EVENTS AND ISSUES
New
Delhi, 24 April 2006
Good
Governance The Answer
BIGGEST
INTERNAL SECURITY CHALLENGE
By Anil
Kamboj
Left-wing extremism is now a bigger
threat to the country than militancy in Kashmir
or separatist militancy in the North East and unless
some strategic response is formulated and executed, the nation may find most of
its rural hinterland overrun by this storm. The Prime Minister, while chairing
the meeting of Chief Ministers of Naxal-infested States, described the problem
as the biggest internal security challenge.
It is a situation where at least 225
districts are under the throes of some kind of militancy. As many as 8,695
police station areas are affected by the Maoist menace. There are about 9,500
hardcore Naxalites who are spread across
the Naxal-affected States. Investigations have revealed that the Indian Maoist
groups are involved in illicit narcotic trade and smuggling of counterfeit
Indian currency. They have linkages with ISI which is providing sophisticated
weapons and knowledge about improvised explosive devices. These groups are not
only getting financial support from anti-India forces, but, their cadres are
also being trained by the LTTE in guerrilla warfare.
A status paper presented to Parliament
last month by Home Minister Shivraj Patil reveals that the total number of
people killed by Naxalite violence rose by 30% between 2003 and 2005. The
number of policemen killed jumped to an astonishing 53% between 2004 and 2005.
Naxalite strength has grown by over 50% since 2001. Till 2001, 60% of the
weaponry was country-made. Today they have AK series, grenade launchers,
mortars, carbines etc. Their command structures have also evolved and
modernised.
After the merger of the CPML, PW and
MCCI into the CPI (Maoists) in September 2004, they are trying to get together
the other splinter groups and to intensify their mass
contact programme. Of the two, the MCCI was known for its brutal methods, while
the erstwhile People’s War Group in comparison was considered moderate. The
Maoists leadership in Andhra Pradesh believes that the moderate approach led to
irreversible losses, especially in North Telangana. In a bid to infuse new blood, the
leadership expanded the North Telangana and
Ahiri in Maharastra and some parts of Bastar district.
Regular recruitment of cadres is
being carried out. Indian Naxalite groups continue to sustain their fraternal
and logistic links with Nepalese Maoists. The Chief Ministers of Naxal-infested
States have expressed their concern
over the growing influence of Maoists from Nepal
and felt that if not checked, they could easily infiltrate and make matters
worse for India.
In fact, the CPI (Maoist) and CPN (Maoist) have already provided training, arms
and finances to each other.
The Naxalite leadership continues to
pursue their plan to wage protracted people’s war through the armed struggle to
capture political power. They seem to lay greater focus on organising along the
military lines. Their constant effort is to upgrade technology and
sophistication of their weaponry. They are clearly strategising to remain
relevant by infiltrating schools. Their immediate aim is to create “bal –
dasta”, or child squads.
The Naxalites have a very well knit
organisational structure and work to a pan-India strategy. They want to control
the economic resources of the region and generally operate in areas rich in
natural resources like minerals, tendu patta, katha trees etc. They have been
terrorising traders and local people and even carrying out extortion. Each time
the Government spends on development in the affected areas, a sizable portion
of funds leaks into Naxal’s hands.
On the other hand, the various State
Governments have a different perception on the issue.
They adopted differing and sometimes mutually conflicting policies, probably
due to political compulsions. Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh have banned the
Maoist, while Orissa expressed its inability to do so. Chhattisgarh initiated
steps to counter rising Naxal violence, at the same time, the Andhra Pradesh Government
ran a peace process for almost nine
months, resulting in the sudden spurt in Naxal violence in the neighbouring
states of Karnataka, Maharastra, Chhatisgarh and Orissa.
Inside the Red Corridor, stretching
from Nepal
to Andhra Pradesh, the Naxalites have stepped up Dandakaranya Liberated Zone in
the tribal areas. It is home to various primitive tribes undivided by caste and
religion. They are dependent on the forest for their livelihood but were taxed
or fined for everything, from grazing, firewood collection and to house
construction. The alternative was arrest. The idea of establishing a guerrilla
zone in Dandakaranya was first started by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah.
Their task was not limited to
organising the tribal against the atrocities. The Naxalit knew that the tribals
still depended on gathering food, therefore needed skills in agriculture. Then
Naxalites came up with the idea of digging lakes which could be used for
irrigation and fish breeding. This idea laid the foundation of “Janatana Sarkar”
or People’s Government. It is an alternative form of governance established by the
Maoists after overthrowing the present Government system.
There exists a strong bond between
the Maoist party and the local people, fostered through monthly village
meetings that discuss common
problems and needs of the village. This helps that a majority of squad members
are from the local tribes, at least one from each family. The Maoist cadres are
almost entirely drawn from the most exploited sections of the rural and tribal
societies of the States. It is not that Mao-tse-Tung or Lenin has inspired the
Naxalite cadres. It is an anger and vengeful voice of exploited whose
resentment has grown over the last few decades having been bypassed by the socio-economic changes in rural and
tribal areas.
Though Naxals have not yet carried
out any operation in Uttaranchal, but have their presence in the State,
specially in the Pithoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar districts. These
areas are also serving as hiding places for Maoists of Nepal. It is a possibility that if surreptitious armed activity gains
route, the tough terrain with forests and isolated hills, would make it
virtually impossible to control it.
To combat this challenge, the
government has defined a policy. It would address
this menace simultaneously on political, security, development and public
perception management fronts in a holistic manner. It will deal sternly with
the Naxalites indulging in violence. It being an inter-State problem, the States
will adopt a collective approach and pursue a coordinated response to counter
it.
There will be no peace dialogue by
the affected States with the Naxal groups unless
the latter agree to give up violence and arms. The states where there is Naxal
influence but no violence would have to focus on socio-economic development of
the backward areas and regular interaction with NGOs, intelligentsia etc to
minimise overground support for the Naxalite ideology and activity.
The State Governments will need to
accord a higher priority in their annual plans to ensure faster socio-economic
development of the Naxal affected areas. The focus should be on implementation
of land reforms, development of basic infrastructure like roads, communication,
power, water supply etc and provide employment opportunities to the youth. The
initiative will be that of State Governments whereas Union Government may
continue to supplement the efforts and resources of the affected states on both
security and development. Central Government has already sanctioned Rs. 2,475 crore
under the backwards districts initiative component of the Rashtriya Sam Vikas
Yojna.
All Naxal-affected States may have
to strictly implement the surrender-cum-rehabilitation schemes for Naxalites
who want to shun violence. The real remedy lies in good governance which is
sensitive to the needs of the most exploited. Though the government has taken
good step forward, but the menace will have to be tackled with a dedicated and
determined approach. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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