NAXALISM- A INTERNAL THREAT ( JUST IN PRINT ) June , 16 - 30- 2013

NAXALISM- AINTERNAL THREAT

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In the coming years, Naxalism will become the most important internal security threat to India. Poverty and lack of education were the traditional causes of this extremism but the recent attacks in Chatisgarh with the butchering of at least 27 people. Tragic killings raise many a question. In a dastardly attack, the Naxals massacred leading congress leaders from the tribal state, one of the most Naxal-affected states in India. Those killed in the attack include state congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, and Mahendra Karma, former MP and a popular tribal leader. Nand Kumar’s son, Dinesh Patel too lost his life in the tragic attack. The barbaric strike by around 250 Naxals in the forests of Jagdalpur also claimed life of Uday Kumar Mudaliar, a former MLA. This is perhaps the  biggest attack in the sprawling central Indian state since April 6, 2010, when about 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and a state police personnel were killed in Mukrana forests of Dantewada district by suspected rebels.

  It   highlights ideological commitment as an equally important cause. In Naxalism, there is also a sense of deprivation and injustice. There is also a sense that the lowest sections of society are not empowered and need to agitate for their rights. There is a great need to improve the standards of governance in Naxal-affected tribal areas. Terrorism associated with Islamic fundamentalism is growing; hence the government has to become more vigilant. At the same time, the right to freedom of speech and expression should not be misused.


The recent year’s Naxal incidents have shown a different face of Naxlism, which is far away from its initial targets. They are not only limited to attacks and explosions but also actively involved in economic exploitation, paving way for the rich businessman and industrialist to exploit the land, people and their resources as much as they want.

In the seventies, when Bengal was going through a period of insurgency - the movement that came to be known as Naxalism, the intellectual fuel for this came from the unemployed students of Bengal’s many universities. Why one may ask, did this group of educated young men and women choose this route of violence and  in the process create a movement that has now become part of Bengal modern folk lore after the Bengal famine and the partition stories.

It is obvious that the economic development of India is inextricably connected with the upliftment of the tribals and intensive exploitation of the forest resources. Apart from the fact that forests provide the main source for food, shelter and to some extent clothing, the tribal communities have had a symbolic relationship with the forest. The customs of the tribal life, including religions and social functions and folklore have been shaped and formed by forests. During times of distress and scarcity, tribals mainly rely on the forest produce for their sustenance, and in normal times their food comprises tuber, roots, fruits and leaves collected from the forest. Thus, tribal life is intimately connected, in one way or another with the forests, from their birth till death. Apart from land, forests have been the other major resource base for the tribals. They have lived in perfect harmony with forests for generations and their culture has revolved around this life style. As of now, they cultivate forest land and collect minor forest produce to eke out their livelihood, because they are the original inhabitants of the forest areas. The privileges enjoyed by the tribals are regulated by the forest policies of the state. But unfortunately, this policy was not operated in a manner, which can convince the tribals that reservation of forests was in the interest of tribals themselves. The over jealous attitude of some of the forest staff made them look upon the tribals as ‘unwarranted intruders’, opposed to forest protections and conservations. On the other hand, the tribals, who consider themselves to be the owners of all the forests, have come to feel that they have been deprived of their own habitat.

Ultimately, deforestation has brought about radical change in the social, economic and cultural life of the people in general and particularly, forced the tribals to lead a life of poverty and misery. Large scale compensatory afforestation plantation, soil conservation, efficient joint forest management by the locals and the department officials and other appropriate measures are required to be taken priority basis, besides awakening environment consciousness in public minds to solve the situation from worsening further.

An integrated and holistic approach to the development of Scheduled Tribes must be evolved, if we are to come to grips, comprehensively with the problem. Shortcomings and confusions in the forest policies and acts need to be thoroughly analysed and proper alterations and amendments brought about, taking into account the suggestions and consultations of the Scheduled Tribes. Motivated and dedicated officials and functionaries are in great need to carry forward measures, required for the development of Scheduled Tribe. Committed voluntary organisations, who earnestly carry forward the government’s message of rapid development of the Scheduled Tribes, should also be given due acknowledgement.

Naxal’s ideology of fighting oppression and exploitation to create classless society may be right in their perspective. They are claming to represent most oppressed people who have been untouched by India’s development and bypassed by electoral process. Most of them are Dalit, Adivasi, poorest of the poor who work as landless labourers often below the India’s minimum mandated wages. They believe that Indians are still to acquire freedom from hunger and deprivation.

Killing of landlords, upper class people, police officials, security forces and politicians will never help them to achieve their aim. Although to make a balanced society, government can’t make everyone Bill Gates, but surely they must be provided the basic facility of Roti, Kapda and Makan. Although Government is executing many plans for socially deprived people but somehow there are still not getting any benefit and they are showing their frustration by boycotting the election and forcing the people to boycott.

The recent plan by central government to counter operation in all these states will only moisten the filthy dustbin. The demand of time is that they must be listened to. They must be given the equal status. They must be rehabilitated rather than killed. We may kill current 20,000 insurgents but again after 15-20 years another 20,000 will be ready with more enthusiasm to take revenge. We must understand they are not educated people, they are just finding their way of survival. If this problem will not be taken seriously there are more chances of taking advantage of this situation by foreign hand and that time it will be more dangerous for our nation than external aggression.


I ponder that the balance will never tilt one way or the other. Is economic prosperity more important or preserving your language or culture or tribal identity is? Chambers of commerce and upwardly mobile professionals make take out their calculators and compute business and economic losses but for others, ethnic, tribal or religious pride takes precedence over every thing else, even if it looks foolish. Meanwhile, while governments struggle over the issue of whether to preserve national boundaries or respect ethnic or linguistic or caste ones, thousands of lives and years will be wasted.

Everyone knows unless masses are educated they won’t be able to avail fruits of any reservation . More over given the dwindling number of govt jobs this reservation can't make any difference.

Best thing in this scenario to do would have been to start targeted all expenses paid schools like Navodaya just for BPL people. But Paaswan's and Laloo's of the world don't want rich and poor phraseology enter dalit or PBC politics. While we al know there are privileged few even in dalit community who corner all the benefits of reservation or any such token effort and the penury continues.


The government has enough on its hand, these political parties only add to its woos by highlighting problems. The government has to tackle terrorism, Naxalism, inflation, financial crisis. The end sufferer in all agitations and riots is the common man. Have you ever seen a political party leader being killed in an agitation? It is clear that these parties have only been cheating people and continue to do so still.

All political leaders show the common man a dream - that of living in a world of peace and bliss. But it is this common man who is being denied this happiness. It is day to day struggle for him for survival. The dreams of happiness remain just that – dreams. The government polices and plans are for common good but they fail to reach the common man because the leaders who control these policies fail to deliver. This is because we have chosen wrong leaders. The educated are not casting their valuable vote. To overcome these problems politics should reach the hands of ’Young guns of India” where the fate of India should be changed. It would give a solution.

These Naxal groups can help instill confidence and optimism and actually do some constructive work instead they are busy with bloodshed.

Gone were the days  when naxalism or “ultras” phenomenon emerged as a major internal security threat making its presence felt in the public arena. The naxalites not only extended their area of influence beyond the Red Corridor but also shook the centres of power with their changing tactics. Things have gone to such an extent that our Prime minister openly acknowledged naxalism as a major threat the country is facing in the present times.

According to Govt. estimates rebels have made their presence felt in more than 223 districts of India’s 600 odd districts across 20 states. Following the open conflicts in West Bengal district of Lalgarh, the Central Govt. banned the naxal front organization CPI(Maoist) on June 23, 2009. State specific resistance has already been in force in the form of Salwa Judum(Chattisgarh),Grey Hounds(Andhra Pradesh) and COBRA(Orissa).

Many leaders like Kobad Gandhi, Chattradhar Mahato, Chandrabhushan Yadav etc. were arrested. The government has also initiated publicity campaigns in order to garner support from the general public in their efforts to crack down on the naxals. The pictures of Francis Induwar, the special branch Inspector beheaded by naxals had been widely used by the government to show the ultras in poor light, who otherwise enjoy the moral support of Indian intelligentsia and human rights groups. Allegations of naxal connection with terror out fits like Al-Queda were also made. Occasional voices were also heard about the Chinese support to the naxal movement in India.

On the other side the naxals continued to expand their influence by making use of the backwardness and exploitation in tribal regions. The number of attacks with police and paramilitary forces increased and more stories soaked in blood came out. It is estimated that about 2600 people were killed in naxal attacks during the past three years, the majority of which were policemen.

Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa were the worst affected. Election processes was disturbed at many places across the country. Efforts were made to hijack trains, demanding the release of the captured naxal leader. When the point of conflict shifted from Singur to Lalgarh in West Bengal, the ultras’ influence receded in Andhra under Y.S Rajashekhara Reddy. With the death of YSR and renewed demands for Telengana state it is feared that naxals are going to regain their influence in this part of India.

In many places, rebels came out as self styled protectors of peasants. In West Midnapore district of West Bengal, the incident of Maoist leader Kishenji announcing the farmers who suffered loses in agriculture not to pay back their loans is a pointer to this. The rebel leader also said that the co-operative banks and money lenders will not be allowed to charge more than 2% interest on loans. The message is clear that the ultras are ultimately in the war for a self styled system of governance in their influential areas. The old tactics of rebels staying away from public attention also seems to be changing. The naxals are increasingly turning towards the media in their efforts to get more public sympathy. The capture and release of police officer Atindranath Dutta in West Bengal reminds of Al-Queda form of media attention grabbing by the rebels. 

There are number of questions that strike one's mind and need to be analyzed to deal with the Maoist attacks. Why did our political system fail to reach out to the local people of the affected areas? Why did we fail to develop democratic leadership from these areas? Why did political and civil administrations fail to serve socio- economic causes of the people? Why did intelligence agencies fail to sense the activities of Maoists? How were the Maoists able to establish “international links” to fight the Indian state? Why have the Centre and state governments, till today, failed to evolve joint “comprehensive strategy” to fight the Maoists? The list of questions only gets longer.

The ideology of Naxals is anti-democratic and against our constitution. The problem till date has not found favour for serious discussion, primarily because it has never been treated as an issue which deserved national attention and was treated as a socio-economic problem or at best a law and order problem of the concerned state  government.

Even though the Naxalite movement is an internal security concern, it can have serious consequences for the defense of the country and needs to be dealt with urgently.

However, the best course to tackle the situation is to invite the Maoists for a dialogue across the table. There is a need to adopt a give and take policy. The Naxalites should also come forward and discuss their demands across the table to sort out the issue once for all to save the innocent people. “Give and Take” strategy will only do the miracles to control the Naxalite movement. The central and state governments must evolve joint, comprehensive strategy to fight the Maoists by showing a sense of utmost urgency.

One positive outcome of the naxal threat is the more media coverage on the dispossessed and deprived tribal population of our country. When a decade ends and another year passes by with much blood shed, nothing much positive can be expected from the Indian Government in matters of reconciliation and peace.

A year that marks the end of one of the world’s deadliest rebel forces, LTTE might have encouraged our government for a military solution for the menace. But the solution for this internal disease, as we all know, lies in development and not in an elimination process brokered by the power centres.

Siddhartha Shankar Mishra,

Sambalpur, Odisha