NaxalismIndias Vietnam?

Causes of the Threat

The causes of the Maoist movement in India are structural. Economic, political and cultural
dimensions are closely linked. The first is the economic situation which is exploited by Naxalites
and their extreme left ideology. It seems much like a catch-22 situation. On the one hand, India
has experienced relatively fast economic growth, which has led to increased levels of national
wealth. To facilitate and continue this development, businesses need more land and natural
resources such as minerals. On the other hand, this economic growth has been uneven among
regions, and has widened the disparity between the rich and the poor. Proponents of these
businesses argue that these regions need economic development, if they are to catch up with their
richer counterparts.
The Indian aboriginals, known as adivasis, live these richly forested lands, which are wanted for
development by businesses. The conflict between economic progress and aboriginal land rights
continues to fuel the Naxalites activities. Their strongest bases are in the poorest areas of India.
They are concentrated on the tribal belt such as West Bengal, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh where
locals experience forced acquisition of their land for developmental projects. Arundhati Roy, a
Naxalite sympathiser said that the tribal forestlands should be called a MoUist Corridor instead
of the Maoist Corridor as the people of these tribal forest ands have been wrestling with
Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) of the mining companies. Prashant Bhushan, a civil
rights lawyer noted that businesses are making adivasis go through sham formal consultation
processes where interests of the adivasis are not sincerely considered.
Second, the alienation that is being exploited by the Maoists has a social, communal and regional
dimension. The battle can also be described between Indias most neglected people and the
nations most powerful industrial businesses. The adivasis make up about 8.4 percent of the
population and live in severe poverty. They live in remote areas where government
administration is weak and there is a lack of government services. These indigenous people have
the lowest literacy rates in the country and highest rates of infant mortality.
Given this socio-economic alienation, it is easy to see how the Naxalites ideology is popular
among the rural poor and indigenous tribes, and why the adivasis view the guerrillas as their
saviours. The adivasis do not feel like they have any political power to voice their grievances
legitimately, and therefore the alternative of subversive, illegal groups seem attractive.
Some argue that Naxalites are not concerned about the social or economic welfare of these people
and are simply using them as a means to its end goal of seizing political power. The spread of
Naxalism reflects the widespread alienation and discontentment felt by large parts of the country
who are systematically marginalised. Dr. Subramanian, a former Director-General of the
National Security Guard and Central Reserve Police Force notes that Naxalism exists in these
tribal areas because of the dissatisfaction of the people against the government and big
businesses, the terrain is suitable for guerrilla tactics, and there is no existence of a proper and
effective local administration mechanism. In these areas, the conditions are conducive to warfare
and extremist ideologies. Even if Naxalites are simply exploiting the adivasis situation for their
own ends, their popularity indicates the power of the root causes to create such an environment
for insecurity and violence.
Naxalite movement as the biggest threat
The Naxalite threat is the biggest security problem for Indias future as its effects are multilayered. The Maoist movement highlights Indias interior weaknesses, which makes India also

vulnerable to external threats. As part of globalisation, threats such as the Naxalite movement
can no longer be viewed as simply internal as it also affects external security.
The security dangers are aptly described by a former Pakistani Director-General of the InterServices Intelligence and his description of Indias foreign affairs. The Director-General equated
India being busy with internal security problems to having two extra Divisions in the Pakistan
Army for free. A nation cannot effectively withstand threats coming from outside its country if
there is instability inside it. Furthermore, globalisation has encouraged the emergence of nonstate terrorist actors as well as international interference in each others affairs. India has been
one of the victims of international and state sponsored terrorism fuelled by fundamentalist
ideologies. The Pakistani support for terrorist acts within India and the Jammu and Kashmir
proxy war is an example of when it is critical that national security forces focus solely on
eliminating external threats.
Indias regional neighbours are also external threats. For example, in 2004, the MHA was wary of
the symbiotic relationship between the Communist Party of Nepal and Naxal groups in India.
This means having military deployed along the border. In the past, India has also been involved
in territorial disputes with China such as over Aksai Chin.
Another reason why the Naxalites are the biggest threat to security is because of the way the issue
affects Indias economic development. This is apparent in several ways. For example, the more
the Maoists concentrate on the poor and marginalised regions of India, the more economic
development (which is imperative to improving those regions conditions) will be hampered.
Furthermore, the Naxalite rebels are no longer just focussing on remote jungles but on urban
centres. Maoist leader Kishenji even declared that the group aims to establish an armed
movement in Calcutta by 2011. Internal order and stability are necessary for a nations economic
development. For India to continue being able to withstand outside security threats, it must build
up its infrastructure, its defence and its people. In terms of lifting its citizens out of poverty, India
has a long way to go, and continued economic growth is integral to Indias development as a
strong global player. The Naxalite activities are using up scarce resources on defence and internal
security when it should be spent on areas such as social development. For example in 2006, 22%
of the total government expenditure is on the military, compared with a mere 1.84% of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) spent on the social sector.
The Naxalite movement is also the biggest threat to India, in terms of the effects on its citizens
and what it means for democracy and rule of law. Not only has there been a great loss of life since
the conflict between the guerrillas and the military, but addressing the problem through violence
risks polarising people further and driving them to subservience. The guerrilla warfare is a threat
not only to citizens lives but their properties. Too impatient and desperate to wait for
government intervention, civilians such as landlords are taking matters into their own hands. As
writer Navlakha noted, by portraying the Maoists as a menace and separating the movement
from socio-economic causes, it allows the rich and poor divide to impose itself on a formal
democratic structure. Navlakha gives the example in Bihar where Naxalite groups are band
under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act, yet a majority of the massacre were committed
by landlord armies which were not considered an act of terror under the law. Such treatment for
the upper class only serves to threaten the rule of law, state legitimacy and democracy as the
political norm.
http://www.indiafutureofchange.com/featureEssay_D0012.htm

Dr. Rajat Kajut~Professor, Sambalpur University, Odisha

In Odisha, contrary to popular perception Naxalism is not a recent phenomenon but has
been a major issue since 1968. Today, 19 out of 30 districts in the state have been
officially declared as Naxal affected such as Koraput, Raigarh, Sambalpur, Devgarh,
Sundergarh, Nayagarh and so on. Recently, the Naxalites have added more territory by
getting involved in newer issues, which involves newer people and more regions. They
are also successfully targetting Dalits and minorities as their potential support base. The
newfound territories- Bulandgir, Kalahandi and Humapuda- have a dominant Dalit
population. In addition to raising slogans against the process of industrialisation in
Odisha, Maoists lend their tactical support to the tribal movements of jal, zameen and
jungle. The national Maoist trend of urbanisation seems to have its impact on Odisha
too. Urban centers like Burhanpur, Bhubhaneswar, Rourkela, Balipada and Sambalpur
witnessed considerable Maoist activities in the recent past. With the kidnapping of the
former Malkangiri collector, RV Krishna and the killing of legislator Jagabhandhu Malchi,
Maoists in Odisha have given clear cut indication that they are capable of hitting hard like
their Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh counterparts. It is the failure of the credible governance
in Odisha, which is responsible for today's sorry state of affairs. It is the lack of political
will power at the top and the failure of delivery mechanism at the bottom, which has
earned Odisha a prominent place in the red corridor map. Although, Odisha is one of the
poorest states of India, it has also witnessed massive industrialization. This, however, has
failed to ensure growth among the masses and has led to the displacement of as many
as 90 lakh people. Moreover, the failures of successive governments in Odisha to
implement land reforms and grant community rights over forests are a general factor
that has encouraged the growth of naxalism in the state. It is a hard truth that all the
indicators of Human Development in Odisha are miserably poor. The nexus between
Naxalism and lopsided development have considerably damaged democratic values and
institutions only to facilitate Maoist growth in the state. The systematic failure of the
governance has widened the gap between the government and the governed. The
Maoists, on the other hand, with their slogan of people's government to people's work
have successfully highlighted the inefficiencies of the government but they are no
champions of development. The naxalites are the greatest roadblock to development.
The state has not taken the Maoist threat seriously and has failed to come up with a
coherent plan to tackle the issue properly. This has led the Odisha police to face the
brunt of the Maoist violence and resulted in their demoralization. The Odisha police have
no specialised training in handling the Maoist insurgency. Police modernization has
become rhetoric in Odisha. The government expenditure is mostly limited to the
fortification of the police stations and procurement of arms and ammunition. The
coordination among the forces on the ground is clearly missing and their mobility has
been curtailed due to geographical constraints. On the development front, despite all
promises made by the government, Odisha still tops the list of poor state. There are
serious problems at delivery level, which have paralysed the administration at the grass
root. In order to tackle the problem, there is a need for simultaneous and coordinated
action on all the core fronts of credible governance including development, security,
perception-management and political form. The state must re-establish connectivity with
local and tribal people as this can hit the Maoists the most where it matters. The process
of development must also have a human face to prevent tribal alienation. Moreover,
displacement without compensation should be avoided. The government must device a
public-private partnership to ensure implementation of developmental projects and
utilize the media to spread awareness of its good intentions.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:7WgD6vtJRF8J:www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/issue/CR38TheNaxalProblem.pdf+issues+related+to+naxalism&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEE
SiNZVvJzOy2ox7dL9fjAqKS0U7YxWsTqmL9VQshw22IFHTmYbcghyUHnARClkEjjJLbPpQkuHbJYmK1TKs5_xo_ZMSo8cFKw1M3mXatEpiFKCe8TjlJRRME0EJ2XvdeJi6XOd&sig=AHIEtbQlHnSW69aB2tAeRo
sauCuC4RaTaQ

Naxalism can't be stopped without addressing disparity'

Press Trust of India / Faizabad (UP) September 30, 2012, 21:35

Attributing the rise of Naxalism to "economic disparity", former Army chief VK Singh today said "if the situation
continues to be the same then it will grow faster."
Main reason behind this problem (Naxalism) is "economic disparity", he said.
"Naxalism is on rise in the country, as in the year 1990, 50 districts were affected by it but today it has hit 270
districts, if situation continues to be the same then naxalism will grow faster," Singh said.

The former Army chief was addressing a seminar organised by Military Science department of Saket post
graduate college here.
Commenting on the national economic policy Singh said "the distance between rich and the poor is getting wider
and it must be stopped."
Talking about corruption in the country, Singh said it is eating up the soul of the nation.
Asking the cadets of NCC and other student in the seminar to come forward to fight corruption he said, "Lord
Hanuman will not come to finish the corruption, we have to fight with it".
Commenting on communalism, Singh said one should learn the lesson of secularism from Indian armed forces
where country comes first not the religion and caste.
Criticising political parties Singh said during election all the high commands of political parties select candidates
on basis of caste and religion and here the democratic system collapses.

http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=776854

Address root causes of Naxalism: Sonia

In the midst of the debate over the right approach to deal with Naxalism, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi has said the root causes of the problem need to be addressed
while tackling it decisively.
"While we must address acts of terror decisively and forcefully, we have to address the
root causes of Naxalism", she said in the "Letter to the Congresspersons" in the first
remarks on the issue since a controversy had broken out over Congress General
Secretary Digvijay Singh's article flaying Home Minister P Chidambaram's handling of
the problem.
"The rise of Naxalism is a reflection of the need for our development initiatives to reach
the grassroots, especially in our most backward districts. This is why our government is
putting in place more targeted development schemes for our most backward districts",
Gandhi said in the latest issue of party journal "Congress Sandesh".
Noting that the country is facing "normous challenge" from Naxalites, Gandhi recalled
that CRPF lost 73 brave jawans in an attack in Chhattisgarh. "Our thoughts go out to the
grieving families of these men who have lost their lives."
Singh had suggested in the article that Chidambaram was treating the Naxalite issue as a
law and order problem which was wrong and called for a rethink of counter-Maoist
strategy.
The party general secretary had sometime back regretted his remarks and had also met
the Union Home Minister apparently to clear his stand.
When Singh's comments had triggered a controversy in the wake of April 6 Dantewada
massacre, Congress distanced itself from them and said such views should be expressed
in party fora only.
Asked about Gandhi's remarks, Singh said there was "no difference" between the
approach of the party and the government in tackling the issue. He suggested he had
penned the article at a time when there was talk of a "military strategy" to deal with
Maoists.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/address-root-causes-of-naxalism-sonia/618943/0

Naxals kill three people in every two days

PTI May 30, 2010, 12.01pm IST

Tags:

New Delhi|
Jammu and Kashmir government|
Jammu|
Institute for Conflict Management

NEW DELHI: While the focus remains on the recent spate of Maoist attacks, statistics show that
Naxals have been killing three persons in every two days for the past five years.
The Left-wing extremists have killed about 2,670 people -- about 1,680 civilians and nearly 990
security personnel -- since 2005, equalling three deaths every two days.

About 1,440 Maoists have also lost their lives in the past five years, which translates into nearly three
casualties in every two days, according to data of the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a website managed
by The Institute for Conflict Management, a Delhi-based security watchdog.
The statistics show that in the war against Naxalism, the rebels have an edge over security forces and
are able to inflict maximum casualties on civilians and security personnel.
Exhibiting their capability, the Maoists have killed more than 460 people alone this year. The victims
included 167 security personnel.
Though all states located in the 'Red Corridor' have been affected, Chhattisgarh -- the hotbed of the
Maoists -- bore the brunt, witnessing the deaths of 103 security personnel and 43 civilians.
The deaths included last month's killing of 75 paramilitary personnel in Dantewada district and the
blowing up of a bus that killed over 30 civilians and special police officers in the same district earlier
this month.
West Bengal was the second most Maoist-affected state, where Naxals killed 32 security personnel
and 63 civilians (excluding the Jhargram incident).
Orissa, the third most affected state, witnessed death of 22 civilians and 17 security forces this year.
The figures in Bihar were 29 and six respectively.
However, according to the data, only 107 Maoists have so far been killed this year, meaning just one
Left-wing extremist gets killed for four deaths among security personnel and civilians combined.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-05-30/news/27579712_1_securitypersonnel-naxals-maoists

Should we blindly hate the naxals?

Bangalore: Justifying naxalism would be suicidal in the present political scenario as it is
viewed as one of the biggest threats to the nation today. Nevertheless, it's an undeniable

fact that naxalism is the child of social injustice that has fast grown in the fertile soil of
poverty, discrimination and suppression. The increasing gap between the haves and
have-nots gave birth to naxalism in early 1960s in West Bengal. Backed by a strong
ideology sans the boundaries of religion, cast, color or language, the brutal ways of
oppression by the government over the years have boosted the growth of naxalism.
Collector R. Vineel Krishna who has been recently abducted by the Maoists, said on his
release that under-development is the cause of, and development the cure for, the Maoist
insurgency. The unlawful conviction and atrocious life sentencing judgment against Dr.
Binayak Sen on charges of sedition and treason against the country is another example of
the state arrogance. The internationally recognized human rights defender, Dr. Sen who
has devoted his life to service for the poorest citizens of India is a victim of statesponsored terrorism.
Naxalism has been marked with tribal character from the beginning. It was originated
and grown up to this phase with mass tribal support. As A B Bardhan said, it is the
neglect of the tribals which became the breeding ground for naxalites. From West Bengal
it spread to many Indian states such as Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh etc. mainly in the tribal belt. The
naxalites became more reliable for the tribals than the government and thus the ideology
spread to more than half of Indian states. The official data reveals that naxalism has
reached 165 of the country's 604 districts and as many as 15 of Indian states are living
under the threat of naxalism.
As the famous Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar Germaine Greer's right
pointed out - "revolution is the festival of the oppressed," it is none other than the
socially and economically oppressed becomes the naxalites. It is at the death of socialism
naxalism takes birth. Through armed struggle, the naxalites try to bring about justice to
the least privileged and the downtrodden and they justify this as their extreme resort to
bring in social equality. The so-called tactic of the police to "suppress the oppressed" has
only popularized naxalism.
Ever since the government has realized the magnitude of the problem, it has tightened
its stand on the issue. Instead of taking peaceful ways of tackling this menace, the
government carved out plans to ruthlessly suppress the movement. Operation "Green
Hunt" was just one of such methods which has been criticized by many for being too
brutal and suppressive. As it is really hard to distinguish the naxalites from the tribals,
the armed forces have ruthlessly killed many innocents. The sympathizers of the naxalite
movement have strongly argued that it is not with the offensive paramilitary, but only by
providing the basic constitutional entitlements to the poorest and most deprived, the
government can bring an end to naxalism. Eminent personalities like Gautam Navlakha
and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan have come up protesting against the Green
Hunt.
Arundhati Roy had a valuable point when she said the armed struggle by the naxals can
be justified as that is the only way for them to defend themselves. Talking to Karan

Thapar in his Devil's Advocate program for CNN-IBN, the Booker Prize winner rightly
pointed out that the 'economic interest of the government' needs a war and thus naxals
are made enemies. She also made an apposite comparison that in a way what the
Muslims were to the BJP, the Maoists are to the Congress. The intellectuals, including
film personality Aparna Sen, theatre artistes Saonli Mitra and Kaushik Sen and poet Joy
Goswami are among the many who condemn the armed struggle, but extend moral
support for the Maoists saying the government should hold unconditional talks with the
Maoists. Rahul Gandhi had once said if we have to combat Naxalism, we should reach
out to the people. We have to ensure that the government programs reach the right
people. He attributed naxalism to the failure of the state to deliver developmental needs
of the poor.
The question of naxalism should be discussed in a larger context with broad mindedness.
Naxals have been dispossessed, isolated, neglected, raped, murdered, pushed out of their
land, and so and so on for many years by the government and the police force. Many of
these stories of atrocities against them have never come to light. Isolation is said to be
the mother of all pains and the tribals have been going through this for a very long time.
All these facts draw more and more tribal population to the naxal way of thinking. Here,
the naxals are left with no options but to take arms for their defense. No one, not even
God, but the government only can bring in a change. The government should open its
doors for unconditional talks. The respected personalities and intellectuals should
become the mediators for such talks. The government should reshape its policies and
approaches towards the naxals. There should be new programs of development for the
tribals and the government should make sure that these programs reach the right people.
Finally, the government should not view the naxalites as 'cold-blooded murderers,'
instead they should also be considered as one among us struggling to survive. Peace can
be realized only when the vested economic interests of the government are put aside and
when negotiations have a human touch.

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Should_we_blindly_hate_th
e_naxals-nid-79646-cid-29.html/2

Sources:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/NM2/History-of-Naxalism/Article1-6545.aspx
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/salaried-forces-can-t-defeat-us-say-naxals/981183/0
https://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:ai1ElM9KKQAJ:csdindia.org/documents/root-causes-ofnaxalism/at_download/file+causes+for+naxalism&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg
nSQTv3mzkD3Whf4mD6sbrOtZevrfzPdKnchtITzyZ6OTJmrKddjR37DXKpYSuirKKApS1guAkwm91CzPeqi9M5qt7Xi41U2WYKt1lsChVEqr4WZV9ByYYjXZT47Gkte39
qWe&sig=AHIEtbR0Dl7TMFKCnQR1I1ghDlHN9pVKig
http://peopleofcolor.tumblr.com/post/9624336278/the-naxalite-rebellion-social-inequalityand-violence

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MKX-wbjiwcJ:www.aae.wisc.edu/mwiedc/papers/2011/singhal_saurabh.pdf+economic+effects+o
f+naxalism&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj8CktDk296FkE4bXRJJ2fWvii2ZDu1r0Mu
4gX7bTWuKcvXv38l3jPcebfnfVaEGO_S8Fx04JUfH_1h6ac5D8sqxBjAMSiA3c1Rel8Yji6fgjQeE_z1RAXjsb_S8cte
RLJ28Ma&sig=AHIEtbTv7Wy7ZKbEWyalrb91bl1X9y9W4g
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:MKX-wbjiwcJ:www.aae.wisc.edu/mwiedc/papers/2011/singhal_saurabh.pdf+economic+effects+o
f+naxalism&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj8CktDk296FkE4bXRJJ2fWvii2ZDu1r0Mu
4gX7bTWuKcvXv38l3jPcebfnfVaEGO_S8Fx04JUfH_1h6ac5D8sqxBjAMSiA3c1Rel8Yji6fgjQeE_z1RAXjsb_S8cte
RLJ28Ma&sig=AHIEtbTv7Wy7ZKbEWyalrb91bl1X9y9W4g
https://docs.google.com/viewer?
a=v&q=cache:hIUuACUMOlIJ:www.achrweb.org/reports/india/naxal0107.pdf+why+naxali
sm
%3F+economic+causes&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj0qPEP9UjCYuzHxpcuWPdP
lq_JdN41GgQxsM2hJ2SoAkGRgmn26kGUuT0_PdfS1t5tIm9Ne5cvBT1RJGwMAbwU03udooB
VHZ7auNg2ttTKqliG99lcU1Ci5icjWnhnv6wSV4DI&sig=AHIEtbROhvRVGF3lk3AHfkhPdTRbK
zb34Q
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:9izIvjnj2gIJ:www.aerospaceindia.org/Air
%2520Power%2520Journals/Spring%25202012/Chapter
%25202.pdf+naxalism+disparity+economic&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESizm_M
EFSw9ruISXpg_EL1uCgqSVvhrJPsNCDHKmATkH9D11cooShCsXAjYu8nNpg95C9GQ3qRHm
m80jGYw9KiGhodKs8jxcbme8y1VKuXP6SPUKGwyJ9zIYgV_hLlxcHczeDi_&sig=AHIEtbTgvm8CqWj-8USEkJYm9QdaxMC0A
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/news/pune/121019/don%E2%80%99t-deploy-army-againstnaxals-vk-singh
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:OGxh3L8vKgJ:www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/armed3.nsf/38b852a8345861dd65256
a980059289d/8f51f2d7e69f0da088256fe50001ec08/%24FILE/8510%255B1%255D.pdf+p
olitical+allegiance+naxal&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjM4AL4OAjCkauRC_8QvD
LabCa-DLh6vKnBvpDZ6tnlYox6CHAXJQuw5_nMIADAMLZW4B0FoaF9GcrKdidhrlv1u44YpXGiy4R27KETEV_M8uqCeRIFWwXQAkvAOgPjLHL4Ur&sig=AHIEtbRilCNt81fcbUIs1ooubvm-PpjgJg