to give rise to insurgency and political extremism"
5. Just society cannot be
created through unjust and inhuman means.. The outcomes of strategies which are
built around bloodshed, vengeance, repression and hate will always ultimately
be brutal and unjust, even if the violence is undertaken for lofty
ideals.
Recent
initiatives and case studies:
1. central government has
a Naxal Management Division that provides funds, additional security forces,
logistics and coordinates between states.
1. in 88 identified
districts.
2. All the resources like
planning, intelligence, etc., should integrate [to fight Naxalism].
3. There should be one
centre from where all information regarding Naxalism should be disseminated to
the States.
4. There should be some
long-term strategy, which will be decided together. So far, there is no success
in this coordination
5. Extension for 4
more years.
6. Physical Infra
facilities like school buildings, anganwadi centers, rural roads, panchayat
buildings, community halls and irrigation works were given priority where as
social investment in health care, Sanitation and water supplies is very less
7. now under
consideration for merging into BRGF
8. Is CAP part of IAP?
9. Payment of MGNREGA
wages in cash has been allowed under IAP for selected tribal and backward
districts to obviate payment delays where outreach of banks/post-offices is
inadequate.
3. Implementation of IAP.
1. Rural Development Min.
wants to do that through local bodies where as Home Min. wants to carry it
through District admin which will help in increasing the credibility of Govt.
in tribal areas.
2. Existing model : 30
crore/district through a 3-membered district-level cmt(District
Magistrate, SP, District Forest Officer).
3. Home and Finance
ministries are in favour of existing model while PC and Rural Development
ministry are advocating to spend atleast half of the amount through local
bodies and representatives. Home ministry pointed out that in most villages
local bodies are either missing or lying defunct, while in some places
panchayat members were either cooperating with Naxals or were not helping local
admin. due to fear of Maoists.
4. Army recruitment to
keep youths off Maoism.
5. Programme
"Roshini" in 24 most critical LW extremism affected districts.
1. Provides beneficiaries
aged between 18-35 years with requisite training for the trade or job chosen
through public-private partnerships in the fields of tailoring, construction,
mobile repairing, nursing and retail.
2. Pro-actively
covers Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups(PVTGs) on priority
basis.
3. Funded by Central and
state govts. in the ratio of 75:25
4. Similar to
"Himayat" being run in J&K
6. CAP (Civic Action
Programme):
1. allows CAPFs(Central
Armed Paramilitary Forces) to carry out developmental programmes in 9 LWE
affected states under the project "Winning Hearts and Minds" by
spending on physical and social infrastructure.
2. It was tweaked to make
it "individual-oriented" rather than "project oriented" as
this approach will help in bridging the gap b/n locals and security personnel
more efficiently.
