“Non-traditional threats: Maoism as a new challenge to India’s Security”

                                                                      Prof Yosuda

                                                                Department of Defence & Strategic Studies.

                                                                                      

                                                                            

Introduction:

          The new threats in India’s internal security where is civil population are give to hunger, poverty and backwardness are now ready to look for support some outsiders to fight for their rights within India. The sustain influence of Maoism in India notwithstanding its decline in the land of its origin is rather symptomatic of the state of democracy and development in this country. Obviously, the appeal of Naxalism is not as much due to its ideological appeal but due to ground realities in different regions. The Naxalites might be following the Maoist trajectories of guerilla warfare but their tracks include such acts of civil violence and terrors, which do not fit into any ideological pattern.

Maoism as a movement: spreading in India

          The spread of the message of revolution, a Coordinating Committee and later a party was formed to synchronize and coordinate localised violent struggles into a Mass Movement, and Naxalism was accepted as the brand name for CPML with the basic ideology of:

a.      Complete rejection of the ethics of Parliamentary Democracy,

b.     Emphasis on uncompromising class war,

c.     That political power can be won only through violence - ‘political power flows through the barrel of the gun’, and  

d.     Harass, weaken and vanquish the enemy (here the established authority), thereby create ‘liberated areas’ as an inspiring prelude to the people’s war of liberation.

          In any case, now the Indian Naxalites neither claim to follow the Chinese model nor keep any connection with the Communist Party of China whom they denounce as revisionist after the reform policies in 1978. Is the ideology being used as a subterfuge in this case? What explain the ‘so-called’ mobilization capacity of Maoists? Is it the lure of alternate governance or are such reported arrangements based on the barrel or gun?

          A well-coordinated Maoist-Naxal effort is the offing to create administration chaos and widespread public disorder. In theory, the ultra-leftist ideology is based on the ‘creative application of Marxist – Mao Tse-tung through processes that denounces parliamentary democracy and its institutions. On the ground, the Naxalite movement has been dominated by motley groups demanding equitable distribution of land and fair employment opportunities for the deprived classes. They have, however, taken resources to insurgent-terrorism to press their demands and this has created serious law and order problems for the country.’

          The Naxalite movement, starting with a peasant uprising at Naxalbari in Darjeeling Districts of West Bengal four decades ago has undergone varied political and organizational transferences and in the process has acquired its own Indian recipe of revolution. Despite being almost wiped out in the seventies, the Naxal impulse has not succumbed to either the democratic possibilities or the brute power of Indian state. The inspirational influence of Naxalism continues to entice new disciples especially in the tribal belt seeking social justice through violence. It now embraces a range of groups, having different routes of liberate India from the clutches of feudalism and imperialism through ‘a people’s democratic revolution’. According to estimates, between 1000 and 20000 battle-tested Maoists are in possession of firearms and the means to produce and procure them. Of the various armed factions, the two biggest – People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Center (MCC), have merged and formed the CPI (M) Party inn September 2004.

          There is a general view that as exploration, artificially depressed wages, iniquitous socio-political opportunities, diminishing job prospects, languishing agriculture, geographical isolation and lack of land reforms incite the growth of Naxalite movement. On the other hand, the democratic deficit as reflection in unresponsive governance and local administration, crimilisation of politics, unreformed police force and a clogged judicial system incapable of dealing with the increasing land disputes provide a ready context to undermine the credential of the Indian state.

Maoism today

          The reality is that the Maoists did not fall from the sky; the Maoist Communist Center and  the CPI(ML) People’s War had been active there from the 1980’s and 1990’s and fought over day to day issues by the people’s side and suffered persecution, molestation and incarceration for years together.

          ‘This apparently is ‘proof’ enough of the Maoists deep roots among the Adivasis, for the author then proceeds: ‘ There social roots lie in the soil of Jangle Mahal, however disturbing this may sound to these historians and sections of learned personalities.’

Fact of Maoism spread in India…

1)     India’s Maoist rebels are now present in 20 states and have evolved into a potent and lethal insurgency. The rebels claim to represent many of India's impoverished people, especially among its indigenous tribal groups. Despite their violent tactics, they have some support among intellectuals in India… They're not to be confused with the above-ground Communist Party, which is a force in Indian politics.

2)     Are the Maoists losing their support base? Has the leadership lost control of

      the ground level commanders and cadres? Speculation and rumor are rife in

      a situation of blanket censorship.

3) The grievances of impoverished tribal inhabitants in eastern and central India,  

     and will only fade when development is brought to such areas.

4)     The insurgency is hampering efforts to open up east India’s mineral-rich forests to business.

5)     Today the rebels are still present, perhaps in part because public investment that was promised has not come as quickly as many had expected.

Maoist advantage and spread techniques in India…

          The Maoist basic advantage in poverty & literature people area though Naxalite movement emerged a long period basically it is a movement launched by oppressed classes of the society. As well all know that these oppressed classes took up arms against the age-old age oppression by landlords in the year of 1967. Since then it has passed through many different phases.

1)     Naxalite movement is a pre-organized movement.

2)     It practiced ideological parallelism to a large extent mechanically applying formulations of the Chinese revolution to contemporary India.

3)     The strategy pursued by the Naxalites was a narrow construction of revolutionary strategy and was not always one of ideology and operation.

          Earlier studies of Naxalite movements in India have provided it very that Dalits, Adivasis and Small Farmers were the backbone of this movement. Agrarian and anti-imperialist revolutions have contributed a lot in this context. Every Naxalite movement has its won cause of origin. It is possible that regionalism is playing central factor in one Naxalite movement and in another a huge disparity between rich and poor is their main agenda of revolution. Thus Naxalism is struggling for different causes unlike the global movement which is struggling for one universal cause.   

          There is a big disparity between modes of development. Service sector is developing rapidly but agriculture sector is totally ignored. There is a consumer boom in urban areas bit in rural areas farmers are compelled to commit suicide! Sensex is rising up needs. Mobile phones are becoming cheaper but the prices of food-grains are shooting up.

         

Maoism spread causes in India.

          Rich are becoming richer and poor poorer. Surprisingly through some of the states country are growing rapidly even then the poverty ratio is very high in these states. For instant in Orissa and Bihar this ratio is more than 30%, in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh it is more about 40% and in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal it is approx 25-30% during 2004-05 in Orissa the poverty level was 47% and in Punjab it was only 8%. A cursory glance of these reports show that the situation of poor people in rural areas is very pathetic.

          The 2004 realignment of Naxalite factions has resulted in a “red corridor” of activity running from the border with Nepal through thirteen of India’s twenty-eight states. The swath passes through the woods and jungles of central India, where the group takes refuge and recruits from the region’s impoverished population. The states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Orissa have witnessed high levels of Naxalite activity, but Chattisgarh witnessed the most

 Maoist-related violence in 2006 with more than 360 deaths. In Chattisgarh—a state that contains a large tribal population, suffers from some of the nation’s worst poverty, and is plagued by unequal development—the Naxalites have successfully spread their revolutionary message “by targeting the failed system of governance.” In the earlier day some of the states Hindu are converted in to Christianity. In the some way today the support from Mao which is a new way to look into the problem likes Naxal, Bodo.

          According to reports, they want establish a ‘Compact Revolutionary Zone’ in India in collaboration with the Maoist movement of Nepal (CRZ stretching from Indo-Nepal border to the Dandakaranya Region is likely to get a fillip with the unification of the ranks). Infiltration from across the Line of Control and via other routes such as Nepal, Bangladesh and the sea is ‘going up’ and now we cant treated this problem as low and order.

Maoism in Indian Context (roll of government – threats of Naxalism

Air Attack situation and facts:

          Advantage of Maoism and disadvantage of military utilization in limited lethality therefore it is the prerogative of the state when the Maoist situation reaches that level to involve the Armed Forces.

          The insurgency is hampering efforts to open up east India’s mineral-rich forests to business. In particular, the rebel fondness for attacking railways and roads has made it difficult for some companies to operate. Work on a $7 billion steel plant by JSW Steel, India’s third-largest steel producer, has been delayed in West Bengal, as have steel projects by Tata Steel and Essar in Chhattisgarh. In June India’s coal minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said the threat of Naxalite attacks was substantially curbing coal production. Land conflicts between big companies and local people have done much to boost the appeal of the Naxalites.

Why we cannot deactivate of Naxal problem?

-- Rebel succession & security concern

-- Disparage political & security decision makers

-- Diaspora issue

Security limit & security concern view…

Four point plan of action for guerrilla struggle consisting of:

a.      Setting up liberated zones,

b.     Building up Peoples Army from the core of Guerrillas,

c.     Encircling the cities from country side, and

d.     ‘Kill one and frighten thousands’ - the theory of annihilation of class enemies.

          The acts of sabotage and terrorism have now become a recruiting feature of the Naxalite movement. Naxalism was not initially a terrorist-driven movement and they seldom attacked common people till establishing contacts with ‘Friends of Indian Revolution’ and the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia.’ These developments have resulted in a sharply rise in violence in current scenario.

          The Naxalite groups’ nexus with the other extremist organization has added to the complexity of the problem. There are indications that the PWG cadres received training in the handling of weapons and IED’s from some ex-LTTE cadres. They have also some understanding with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M) to support each other cause. Some batches of CPML-Party Unity also appear to have received arms training under the guidance of United Liberation Front of Assam. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) has closed fraternal relations with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) also.

          Lalgarh, in that sense is typical are of Maoist influence. Yet while is sufficient evidence to show that even though the Maoists have been operating in the area for a couple of decades, they were at best a marginal force. It was really the mass uprising against continued police harassment from November 2008 onwards that finally opened the floodgates for them.

                    Maoism notified, the unequal distribution of wealth gained from India’s burgeoning economy has fed the movement. “Indian society has educated young men and young women to the point where they no longer fit into traditional society, but modern society has not been able to incorporate them,” point out by Expert Cohen. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has acknowledged poverty in Naxalite strongholds as a root problem, distribution of development funds remains a challenge. “The problem is the delivery system, they’re throwing money at it but the delivery system is corrupt.”

Policy of ‘War against democracy’:

          The Naxalites recruit and, in some cases, coerce new fighters to join their armed struggle. Their followers use small arms and homemade explosives, including landmines, according to a Human Rights Watch report. They raise funds through extortion or by setting up parallel administrations to collect taxes in rural areas where local governments and the Indian state appear absent.

          As the Central and state governments initiate a major campaign — Operation Green Hunt — against the Naxalite movement, two challenges stand out. First, the Naxalites and their sympathisers will launch a psychological counter-offensive to weaken the political commitment to the campaign by trying to delegitimise it in the public mind. Security forces will be accused of human rights violations, and a dubious moral equivalence drawn between the damage chemotherapy causes and the cancer it treats. Celebrity activists will find a new cause to express their outrage in prize-worthy eloquence. Even genuine human-rights activists will become the Naxalites’ unwitting instruments — to the extent that criticism of the government’s conduct will be projected as an implicit vindication of the Maoist agenda.

          Tribal and rural development has lagged behind by many decades and urgent steps are to be taken to render justice to them swiftly and efficiently. Unless this is done, conditions in these areas would be ripe for any violent groups to exploit. Positive steps are to be taken to:

a.      Eliminate Benami holdings in Tribal/Rural areas,

b.     Assign surplus land to landless poor,

c.     Ensuring payment of minimum wages to the tribals/rural poor,

d.     Supply of essential commodities at subsidised rates,

e.      Tribal should be allowed to collect, sell and utilise minor forest produce. This right should be well publicised among tribals and harassment of petty forest officials should stop,

f.       ensure abolition of Bonded Labour,

g.     Provide drinking water, medical, educational, and irrigation facilities,

h.     Provide easy credit facilities and eliminate money lenders,

i.        Impart training in simple skills to the tribal youth to enable them to play a useful role in their community,

j.        Create a simple and unified Criminal Justice System in the Tribal areas to render instant justice to the community,

k.     Improve communications. All weather - Roads, Wireless, telephone facilities, postal facilities,

l.        Special T.V.Radio Programmes in Tribal dialects to educate the tribals, and

m.   Forest contracts are to be given only to tribal cooperatives.

Conclusion:

          The Maoist -Naxalism has acquired a worst form of challenge for governance. Both preventive and curative measures should be adopted for possible. Only public-oriented and action oriented government can contribute substantively in this field. Naxal Movement raised several important questions regarding rights, liberty and livelihood of the downtrodden people of Naxal affected area. It has also underlined the need to bring about equality and equally in the society. The version which has been enshrined in the Constitution but over the years the policy makers have failed to understand the intrinsic problems of Naxalite movement. While the political leadership called it is a law and order problem, the bureaucrats believed it as a socio- economic problem.

          Advantage of Maoism and disadvantage of military utilization in limited lethality therefore it is the prerogative of the state when the Maoist situation reaches that level to involve the Armed Forces. The insurgency is hampering efforts to open up east India’s mineral-rich forests to business. In particular, the rebel fondness for attacking railways and roads has made it difficult for some companies to operate.

          As per Security limitations concern view we can sort below Four point plan of action for guerrilla struggle consisting of setting up liberated zones, building up Peoples Army from the core of Guerrillas, encircling the cities from country side, and  ‘Kill one and frighten thousands’ - the theory of annihilation of class enemies.

          The real aim of Naxalites (M-Naxalite) is neither the domain of economics nor social welfare. Militant struggles must be carried on not for land, crops, etc. but for the seizure of State Power.

Jai Hind…

References:

1)     Stephen P. Cohen, a South Asia expert at the Brookings Institution’s articles

2)     Survey report- 2006 by the New Delhi based of Peace and Conflict Studies

3)     Manoranjan Mohanty’s book ‘In Revolutionary Violence : A case study of the Maoist Movement in India’

4)     India Today, Jan. 3. 2005

5)     Dasarathi Bhuyan & Amit Kumar Singh’s Book on ‘Naxalism Issue and Concern’

6)     Tilak D Gupta, ‘Maoism in India Ideology, Programme and Armed Struggle’ Ecopolitical weekly July 22, 2006.

7)     Manoranjan Mohanty’s book ‘In Revolutionary Violence :The Movement Perspective’

8)     607 Red Resurgence a symposium on the Naxal/Maoist Challenge to the state.

9)     News Paper and Naxal Watch Website, other websites sources.