THE NAXAL PROBLEM IN

INDIA

(Political Science)


submitted by

ANKIT MINJ


































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TABLE OF CONTENTS
\

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT2
TABLE OF CONTANT ..3

INTRODUCTION.. 4
1 HISTORY..5
2 BIRTH OF NAXALISM..6

3 REASON FOR THE RISE OF NAXAL IN INDIA.7

4 SITUATION IN SATAES..9

4.1 Bihar and Jharkhand
4.2 Madhyapradesh and Chhattisgarh.
4.3 West Bengal
4.4 Orisa
4.5 Uttar Pradesh..
4.6 Maharashtra.10
.
5 PLANS FOR NAXAL HIT STATES..11
6 HOW TO TACKLE NAXALITIES12
7 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT DIRECTIONS TO THE STATE
GOVERMENTS..14
8 SURRENDER SCHEME15
CONCLUTION..16
BIBLOGRAPHY AND WIBLOGRAPHY.17


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Introduction


Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop.
-Usman B. Asif



The press called them Naxalites. They called themselves by other names, until
September 2004, when the leading factions came together and decided to call themselves the
Communist Party of India (Maoist).
1

In February 2009, the Indian Central government announced its plans for broad, co-
ordinate operations in all affected states (Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal), to plug all possible escape routes of
Naxalite. Naxalism is the biggest threat to India; A nightmare is beginning to unfold in the
heart of India: latest intelligence reports say that armed Naxalites have presence in 170
districts in 15 states of India as of now, and spreading wide and far.
2

From the peasant uprising in Naxalbari village in Darjeeling district of West Bengal
in May 1967, the movement is today a complex web that covers some 15 states of India, and
with active links to the Maoists of Nepal. When the group started under the leadership of
people like Kanu Sanyal and Charu Majumdar in West Bengal it was still part of Communist
Part of India (Marxist), but split away, took to underground and stayed there to build a
powerful network spanning hundreds of villages.
Naxalism has become a serious problem at present. It is like a cancer which is
harming internal defence and security of our country. Therefore, the present work focuses on
the meaning and definition of Naxal, what is the history behind it, what are the reasons for
this, states which are highly affected from this problem, what are the schemes or plans to
solve this problem.



1
Hilarypair.org
2
Naxalism In India.www.targetssbinterview.com
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History of Naxalism
The term comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a section of
Communist Party of India (Marxist) led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal
led a violent uprising in 1967, trying to develop a revolutionary opposition in opposition to
the CPI (M) leadership. The insurrection started on May 25, 1967 in Naxalbari village when a
peasant was attacked by hired hands over a land dispute. Local peasants retaliated by
attacking the local landlords and the violence escalated. Majumdar greatly admired Mao
Zedong of China and advocated that Indian peasants and lower classes must follow in his
footsteps and overthrow the government and upper classes whom he held responsible for
their plight. He engendered the Naxalite movement through his writings, the most famous
being the Historic Elight Documents which formed the basis of Naxalite Ideology. In
1967Naxalites organized the All India Coordination Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and later broke away from CPI (M).
3
Uprisings we reorganized
in several parts of the country. In 1969 AICCR gave birth to Communist Party of India
(Marxist-animist).Practically all Naxalite groups trace their origin to the CPI (ML). A
separate tendency from the beginning was the Maoist Communist Centre with evolved out of
the Dakshin Desh-group MCC later fused with peoples was Group to form Communist Party
of India (Maoist). A third tendency is that of the Andhra revolutionary communists, which
was mainly presented by UCCRI (ML), following the mass line legacy of T. Nagi Reddy.
That tendency broke with AICCR at an early stage. During the 1970s the movement was
fragmented into several disputing factions. By1980, it was estimated that around 30 Naxalite
groups were active, with a combined membership of 30,000. A 2004 home ministry estimate
puts numbers at that time as 9300 hardcore underground cadre... [Holding] around 6,500
regular weapons beside a large number of unlicensed country-made arms. According to
Judith Vidal- Hall (2006), More recent figures put the strength of the movement at 15,000,
and claim the guerrillas control an estimated one fifth of Indias forests as well as being
active in 160 of the countrys 604 administrative districts. Indias Research and Analysis
Wing, believed in 2006 that 20,000 Naxals are currently involved in the growing insurgency.





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Birth of Naxalism
Charu Majumdar is considered the father of the Naxal movement, named after the peasant's
armed uprising. The term 'Naxal' derives from the name of the village Naxalbari in the state
of West Bengal, India, where the movement had its origin. The Naxals are considered far-left
radical communists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. The Naxals, who
describe themselves as the 'protectors of the tribals', are in reality, a menace to that
community and other villagers. The armed rebels are known to forcibly abduct tribal youth
and compel them to join their outfits. It became synonymous of armed insurrection
influenced by Chairman Mao Tsetung of China. Naxalbari Day is celebrated on 25 May to
commemorate the unprovoked killing of 11 innocent persons including 7 women and 2 children on
25 May 1967 at Naxalbari bazaar in West Bengal by the Assam Frontier Rifles. The victims were
participating in a meeting. The alleged killing was in retaliation for the killing of Mr. Sonam
Wagdi, an enforcement inspector by a youth's arrow on 24 May 1967. Mr. Wagdi was to raid the houses
of those suspected of looting food grains, arms and taking over lands from the Zamindars.
The West Bengal government responded with unprecedented violence and unlawful measures
such as torture, disappearances and extrajudicial executions to crush the Naxalite movement.
In 1980, another Naxalite movement was started in the impoverished and underdeveloped
Telengana region of Andhra Pradesh by the Peoples War Group (PWG).Killings of the class
enemies, petty bourgeois, police informers and sentencing through its Peoples Court became
key features of the PWG functioning. The State government of Andhra Pradesh too reacted
with equal lawlessness. The Guidelines /Procedures to be followed in dealing with deaths
occurring in Encounters of the National Human Rights Commission of India were
developed based on systematic extrajudicial executions perpetrated by the Andhra Pradesh
Police with impunity. There has been little difference between the security forces and the
Naxalites in terms of lawlessness and violations of human rights. The Naxalite movement from Andhra
Pradesh soon spread to neighboring Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Maharashtra
In the other side of backdrop of organizational upheavals within the Indian Communist
movement, an incident in a remote area transformed the history of left-wing extremism in
India. In a remote village called Naxalbari in West Bengal, a tribal youth named Bimal
Kissan, having obtained a judicial order, went to. Plough his land on March 2, 1967. The
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local landlords attacked him with the help of their goon Tribal people of the area retaliated
and started forcefully recapturing their lands. This left one police sub inspector and nine
tribals dead. Within a short span of about two months, this incident acquired great visibility
and tremendous support from cross sections of Communist revolutionaries belonging to the
State units of the CPI (M) in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Though the United Front Government of
West Bengal, headed by the CPI (M) was able to contain the rebellion within 72 days using
all repressive measures possible, these units had a formal meeting in November 1967, as
result of which the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries
(AICCCR) was formed in May 1968. Allegiance to the armed struggle and non-
participation in the elections were the two cardinal principles that the AICCR adopted for its
operations.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Naxalite movement was immensely popular. There
were reports of brilliant students, including from IITs, dropping out of college to join the
struggle for the rights of the tribes and landless laborers. Over the years, as the principles
diluted, Naxalite movement saw much of its membership waning away. Nevertheless, it has
an endless supply of men and women, victims of State apathy to their condition joining its
ranks, which shows that many still believe in the cause.
REASON FOR THE RISE OF NAXAL IN INDIA

The factors which gave rise to Naxalism in the country are, unfortunately, very much present
today also. Some of the reasons for the rise of Naxal in India are as followe:
1) The extent of poverty in the country continues to be abysmal.
2) Land reforms remain a neglected area.
3) Unemployment figures are high.
4) Tribal shave been getting a raw deal Poor Governance in the rural and remote area.
These above reasons are responsible for the rise of Naxalism. Although, Government
efforts have prepared a comprehensive 14 Point Plan to deal with the problem. There is
special emphasis on the socio-economic development of the affected areas, and the state
governments have been asked to ensure speedy implementation of land reforms.
Infrastructure is being developed and there are plans to provide employment to the youth in
the remote, backward areas. The National Tribal Policy seeks to protect the rights of tribals.
How far these measures produce the intended results, however, remains to be seen.
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Areas with naxalite activity



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Present State of Movement

The present phase we could also call it the third phase - of the movement commenced with
the holding of the Ninth
4
Congress of the Peoples War Group in2001, when it was decided
to militarise the armed component of the party by giving more sophisticated weapons to the
Peoples Guerilla Army. The total numbers of incidents of violence and resultant deaths in
the country during the last five years have been as follows:

Year Total incidents Deaths

2001 1,208 564
2002 1,465 482
2003 1,597 515
2004 1,533 566
2005 1,594 669
____________________________________________________

Situation in States-
Bihar & Jharkhand
The Naxalite movement in Bihar is bogged down in caste based jealousies and rivalries. On
January 5, 2005, the Naxalite killed the Superintendent of Police, Munger by blowing up his
jeep. Six other policemen were also killed. Lately, the Maoist Communist Centre has shifted
its focus to the Jharkhand region, which was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000. The
Naxalite are said to be active in 15 out of the 22districts of Jharkhand. They have been
particularly targeting the police and the paramilitary personnel.

Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh
In Madhya Pradesh, following the bifurcation of the state in November 2000, Naxalite
violence is now confined to Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori, and Sidhi districts only. The Madhya
Pradesh Transport Minister, Lakhiram Kavre, was annihilated on December 15, 1999 in
retaliation to the killing of four top PWG leaders. In Chhattisgarh, Naxalite violence is
concentrated mainly in the Bastar area and in Rajnandgaon, Jashpur and Sarguja districts.

4
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The state government has been trying tomobilize the tribals through Salwa Judum (peace
mission). This is being vehemently opposed by the Naxalites, and they have been recklessly
killing the Judum activists.
West Bengal
Naxalite violence in West Bengal is at a low pitch compared to the other states. This is to be
attributed to the success of Operation Barga under which sharecroppers were registered and
given permanent and inheritable rights on cultivation of their plots covering a total area of 11
lac acres. Besides, 1.37 lac acres of ceiling surplus and benami lands were acquired by the
state government and distributed among 25 lac ,1and less and marginal cultivators. The land
reforms have seen the emergence of a new class loosely termed rural rich and weakened the
social and political power enjoyed by the landlords in the countryside. There is some Naxalite
activity nevertheless in Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia districts.
Orissa
Witnessed a qualitative increase in Naxalite violence during 2000 and 2001.The MCC has
established its presence in the northern districts while the PWG has consolidated its hold over
the southern districts. The formation of Andhra-Orissa Border Special Zone Committee gave
fillip to Left Wing Extremism in the State.
Uttar Pradesh
has witnessed stirrings of Naxalite activities in the eastern belt in Sonbhadra, Gorakhpur,
Ghaziapur, Ballia, Chandauli and Mirzapur districts. On November 20, 2004 Naxalites blew
up a police jeep in the forests of Chandauli with a landmine, killing 13 PAC and 4 police
personnel In.


Maharashtra
, Gadchiroli is particularly affected, though there are incidents in Bhandara, Chandrapur,
Gondi a and Nanded districts also. In Karnataka, Naxalites have been active in the
Kudremukh area following governments move to evict the tribals from the forests. On Feb.
11, 2005, Naxalites killed 6 policemen of the Karnataka State Reseve Police in Tumkur
district.



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Plan for Naxal-hit States:

The Union Home Ministry has unveiled a new Rs 500-crore fully Centre-sponsored scheme
which will be implemented by State governmentsfor Naxalism-hit States. Centre will give
Rs 135-crore a year to the States under the scheme. The scheme has five important objectives:
To provide mobility to the police by upgrading existing roads in inaccessible areas; to build
camping grounds and helipads at strategic locations in remote areas; to strengthen police
stations that have been identified as being at risk; to upgrade and strengthen approach roads
to police stations and outposts where there is risk of IEDs and landmines, and to provide for
critical needs, specific to the areas where holistic anti-naxal measures are being taken in a
focused manner.

The States have been asked to prepare integrated action plans in the most affected districts to
achieve the objectives. For this, the ministry has identified 15 action points that include
preparation of a comprehensive connectivity plan for the 33 districts seriously affected by
Left-wing extremism.

Home Minister admits to government level failure: Alarmed by the apparent failure of the
State machinery to tackle Naxalites, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram admitted on July
15, 2009 that the government had failed in curbing Naxal menace in the country. Speaking in
Rajya Sabha, Mr Chidambaram said the government had failed in assessing the threat posed
by the Maoists, adding it also failed to tackle them with the seriousness they deserve. "Today
they (Naxalites) pose a grave challenge ... We are preparing to take on the challenge. Details
cannot be disclosed now," he said.

"Regrettably for many years we did not properly assess the threat posed by Left-wing
extremism. We under-estimated the challenge and in the meanwhile they (Naxalites)
extended their influence," he added.

Chidambaram further informed that a military advisor has been appointed to prepare an
action plan for dealing with Maoists. The Home Minister said he was in close touch with
Chief Ministers of the Naxal-affected States and would hold a meeting with them to discuss
ways to counter Left-wing extremism.
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One could take a cue from the successful land reforms in Kerala, and to some extent West
Bengal, that have not only assuaged agrarian tension, but have also undermined the clutch of
ultras, while exactly to the contrary, failure of the same in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and
Chhattisgarh has changed what was essentially peasant struggle into Naxalite movements. A
lasting solution to Left extremist politics cannot be achieved without addressing the socio-
economic factors that contribute to its rise and growth.

How to tackle Naxalites-

The continuing inability of the governmentwhether at the Centre or in the States
to counter effectively he spread of the activities of the Maoist insurgents-cum-terrorists was
once again demonstrated by the temporary control established by the CPI-Maoist and its front
organisation called the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities in 17 villages spread
across some 300 square kilometres in the Lalgarh area in West Bengal.
The People's Committee, with the backing or at the instigation of the Maoists
exploited local anger over alleged police excesses against the tribals following an
alleged Maoist attempt to kill Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee through a landmine
blast in November 2008.
What started as a protest movement against police excesses was transformed by the
Maoists into a violent political movement. The hesitation of the governments of West Bengal
and India to act strongly against the Maoist-instigated committee at the very beginning was
apparently due to electoral considerations arising from the recently-concluded elections to the
Lok Sabha. This was exploited by the Maoists.
Although the security forces have succeeded in ejecting the Maoists and their
supporters from many of the villages earlier controlled by them, the fire is burning from
inside.
Since Dr. Manmohan Singh came to power as the Prime Minister in 2004, he and
his government have been projecting the Maoists as the greatest internal security threat faced
by India and calling for and promising a special strategy to counter them through coordinated
action involving the Centre and States in whose territory the Maoists are active. The
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Congress had appointed in 2004 a special task force of the party to go into the Maoist
activities in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh to come out with suitable recommendations for
dealing with the Maoist activities.
Before evolving a strategy, however, one has to understand the basic differences
between Maoist insurgency/terrorism and jihadi terrorism. Firstly, the Maoist terrorism is an
almost totally rural phenomenon, whereas jihadi terrorism is a largely urban phenomenon.
Secondly, Maoist terrorism is a totally indigenous phenomenon motivated by domestic
grievances and a domestic political agenda. Jihadi terrorism is externally sponsored or
aided by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh and is motivated by their
strategic agenda. Jihadi terrorism is a cross border threat to national security. Maoist
terrorism is not.
While the Maoist leaders are motivated largely by their desire to seek political power
through a Maoist style People's War similar to the war waged by their counterparts in Nepal,
their cadres and foot soldiers fighting for them are largely motivated by genuine grievances
arising from the political, economic and social hardships.
It is Indias long neglect to develop the tribal areas which has created large pockets of
alienation against the government and these pockets have become the spawning ground of
Maoist terrorism. The governments concerned have to take note of the genuine grievances of
the tribal and deal with them in a sympathetic manner. There has to be a system for a prompt
enquiry into all allegations of excess.
Also, Maoist terrorism cannot be effectively countered without modernising and
strengthening our rural policing and the rural presence of the intelligence agencies. The tribal
areas, which have not yet been affected by the Maoist virus, have to be developed on a crash
basis in order to prevent the spread of the virus to them.
The capabilities of the security agencies deployed for countering Maoist activities
also have to be different from those of the urban counter-terrorism agencies. The emphasis
has to be on greater mobility in the rural areas and greater protection from land-mines used
extensively by the Maoists. The failure to develop the road infrastructure in the rural areas
has facilitated the spread of Maoist terrorism.
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Maoists mainly attack police stations, police lines, camps and arms storage depots of
Para-military forces in order to demoralise the security forces and capture their arms and
ammunition. The repeated success of the Maoists in mounting large-scale surprise attacks on
such hard targets speaks of the poor state of rural policing and intelligence set-up and the
equally poor state of physical security. Unfortunately, instead of working out an appropriate
strategy which will address these operational deficiencies and at the same time pay equal
attention to the political handling of the problem, there is an unwise tendency to militarise the
counter-Maoist insurgency management.
5


Central Government directions to the State governments

Each of these problems needs to be dealt with in different ways. There is a call for a closer
co-operation between centre and states. Even the problems are in a single state but encompass
several states. In a federal and unitary in nature like Government such as Ours, where the law
and order is a state subject. States have to maintain law and order strictly. Without this,
economic development is impossible and also it threatens our unity, stability and democracy.
The followings are the measures taken by the Central Government to the state governments in
accordance with law and order.

1) Modernisation of State Police in terms of Modern Weaponry, Communication, Mobility
and Infrastructure.
2) Revision of Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme.
3) Supply of Mine Protected Vehicles.
4) Long-term deployment of Central Para Military Forces.
5) Sanctioned Indian Reserve Battalion mainly to strengthen security apparatus.
6) Recruitment in Central Para Military Force and act.
In order to ensure accelerated Socio-economic development and justice in Social, Economic
and Political to the naxal affected areas; the states are asked to do the followings.

1. Effective implementation of the land reforms and Panjayat Raj institutions.

5
V. Anand, Dealing with Naxalism, 27(11&12), World Focus, (2006) at 30.

xiv

2. Formulating a resettlement and rehabilitation policy for displaced tribes.
3. Improving Good -governance.
4. Setting up better delivery system for people centric/people driven development
programmes in the Naxal affected districts.
5. Providing proper and fullest utilisation of various funds allocated to the respective states in
various schemes like.

Bharat Nirman
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
BDI, BRGF, PMGSY and mid day Meal Scheme act.

Surrender Scheme
The Ministry of Home affairs has requested all the Naxal affected states to implement the "
SURRENDER-CUM-REHABILITATION" scheme for the Naxalites who want toshun and
join in the majority interest
6
of the mainstream Government. For this scheme centre has
provided assistance to the state governments. Recently, the Jharkhand govt has offered
monthly allowance of Rs.2000, Life insurance worth Rs.10 lakh, vocational training for two
years, one acre agri-land and free education to the Naxalites and their families.
















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Conclusion

One of the root causes of every action is nothing but fear. Where the government has the fear
of it being dissolved, an officer fears the loss of his powerful position. While a soldier of
Indian army has a fear of death when he face war, a police man at time of his duty or a tribal
community stand against a whole system for their rights. All this is due to fear.

Naxalism is a second face of to create fear in the cause of to get there fundamental right by a
specific community against a whole Indian system. I am personally affected by this kind of
fear. This will always have a painful impact in my life and my family whole life. I am not
analyzing any specific part of society but we are having fault in the both the part wither it is
any system or any society. It is very painful to say that both sides are liable in every part for
action and its resultants of this seem action.
















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BIBLOGRAPHY

ARTICAL

Rajat Kujur, Naxal Movement in India: A Profile, (Aug. 21, 2012),

TARGET SSB INTERVIEW

V. Anand, Dealing with Naxalism, 27(11&12), World Focus, (2006) at 30.



WEBLOGRAPHY
www.naxalwatch.blogspot.com
www.oppapers.com
www.scribd.com
www.targetssbinterview.com