Why is Government unable to stop Naxalism?

Introduction`Naxalite` or `Naxalism` is an informal name

given to radical, often violent, revolutionary communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism.

Naxalism got its name from the village in Darjeeling district in West bengal from where all the violence started.

HistoryNaxalism grew from a miniscule movement of

Charu Muzumdar in1967 after a split, from the ultra left sections of CPI (Marxists).

Peasants uprising in Naxalbari(West bengal)

The ideology of naxalism soon assumed larger dimension and entire state units of CPI(M) in Uttar Pradesh and jammu and Kashmir and some sections in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh joined the struggle

Brutal killings by Naxal

Why did naxalism start?The movement, basically anti landlord,

acquired the nomenclature of CPI (Marxist Leninist) in 1969.

They became unofficial representatives of tribals and downtrodden people and started fighting against the Government.

Their activities soon accounted for 90% of revolutionary armed action in India. This brand of revolutionary activities came to be described broadly as Naxalism in recognition of the village Naxalbari

How Naxalism progressed?The CPI (Maoist) stuck for long to the Maoist

doctrine of waging a people’s war from the countryside and set about in a planned way to increase its influence and presence.

Its approach to its growth is quite methodical. It is setting up a state committee as it expands into a state. Two special area committees exist, one for UP, Uttarakhand and North Bihar, and the other for West Bengal, Jharkhand and rest of Bihar.

It recruits uneducated tribals, villagers and even children by promising monetary gains.

How they gathered momentum?Naxalism seeks dissaffected groups as allies,

The urban centers of disaffection against the state are often led by educated leaders, usually coming from affluent or semi affluent backgrounds, who get deflected to an agitational agenda for ideological, moral, personal or societal reasons.

Their ideology appeals to the deprived and down trodden

Contd..Strength: Military training and not in the

number of people.Naxalites kill innocent people and politicians

are busy playing blame games against each other forgetting their key duty as lawmakers and ministers – to protect life of countries citizens from external and internal dangers

What did government do to stop Naxalism?In the early years Government din’t do

anything substantial about Naxalism.Government has described Naxalism as the

biggest internal security program both in 2004 and 2009.

Other than describing, nothing effective happened at the ground level.

This negligence paved way for naxalites to organize themselves.

Steps taken by Indian government Direct steps1.Salwa judum2.Operation Green huntIndirect steps1.Rehabilitation and settlement policy2.Forests right act3.NREGA

Salwa judumSalwa Judum (meaning "Peace March" or

"Purification Hunt“ in Gondi language) was initially an uprising of local indigenous people in chattisgarh.

Launched in 2005Special Police officersThe Chhattisgarh state Police employs tribal

youths as SPOs (Special Police Officers), which are essentially 4,000 youth, both ex-Naxalites and those drawn from Salwa Judum camps in the Bastar region, who are paid an honorarium of Rs 1,500 per month by the state government, were trained by with mostly .303 rifles  

Results and controversiesSome Indian states have successfully tackled

the left wing extremism in the previous years by salwa judum.

Civilans were the active part of the fight.

Child SoldiersHuman Rights violationState sponsoring of militia

Operation greenhuntThe term was coined by

the Chhattisgarh police officials to describe one successful drive against CPI (Maoists) in the state. It was erroneously used by the media to describe the wider anti-Naxalite operations; the Government of India doesn't use the term "Operation Green Hunt" to describe its anti-Naxalite offensive.

Home minister has denied existence of such a operation.

Contd..Indian government has a policy of Clear-Hold

and build in naxal affected areas.Some media reports suggest that Operation

Greenhunt is presently going on.Naxal’s response to Greenhunt.On Feb 15th 2010 25 policeman were killed by

naxals.On April 6th 2010 75 CRPF jawans were killed

making it the biggest bloodbath by Naxalites.

Problems associated with operationIts a war declared on naxalites and many

civilians have been killed in the process.Aftermath of the bloodshed does not give a

opportunity to develop the naxal hit areas.Naxalites will counter attack and thus

causing more harm.

Debate on military useShould Government use military to fight

Naxalites?1. Defeating an insurgency militarily is difficult,

and requires many years worth of resources.2.Example of Punjab3.LTTE example4.Should we attempt to destroy Naxalism

militarily5.Divide into two groups

Contd..Against the usage of military usage1.Neglect of the tribals2.Cultivation in forests area illegal.3.Uneducated youth taking part in the

insurgency.4.People have been evicted from villages5.Unconditional talks with maoists.6.Developing tribal regions.

Thankyou

Presented by Karthik Kutty Sushovan mohanty Sujith Saugata Srimani Aditya patil