DOCSLIB.ORG

Naxalism: the Biggest Threat to India's Security

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Naxalism: the Biggest Threat to India's Security P: ISSN No. 2231-0045 RNI No. UPBIL/2012/55438 VOL.-IV, ISSUE-II, November-2015 E: ISSN No. 2349-9435 Periodic Research Naxalism: The Biggest Threat to India's Security Abstract The biggest threat that the Indian Government faces today is Naxalism, which has infested itself in 83 districts across 10 states of the country. The root of the problem lies in the simplest of issues- marginalization of the poor forest dwellers by the very government that had sworn to protect them, as the very land that they depend on for their sustenance is snatched away. The government has been striving hard but has not been effective enough to solve this problem. Naxalites are becoming more and more belligerent in central and south India. The merged outfit will build a powerful revolutionary movement and will continue its fight against social repression, inequality in south Asia and spread its views in entire world. In light of this, the paper aims to analyse the inextricable link between the behaviour of naxals, the intent of using violence against the state and propose interdisciplinary solutions. While the Naxalite movement is mainly an internal threat, with globalization, external and internal security threats are inextricably linked. The complex and multi-faceted approach to solving the Naxalite issue also reflects the fact that this is the biggest menace to India's security in the future. Keywords: Naxalism, Biggest Threat, Indian Security Causes of Naxalism Naxalite- Maoist Insurgency. Introduction India having one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and being the most populous democratic country, has great potential to become a future superpower. However, in this increasingly globalised environment, India faces several threats to its security. A new challenge to our national security is fast emerging on the country's horizon in the shape of Naxalism problem, its phenomenal growth and spread into 83 districts Pratima Gangwar across 10 states. Naxalism is the biggest threat because it effects several Associate Professor & H.O.D., areas including the economy, security and foreign affairs, its citizens and Deptt. of Political Science, rule of law. It defies justification. They seem to be drawing their inspiration J. D.V.M, P.G. College, from the moist uprising in Nepal, which has provided them new zeal and Anandbaag , Kanpur motivation to replicate the same in India. They are becoming more and more belligerent in central and south India. Background The term Naxalite derives from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a section of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) led by Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal initiated a violent uprising in 1967. On 18 May, 1967, the Siliguri Kisan Sabha, of which Jangal was the president, declared their support for the movement initiated by Kanu Sanyal and readiness to adopt armed struggle to redistribute land to the landless. The following week, a share - cropper near Naxalbari village was th attacked by the landlord's men over a land dispute. On 24 May, when a police team arrived to arrest the peasant leaders, it was ambushed by a group of tribals led by Jangal Santhal, and a police inspector was killed in a hail of arrows. This event encouraged many Santhaltribals and other poor people to join the movement and to start attacking local landlords. Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In later years, it spread into less developed areas of rural southern and eastern India such as Chhatisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Mao Zedong provided ideological leadership for the Naxalbari movement, advocating that Indian peasants and lower class tribals overthrow the government and upper classes by force. A large number of urban elites were also attracted to the ideology which spread through Charu Majumdar's writings, particularly the 'Historic Eight Documents' which formed the basis of Naxalite ideology. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs describes the objectives of Naxalites as destroying “State Legitimacy ….with the ultimate object of attaining political power by violent means. They are considered as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful 110 P: ISSN No. 2231-0045 RNI No. UPBIL/2012/55438 VOL.-IV, ISSUE-II, November-2015 E: ISSN No. 2349-9435 Periodic Research Activities (prevention) Act of India (`1967). Naxalites agricultural or forest based business, logging and have been attacking police establishments and timber felling or for tourism venture. Thirdly there were infrastructures such as public transportation, causing draconian laws regarding wild life protection and insecurity and instability to the area. The Naxalite are national parks and sanctuaries which forcefully active in approximately 40% of India's geographical excluded all habitations from vast areas notified under area. They control large portions of remote and these laws. Displacement of tribals turned them densely forested areas and are concentrated in an homeless, landless, resourceless and jobless. area called 'Red Corridor'. This area is also the tribal Therefore, social unrest has emerged in the affected belt where the tension between economic areas. It manifests itself in defiance of the authority development and aboriginal land rights is most from simple form of demanding right of community apparent. management of forest to militancy. Causes of Naxalim Moreover, the policies of LPG (Liberalization, It is true that Naxalites got inspiration for Privatization and Globalization) initiated in 1991 their growth from the Maoist uprising in Nepal but acknowledged the social-economic inequality as the India’s social, political and economic conditions forced binding part of development process. The state’s anti- them to develop. After the independence various poverty programmes such as the NDA’s Food for programmes introduced for the rural area Work or the UPA’s Employment Guarantee development. But due to feudal nature of the Programme hardly meet the basic demand for land authority, complex, rules and regulations, corrupt rights in rural India. All these have kept the Naxal administrative dullness and the lack of general agenda alive. awareness like causes, the real benefit of Naxalism as the Biggest Threat development process limited few selfish groups and Naxalism highlights India’s interior people. weakness, which makes India also vulnerable to Fifty-eight percent of the Indian labour force external threats. The armed Naxalite groups have is still engaged in agricultural and allied occupations. largely expanded their influence zone and naxal Tribals are being pushed up the hills because of movement in India, is now recognized as a part of the illegal incursion of outsiders in their traditional domain. Maoist activism world over. Organizations like PWG, Dalits continue to swell the rankes of agriculture MCC etc. have established network with ideologically proletariat which is increasing in an alarming way. similar organizations in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan Neo-liberal development process totally by-passed and Srilanka under the aegis of Coordination them. Not only that the invasion of the corporate Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of sector into agriculture and forestry and enhancement South Asia (CCMPOSA). Moreover, all these South of ceiling limits on land in some states has Asian Maoist Organizations and Parties are also exacerbated the incidence of landlessness with the members of an international organization called the consequential rise in the free floating mass of the rural Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). poor moving around in search of employment This Naxalism is not only a law and order problem has depressing effect on rural wages and has but a direct result of under-development. Today 83 aggravated causalisation of labour on terms grossly districts across 10 states in the country are affected infavourable to them. by Maoist violence. These are among the most Extension of general laws and their backward areas of the country where poorest of the accompanying institutions to the scheduled Tribal poor live. Civil administration appears to have areas created a hiatus between the modern laws and withdrawn from seriously affected areas leaving the their agencies and the traditional mode of tribal life people to fend for themselves. There is an urgent and living style. This resulted in a conflict between the need to improve the lot of the people in tribal and traditional systems and formal institutions, especially backward areas. The Naxalite movement in West with regard to the rights of the tribal people over land Bengal was launched from a strategically located and resources on which they had subsisted for territory called ‘Naxalbari’. This northern portion of the centuries without formal ownership deed or title. This state of West Bengal is situated some 30 to 50 miles crisis has been further aggravated by influx of from Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan in the north, from individuals and corporate bodies into the tribal domain Nepal in the west from Bangladesh in the east. Before and their takeover of tribal lands and other natural 1971, Bangladesh was the eastern wing of Pakistan resources which traditionally gave sustenance to and, obviously, it was governed by Islamabad until it tribals. achieved independence. The strategic significance of The tribals lost their control of traditional this area of about 100 square miles lies in the fact that livelihood resources through several state
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Statistical Report General Election, 1998 The
    STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1998 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF MADHYA PRADESH ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA NEW DELHI Election Commission of India – State Elections, 1998 Legislative Assembly of Madhya Pradesh STATISCAL REPORT ( National and State Abstracts & Detailed Results) CONTENTS SUBJECT Page No. Part – I 1. List of Participating Political Parties 1 - 2 2. Other Abbreviations And Description 3 3. Highlights 4 4. List of Successful Candidates 5 - 12 5. Performance of Political Parties 13 - 14 6. Candidate Data Summary 15 7. Electors Data Summary 16 8. Women Candidates 17 - 25 9. Constituency Data Summary 26 - 345 10. Detailed Results 346 - 413 Election Commission of India-State Elections, 1998 to the Legislative Assembly of MADHYA PRADESH LIST OF PARTICIPATING POLITICAL PARTIES PARTYTYPE ABBREVIATION PARTY NATIONAL PARTIES 1 . BJP Bharatiya Janata Party 2 . BSP Bahujan Samaj Party 3 . CPI Communist Party of India 4 . CPM Communist Party of India (Marxist) 5 . INC Indian National Congress 6 . JD Janata Dal (Not to be used in General Elections, 1999) 7 . SAP Samata Party STATE PARTIES 8 . ICS Indian Congress (Socialist) 9 . INLD Indian National Lok Dal 10 . JP Janata Party 11 . LS Lok Shakti 12 . RJD Rashtriya Janata Dal 13 . RPI Republican Party of India 14 . SHS Shivsena 15 . SJP(R) Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) 16 . SP Samajwadi Party REGISTERED(Unrecognised ) PARTIES 17 . ABHM Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha 18 . ABJS Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh 19 . ABLTC Akhil Bhartiya Lok Tantrik Congress 20 . ABMSD Akhil Bartiya Manav Seva Dal 21 . AD Apna Dal 22 . AJBP Ajeya Bharat Party 23 . BKD(J) Bahujan Kranti Dal (Jai) 24 .
    [Show full text]
  • Searchable PDF Format
    lndia's Simmering Revolution Sumanta Banerjee lndia's Simmeri ng Revolution The Naxalite Uprising Sumanta Banerjee Contents India's Simmering Revolution was first published in India under the title In the llake of Naxalbari: A History of the Naxalite Movement lVlirps in India by Subarnarekha, 73 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Calcutta 700 1 009 in 1980; republished in a revised and updated edition by Zed lrr lr<lduction Books Ltd., 57 Caledonian Road, London Nl 9BU in 1984. I l'lrc Rural Scene I Copyright @ Sumanta Banerjee, 1980, 1984 I lrc Agrarian Situationt 1966-67 I 6 Typesetting by Folio Photosetting ( l'l(M-L) View of Indian Rural Society 7 Cover photo courtesy of Bejoy Sen Gupta I lrc Government's Measures Cover design by Jacque Solomons l lrc Rural Tradition: Myth or Reality? t2 Printed by The Pitman Press, Bath l't'lrstnt Revolts t4 All rights reserved llre Telengana Liberation Struggle 19 ( l'l(M-L) Programme for the Countryside 26 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Banerjee, Sumanta ' I'hc Urban Scene 3l India's simmering revolution. I lrc Few at the ToP JJ l. Naxalite Movement 34 I. Title I lro [ndustrial Recession: 1966-67 JIa- 322.4'z',0954 D5480.84 I lre Foreign Grip on the Indian Economy 42 rsBN 0-86232-038-0 Pb ( l'l(M-L) Views on the Indian Bourgeoisie ISBN 0-86232-037-2 Hb I lrc Petty Bourgeoisie 48 I lro Students 50 US Distributor 53 Biblio Distribution Center, 81 Adams Drive, Totowa, New Jersey l lrc Lumpenproletariat 0'1512 t lhe Communist Party 58 I lrc Communist Party of India: Before 1947 58 I lrc CPI: After 1947 6l I lre Inner-Party Struggle Over Telengana 64 I he CPI(M) 72 ( 'lraru Mazumdar's Theories 74 .l Nlxalbari 82 l'lre West Bengal United Front Government 82 Itcginnings at Naxalbari 84 Assessments Iconoclasm 178 The Consequences Attacks on the Police 182 Dissensions in the CPI(M) Building up the Arsenal 185 The Co-ordination Committee The Counter-Offensive 186 Jail Breaks 189 5.
    [Show full text]
  • LIBERATION C
    Vol I No.2 December, 1967 • LIBERATION c Declration of the Revolutionaries- of the C.P.I.(M) 3 Note'S <. 7 The Thought of Mlto Tse-tung 17 Mao-;Tse-tung's Contripution to Marxism-Leninism -N. Sanmugathasan 19 China's Changing Tide -Anna Louise Strong 39 A Canadian Professor Looks at China 43 Flames of ~hai People's Armed Struggle 47 On Madurai Docume,nt -'Deshabrati' Editorial Board 51 Bankruptcy of China's Devotee of Parliament 66 Character oflhe Indian Bourgeoisie -Bhowani Pathak 76 Interview with' a Revolutionary 83 Eaitor-in-Chiej: SUSHITAl RAY CHOUDHURY DECLARATION OF THE REVOLUTIONARIES OF THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) , An excellent revolutionary situation prevails now in ou country with all its classical symptoms as enunciated by Comrade Lenin. But the neo-revisionist leadership of the C P I (M) has betrayed the people and the party. They have betrayed the cause of the Indian Revolutiono Ontotbe wbys and wherdel'es Despite aU their revolutionary phrase-mongering it has now "Communists must always go 1 d carefully tbiRk .yer ° wn beads an 11 become crystal clear that these renegades have chosen the of anytbing, use then 0 d to reality and is really we path of parliamentarism and class-collaboration and have whether or not it correspon s follow blindly and enfClul'age founded; on no account sbould they shelved for good the revolutionary struggle for political power. 1liavislmess." 'The great trust reposed in them by revolutionary comrades, the Party's Style of. WDrk. when the latter in their glorious struggle against revisionism -Mao Tse-tung, Rectify repudiated the leadership of the Dange clique, has been shamelessly betrayed.
    [Show full text]
  • INDIA'scontemporary Security Challenges
    Contemporary Security INDIA’S Challenges Edited by Michael Kugelman INDIa’s Contemporary SECURITY CHALLENGES Essays by: Bethany Danyluk Michael Kugelman Dinshaw Mistry Arun Prakash P.V. Ramana Siddharth Srivastava Nandini Sundar Andrew C. Winner Edited by: Michael Kugelman ©2011 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. www.wilsoncenter.org Available from : Asia Program Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20004-3027 www.wilsoncenter.org ISBN 1-933549-79-3 The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, es- tablished by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a living national memorial to President Wilson. The Center’s mis- sion is to commemorate the ideals and concerns of Woodrow Wilson by providing a link between the worlds of ideas and policy, while fostering research, study, discussion, and collaboration among a broad spectrum of individuals concerned with policy and scholarship in national and international affairs. Supported by public and private funds, the Center is a nonpartisan institution engaged in the study of national and world affairs. It establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue. Conclusions or opinions expressed in Center publi- cations and programs are those of the authors and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Center staff, fellows, trustees, advi- sory groups, or any individuals or organizations that provide financial support to the Center. The Center is the publisher of The Wilson Quarterly and home of Woodrow Wilson Center Press, dialogue radio and television, and the monthly news-letter “Centerpoint.” For more information about the Center’s activities and publications, please visit us on the web at www.wilsoncenter.org.
    [Show full text]
  • 2116PDF Challenges of Rebuilding Adivasi Lives in the Conflicts Region of Chhattisgarh 17 Dr
    www.research-chronicler.com Research Innovator International Multidisciplinary Research Journal Research Innovator A Peer-Reviewed Refereed and Indexed International Multidisciplinary Research Journal Volume II Issue I: February – 2015 CONTENTS Sr. No. Author Title of the Paper Download 1 Susan Lobo Being ‘It’ in Mahesh Dattani’s Steps 2101PDF Around the Fire 2 Vinay Kumar Dubey Salman Rushdie’s the Satanic Verses: the 2102PDF Sense of Futility in Religion 3 Dr. Mitima Sachdeva Dhamma and the Transformation of the 2103PDF Self 4 Ms. Tusharkana Enhancing Education and Life: Life Skills 2104PDF Majumdar & Prof. (Dr.) Archana Shukla 5 A. Anbuselvi The Individuals Isolation and Struggle for 2105PDF Independence and Identity with Reference to the Novels of Anne Tyler and Sashi Deshpande 6 Dr. Ambreen Safder Indian Ethos in the Poetry of Sarojini 2106PDF Kharbe Naidu 7 Swati Sachdev & Modelling and Performance Analysis of 2107PDF Prof. Priyanka Jhawar Heat Exchangers for Heavy Vehicles 8 Dr. Pooja Singh, Reflecting Impacts of Epic and Cultural 2108PDF Dr. Archana Durgesh Tales on Young Minds & Neha Sahu 9 Dr. K. Jaisingh & Faculty Development Strategies: Practical 2109PDF Prof. D.S. Kesava Rao Problems of EFL Teachers in India Volume II Issue I: February 2015 Editor-In-Chief: Prof. K.N. Shelke www.research-chronicler.com Research Innovator International Multidisciplinary Research Journal 10 Dr. R. Bhuvaneswari Virtual Learning: An e-Learning 2110PDF Experience 11 Dr. Vitthal V. Parab Principles of Prose Style in Francis Bacon 2111PDF and Bertrand Russell’s Essays 12 Tweisha Mishra The Doctrine of Frustration of Contract: 2112PDF An Analysis and Comparison of Indian Law and English Law, with reference to Landmark Cases 13 K.
    [Show full text]
  • Naxalism in India Naxalism
    Best Personal Counseling & Guidance about SSB Contact - R S Rathore @ 9001262627 visit us - www.targetssbinterview.com Naxalism in India The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer to militant Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes. In the eastern states of the mainland India (Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa), they are usually known as, or refer to themselves as Maoists while in southern states like Kerala they are known under other titles. They have been declared as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of India (1967). 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. Their origin can be traced to the split in 1967 of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), leading to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist). Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In later years, it spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). As of 2009, Naxalites were active across approximately 220 districts in twenty states of India accounting for about 40 percent of India's geographical area, They are especially concentrated in an area known as the "Red corridor", where they control 92,000 square kilometers. According to India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, 20,000 armed cadre Naxalites were operating in addition to 50,000 regular cadres and their growing influence prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare them to be the most serious internal threat to India's national security.
    [Show full text]
  • Naxalite Rebellion: Disenfranchisement, Ideology and Recognition of a Non International Armed Conflict
    journal of international humanitarian legal studies 8 (2017) 1-28 brill.com/ihls Naxalite Rebellion: Disenfranchisement, Ideology and Recognition of a Non International Armed Conflict Zia Akhtar llb (Lon), llm (Lon), Gray’s Inn. [email protected] Abstract The military conflict within India’s borders whose origins are in the marginalisation of tribal peoples involves the government forces and the Naxalite rebels. This conflict has become more intense in the last decade with land being acquired to enable corpora- tions to mine resources and the lack of redress for the Adivasi, who are the indigenous people who inhabit these territories. The alienation of the rural communities and tribes from the north eastern states, which are located on the ‘red corridor’ is because the government has failed to implement protection for Scheduled Tribes who carry a protected status in the Indian constitution. The Naxalite movement has launched a violent struggle which has led to an emergency declared under Article 355, and there has been an incremental increase in the rate of fatalities. The failure of public interest litigation and the enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (afsa) means that the domestic remedies for empowerment are not successful. The breach of hu- man rights has to be assessed against the insurgency of the Naxalite guerillas and the Geneva Conventions that are applicable under the Non International Armed Conflict (niac). This paper will assess the rural origins of the conflict, environmental damage and the litigation by the Adivasi communities before addressing the rules under which the protections are available in the international humanitarian law.
    [Show full text]
  • Tribals Under Siege
    Nirmalangshu Mukherji is a careful, judicious scholar, and his T inquiry into these intricate issues is sensitive and persuasive. h NOAM CHOMSKY e M A must read for all those that follow the intense debates on politics and development in India. This book explores the writings of Maoist a ideologues relating to the Maoist movement in India’s tribal regions. o Mukherji develops a serious critique of Indian state policies and the is violent response to them, preferring the large social movements that t advocate an alternative path of development through non-violent s in resistance. ANURADHA M. CHENOY, Professor in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, co-author of Maoist And Other Armed I Conflicts (2010) n dia The Maoists in India delves deep into one of the most intractable but under-reported insurgencies in the developing world – the decades long battle between the Indian state and the Maoist groups who control significant parts of tribal India. Nirmalangshu Mukherji explains the devastating impact on India’s tribal Nirmalangs population of neoliberalism and armed aggression by the State, as well as the impact of the armed struggle by the Maoists. Unlike most accounts, Mukherji takes an unflinching look at each of the Maoists’ interventions and critically examines the programme proposed by their prominent intellectual sympathisers. The book examines the idea of armed struggle in the context of a well-established parliamentary democracy and focuses h The Maoists in India on the Maoists’ own political philosophy, looking critically at whether their u Muk strategy can help to deliver social justice and liberation for India’s poor.
    [Show full text]
  • The Maoist Attack in Chhattisgarh
    ISAS Insights No. 205 – 31 May 2013 469A Bukit Timah Road #07-01, Tower Block, Singapore 259770 Tel: 6516 6179 / 6516 4239 Fax: 6776 7505 / 6314 5447 Email: [email protected] Website: www.isas.nus.edu.sg The Maoist Attack in Chhattisgarh Ronojoy Sen and Robin Jeffrey 1 The ambush of a convoy of cars returning from a political rally and the murder of 27 people on 25 May 2013 in Chhattisgarh state in central India brings together various threads that make up “the Maoist movement” that has been an intermittent feature of rural life for 50 years. The list of victims makes this clear. Among the dead were the leader of the Congress Party in Chhattisgarh state, Nand Kumar Patel, and Mahendra Karma. Karma was the architect of the Salwa Judum, a controversial and bloody movement of anti-Maoist vigilantes begun in 2005 and later declared illegal by the Indian Supreme Court. Not surprisingly, Karma was high on the Maoists’ hit list. Among the wounded is V C Shukla, 83, from an old Congress family and the reviled Minister of Information and Broadcasting during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s 1975-7 “emergency”. The Motive The Maoists in a statement on 28 May claimed that the primary aim behind the attack was to kill Karma. It also said the attack was “revenge” for the federal government’s ‘Operation Green Hunt’ targeting the Maoists. To the government of Chhattisgarh, however, the Salwa Judum was perfectly legal and performed an admirable public function. A former chief of the 1 Dr Ronojoy Sen is Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), an autonomous research institute at the National University of Singapore.
    [Show full text]
  • Lost Childhood
    LOST CHILDHOOD Caught in armed violence in Jharkhand LOST CHILDHOOD Caught in armed violence in Jharkhand LOST CHILDHOOD Caught in armed violence in Jharkhand p.2 Glossary p.4 Executive summary p.7 Key recommendations p.8 Scope and methodology p.11 1. Context to the conflict in Jharkhand and the involvement of children Jharkhand National and international legal standards prohibiting the recruitment and use of children by non-state armed groups p.19 2. The recruitment and use of children by left wing armed groups in Jharkhand Children’s roles in left wing armed groups Forced recruitment of children by the CPI (Maoist) Recruitment of and attacks on children by the PLFI Sexual abuse of girls p.32 3. Adverse impact on education p.38 4. The state’s duty to protect, not punish children involved in armed conflict Recommendations 1 Glossary of terms Adivasi: Literally “original habitant”, a term used to refer to Lucens Guidelines: The Guidelines for Protecting Schools and indigenous tribal communities in India. Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict urge parties to armed conflict not to use schools and universities for any purposes Anganwadi Centres: Facilities that provide basic health care in support of the military effort. in Indian villages, including contraceptive counselling and supply, nutrition education and supplementation, as well as pre-school LWE: Left Wing Extremism, an umbrella term used by the activities. government of India to describe a number of left wing non-state armed groups operating in the country. Bal Sangam / Bal Dastas: Village-level children’s association of the CPI (Maoist).
    [Show full text]
  • The Ironies of Indian Maoism Jairus Banaji
    The ironies of Indian Maoism Jairus Banaji Editor’s introduction “A spectre is haunting South Asia—the spectre of Maoism,” the Financial Times rather melodramatically announced in April 2006, reporting that the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had described Maoist guer- rillas as “the single greatest threat to Indian national security”. The scale of the Maoist-led insurgency in rural India has surprised and alarmed ruling classes for whom Marxism-Leninism was supposed to have been safely confined to the dustbin of history after 1989. The Indian Maoists have also become a subject of discussion on the left both in India and internationally. In particular, a recent article by the writer and campaigner Arundhati Roy describing her visit to a Maoist-controlled area attracted much controversy. In the following piece, the Indian Marxist scholar and activist Jairus Banaji offers a much more critical analysis of Indian Maoism than Roy pro- vides. But first here is a little background to help the reader unfamiliar with Indian politics and society (see also the glossary). India is by far the most important country in the world where Communism remains a powerful political force. Reflecting the twists and turns of Moscow’s foreign policy, the Communist Party of India (CPI) during the struggle for national liberation from Britain had an ambiva- lent relationship to the dominant nationalist party, the Indian National : Johnson, 006. : Roy, 00a. Congress. But its role in different social movements gave it a significant popular base. After independence was won in 1947, Congress-ruled India pursued a policy of neutrality in the Cold War that led to a strategic part- nership with the Soviet Union.
    [Show full text]
  • THE NAXALITE MOVEMENT in INDIA Origin and Failure of the Maoist Revolutionary Strategy in West Bengal 1967 - 1971
    THE NAXALITE MOVEMENT IN INDIA Origin and Failure of the Maoist Revolutionary Strategy in West Bengal 1967 - 1971 A thesis submitted to Brock University by S0HA1L JAWAID in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts September 1978 (c) Sohail Jawaid 4C110WL1DGME1T In the coupletion of this thesis^ 1 owe a debt of gratitude to my guidef Professor fietor M.Fie, who inspired me to undertake the study of the most important problem of Indian politics today, sad ufao pro¥ided me the ¥alaable primary sources ' from his onn private collection. i am beholden to Professor R. Chorehf Professors <J.A.H. Haqqi, W.H.N* Hull, S. lasir All, Irfan Habib, Dr* Jfein-uI-Zaffer Khanf Dr. T.A. Nlzami and Dr.^han Wbhammadj nbose constant encourageneEt stood me In good stead. 1 am also thankful to other Professors^ ay wife Mrs* EaMa Bohail, Mrs# Marilyn loop and my frienis who assisted me in a number of nays* 80HAIL JAWAID TABLE OP CONTENTS Acknowledgment iv Introduction 1 Chapter I THE ORIGIN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (Marxist) 14 1. The CPI and its policies 14 2. Bifts ^dthin the CPI 27 a) Revisionism versus Revolution 2? b) Attack of China upon India J 1962 34 3. The split within the CPI: 1964 38 4. Formation of the CPI(M) in West Bengal 41 Chapter II THE NAXALITE MOVEMENT 56 1. Origin 56 a) Geographical area 56 b) Reasons for its emergence 60 i) Tribal unrest 60 ii) Quest for land 64 2. Programme of the Naxalites 6? a) Influence of Peking 67 b) Theory of the revolutionary base 69 e) Strategy of the armed uprising 71 i ii 3.
    [Show full text]