India Declares War On Maoists

The biggest threat to the security of the Indian state is not China or Pakistan but the Naxalite movement.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself declared recently that the Naxalite or Naxal Movement, also known as the Maoist insurgency, was the biggest threat to the security of the Indian state.
Ideological split

This movement has its origins in the Sino-Soviet split in the ’60s quite similar to the origins of the JVP that could be traced to the break up of the parties of the Soviet Union and China which then formed a communist monolith. The Indian Maoists broke away from the orthodox communist parties of India such as the pro- Moscow aligned CPI and constituted a movement aimed to destroy the class and caste systems as well as the existing system of government. Charu Mazumda one of the first leaders of the movement proclaimed what has come to be known as the ‘annihilation line’ — Naxalites should assassinate individual class enemies.

Despite the violence unleashed by these so called revolutionaries, they enjoyed and still do enjoy mass support among millions of the poor who have no political patronage and means of subsistence and even among some intellectuals. They are unemployed labourers, depressed communities, tribes such as the Adivasis and Dalits in rural areas living at the mercy of landlords. Despite the state media and left parties opposed to the Naxals, having exploited the demonic qualities of the movement by pointing out to the annihilation line of Mazumda, they have been able even to attract supporters among the educated elite such as students of Delhi’s prestigious college St. Stephen’s, whose alumni are among the country’s leaders, commentators have pointed out.

The planned offensive

The movement has had its vicissitudes during the past three to four decades with successive Indian governments making no determined and continuous effort to eradicate the movement although it is considered a terrorist movement. Now with the movement having spread across large swathes of land in India’s provinces, some estimate that the Naxals control 40 per cent of the country’s geographical area.

A decision has been taken to fight the Naxals in 11 theatres along the insurgent infested states. According to the Indian media operations will be launched this week or in early November in the states of Jhakarland, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Orissa  and Andra Pradesh. Smaller operations will be conducted in what the Maoists called the ‘Red Corridor’ stretching across vast swathes of jungle. It is estimated to stretch over 92,000sq km. Naxals according to other reports hold sway in 180 districts. In April 2006, India’s intelligence agency, RAW, reported that there were around 20,000 Naxals.

The planned anti-Naxal surge has been approved by a cabinet sub-committee on security and its objective is to clear forests infested by heavily armed Naxal cadres. The operation is to be backed by a massive development package of Rs. 7,300 crore for development of schools, health services, police stations and roads in 223 districts under Naxal influence.
Naxals and JVP

The Naxal insurgency and the two JVP insurrections have close parallels because they are based on political ideology and upliftment of the poorest of the poor unlike the LTTE separatist movement which had other objectives. Yet they differ in that the JVP insurrections were in two short bursts that fizzled out — the first one within months and the other around two years whereas the Naxal insurrection has been going on for well over four decades.

A prime reason for its survival could be the indulgent manner at which it has been looked at by the central government leaving the anti terrorist operations to individual states that deploy para militaries. Even in the proposed operations, the armed services will not be called in and only para militaries and police will be deployed.

This could be due to the peculiarities of the Indian Constitution but whether para military personnel could outsmart the Naxal cadres who are said to be well trained in jungle warfare and also heavily armed is to be seen.
It is now quite apparent that New Delhi cannot be complacent about this insurrection any longer because of the increasing intensity of attacks taking place. Last month, 17 Indian commandos were killed in one encounter at Lahiri with the Naxalites.

Challenge

Last week the leader of the Maoists, Mupalla Laxman Rao alias Ganapathi warned the Indian Prime Minister of unleashing a tornado of violence if the government went ahead with the planned operation against them. ‘Although the enemy (Indian government) might secure early gains, the final victory would be that of the Maoists. People will rise up like a tornado under our party leadership to wipe out the reactionary blood sucking vampires of the country,’ he had said branding Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Chidambaram as terrorists.

Diplomatic sniping

Meanwhile the two Asian giants — China and India — who have in recent years had fairly cordial relations are now engaged in diplomatic sniping over disputed regions on the Indo-China border. India has complained of Chinese patrols transgressing its borders into Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh while China has protested against the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the disputed Arunachal Pradesh last month and also about the proposed visit of the splitist Dalai Lama to the same area although the Tibetan officials have said that the visit was not political.

China has also blocked an ADB loan to India for the development of Arunchal Pradesh. However, political observers note that despite the sniping there is no danger of a head on clash with the volume of trade burgeoning between the emergent Asian giants.