January 22nd
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Maoists threaten India's internal security
Kanchan Gupta (IANS)
New Delhi, January 21, 2005|16:18 IST
Rapidly and insidiously, a new internal security
threat, posed by Left extremists, popularly referred
to as Naxalites, is taking shape in India.
Unlike secessionist movements fuelled by communal,
ethnic and linguistic identity politics that have
severely tested - and continue to test - the resolve
of the Indian state, the newly emerging threat will
challenge India's democratic polity and rule of law as
never before.
While other threats to India's internal security have
been region- or state- specific, the threat posed by
Naxalites is not contained within a particular area.
It casts a sinister shadow from Andhra Pradesh in the
south to Bihar in the east. Naxalites have already
created a 'Compact Red Zone', a corridor across India
where Left extremists run a parallel administration
with the help of brute force and terror.
Starting from the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh,
the 'Compact Red Zone' runs through eastern
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Orissa, West Bengal, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
It links what the Naxalites describe as the "liberated
zones" of India with the Maoist-held territories of
Nepal; a 'Red Corridor' that has united far-Left
comrades in these two neighbouring countries.
The magnitude of the threat posed by Left extremists
in India is underscored by the fact that as many as
156 districts in 13 States have been officially listed
as "affected by Naxalite violence". In 2003, the
threat existed in 55 districts in nine states.
In Nepal, which is in the grip of a rapidly
snowballing Maoist insurgency, almost all the 75
districts of that country are now under the control of
Left extremists.
With the geographical spread of the area of their
violent political activity expanding by leaps and
bounds, Naxalites in India, armed with weaponry and
communication systems far more sophisticated than
those provided to state police forces (in Andhra
Pradesh they are using wireless scanners that can tap
into any frequency of police communications), are
targeting civil administrators, policemen and
politicians with increasing impunity and chilling
brutality.
By killing representatives of the state, especially
policemen posted in remote rural areas, they are able
to instil fear among villagers, most of them
impoverished landless farmers, as well as ill-equipped
policemen. Thus they are able to establish a parallel
system of "administration" of forcibly collecting
"taxes" that fund their activities, meting out
"justice" through kangaroo courts to eliminate "class
enemies", and recruiting fresh cadre through a process
of forced and aggressive indoctrination.
The ferocity of Left extremism can be gauged by two
recent incidents: In Bihar, seven policemen, including
a superintendent of police, were killed in a landmine
explosion executed by Naxalites January 5. In Uttar
Pradesh, a police convoy was ambushed and 17 policemen
were shot dead.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh that came to
power in the summer of 2004 tried to reason peace with
Left extremists belonging to the Communist Party of
India (Maoist) and Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist), the two umbrella organisations
under which Naxalites have now organised themselves.
It also lifted the ban on these groups. Strategically,
that was a disastrous move. The previous Telugu Desam
Party government had launched a massive offensive
against the Left extremists and was able to bring the
situation in many areas under control. That advantage
has now been lost.
On the eve of the peace talks in October last year, a
senior Naxalite leader was quoted as saying: "By going
to the talks, we are not declaring any ceasefire...
Talks are a part of our tactical line. Naxalism is not
a problem, it is a solution."
Using the ruse of peace talks and the unilateral
ceasefire imposed by the Congress government in the
state and the placatory attitude of the Congress-led
government in New Delhi, the Left extremists have
regrouped, re-armed and launched a vicious
counter-offensive, forcing the police to respond. The
Naxalites, having forced the police to act, are now
using it as a convenient excuse to call off the peace
process and return to the path of armed violence.
From Andhra Pradesh to Bihar, the situation is equally
alarming. Not only are lives periled but development
is affected. As K.P.S. Gill, who has battled many
insurgencies, recently commented, it does not make
sense to build roads and bridges that cannot be used
for fear of death at the hands of Naxalites.
Nor does it make sense to pretend that Naxalites pose
a "law and order problem". The threat from Naxalites
is much more than that - they pose a totalitarian
challenge to India's democratic polity and rule of
law; they pose an ideological threat that questions
the legitimacy of the Indian state.
Seen from the perspective of internal security, the
Naxalites are fast turning into India's 'Fifth
Columnists', more than willing to join hands with
external forces that have been trying to undermine
India's territorial integrity and rend its social
fabric. From arms running to narco-terrorism, they are
involved in every possible act of subversion.
The Naxalite movement that we see today is a far cry
and far removed from the movement that was born in
1967 at Naxalbari, a village of West Bengal. What we
saw then was the splintering of the communists into
radicals and moderates; what we are seeing now is
abusing the barrel of the gun for furthering negative
power politics.
In the east, India's Naxalites have teamed up with
Nepal's Maoists to create disaffection among people of
Nepalese origin who have been living for generations
in Darjeeling and Dooars in West Bengal and in lower
Sikkim. The purpose is to engineer a movement for
'self-determination' which could unleash violence on a
wide scale and much worse than what was witnessed
during the Gorkhaland agitation.
India's intelligence agencies have evidence to prove
that Naxalites are being used by Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for drug trafficking
and pumping fake currency notes. In return, ISI is
providing the Naxalites with sophisticated weaponry
and the know-how for making and using improvised
explosive devices. Seized weapons and ammunition bear
witness to this evidence.
Impossible and illogical as it may appear, there is
also the very real possibility of the Islamic
fundamentalist right and the Marxist-Leninist
fundamentalist Left joining hands, united by the
purpose of subverting the Indian state. Soon after the
arrest of Maulana Naseeruddin, one of the prime
accused in the murder of Gujarat's former home
minister Haren Pandya, Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh
came out in support of the
Dasargah-e-Jehad-e-Shahadat's demand for the
unconditional release of the accused.
Naxal leader Ramakrishna circulated a letter among
media, demanding the suspension of police officers who
permitted the arrest, filing of a criminal case
against the Gujarat police and a public apology. He
also wanted the Naxalite-friendly Congress state
government to issue a blanket order banning the police
from entering Muslim houses or areas without
permission.
Ironically, most states where Naxalite violence is on
the rise are ruled by parties or alliances that are
members or supporters of the coalition government in
New Delhi. And unlike the Congress government in
Andhra Pradesh, which now increasingly appears to be
repaying a debt of gratitude for electoral support to
the Naxalites, the other state governments are
unwilling to seek accommodation with the far Left, but
are unable to move in tandem in the absence of any
clear central policy.
This is not the first time that the Indian state has
slept while a deadly threat has taken shape and form.
If left alone, today's Naxalite menace could become no
less dangerous than the war the Maoists are waging in
Nepal with stunning success.
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