In the past decade the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) emerged as a potent terrorist force threatening to sabotage the security and democratic fabric of the country. As a matter of historical fact, Naxal movement derived its name from a village called Naxalbari in Darjeeling district. In a popular uprising the landless farmers rose against the oppression and unjust practices of land owners. These farmers were mobilized to this uprising by the ultra Marxists. This event dates back to 1967. Thereafter, 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). [1] Concerns are expressed that there is a plan to set up a "Red Corridor" or a "Compact Revolutionary Zone" extending from Nepal through Bihar, Jharkhand and Bastar district of Chhattisgarh to Andhra Pradesh.
20. More recently, the emergence of Communist Party of India (Maoist) by the merger of Communist Party of India (Marxist - Leninist), the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) in the year 2004, led to the unification of terrorist effort of the red ultras and can be considered a watershed event leading to strengthening of Maoist terrorist wing and posing a potent threat to the security environment of the nation. The government initially classified these as socio-economic problems and not an internal security issue. Thus, issue was given the seriousness it deserved and long term effects of the movement were ignored. As a result, the Maoist actions against the security forces and dissenting villagers grew from strength to strength and today the Maoists threat is classified as the biggest internal security threat to the nation.
22. As of 2010, 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. In late May, 2009 in Lalgarh, West Bengal the Naxalites briefly threw out the local police and staged attacks against the ruling communist government. The region came under assault by Maoist guerrillas. The state government initiated a successful operation, with central paramilitary forces and state armed police, to retake Lalgarh in early June. Maoist leader Kishenji claimed in an interview that the mass Naxalite movement in Lalgarh in 2009 was aimed at creating a "liberated zone" against "oppression of the establishment Left and its police". He stated this had given the Naxalites a major base in West Bengal for the first time since the Naxalite uprising in the mid-1970s and that "We will have an armed movement going in Calcutta by 2011". [2]
The Geographic Expanse of Naxalism
23. The red corridor is not an academic expression. This is an empirical reality linking a significant part of the subcontinent. Although the Nepali Maoists have abdicated violence by joining the government, it will not be wrong to suggest that the red corridor represents a vast land mass stretching from Pashupati in Nepal to Tirupati in Tamil Nadu. A perusal at the spread of the movement clearly shows that the red belt runs through a compact geographical zone involving 13 Indian states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Of these states, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are the ones where the ultra- Left extremism had flourished in the 1960s in the name of the Naxalbari movement. Furthermore, one can also identify a pattern if one is drawn to those locations where the movement appears to be well entrenched. Mostly these areas have dense forests or difficult hilly terrain where mere survival is most difficult given the appalling poverty in which people live there. These areas traditionally remained beyond reach of any development projects, social welfare schemes and agencies of administration. The hilly and forest belt, as well as the plains, which are marked by extremely distressing socio economic conditions seemed to have favoured the Maoists with a secure and popular base. Maoism seems to have struck an emotional chord with the tribals drawing on forest resources for their survival. [3] The Indian states affected by Maoism are mentioned at the table on next page.
States
Number of Districts Affected
Bihar
25
Jharkhand
20
Andhra Pradesh
19
Orissa
14
Chhattisgarh
10
West Bengal
9
Madhya Pradesh
6
Maharashtra
6
Uttar Pradesh
6
Karnataka
5
Kerela
2
Uttarakhand
2
Tamil Nadu
1
Source : The Times of India, 22 Sep 2007
Ramifications of Left Wing Extremism
24. The political outfits clinging to ultra LWE seem to be ideologically compatible though they differ from one another in terms of tactical line or methodology of revolution. CPI (Maoist) seems to have gained popularity in the red corridor. It also succeeded in releasing its cadres from jails in Orissa and Bihar in 2006. Besides the two successive jailbreaks, the Maoists drew national attention by launching successive attacks on the government sponsored campaign - Salwa Judam.The creation of Salwa Judam, rather than containing the red menace further aggravated the situation at the grass roots. It created another group making them professional, licensed goondas. Some recent violent activities by Maoists include killing of 26 CRPF personnel in Narayanpur district in Jun 2010, killing of 145 people by derailing a train, killing of 76 CRPF personnel in Dantewada district in Apr 2010, killing of 35 people by blowing up a bus in May 2010, etc. Other activities include abductions, extortions and setting up unofficial administrations to collect taxes where the government writ does not function. The military strategy entails building up of bases in rural and remote areas and transforming them first into guerrilla zones and then as "liberated zones", besides the area wise seizure and encircling cities. The military hardware used by Maoists, as proved through various seizures, include RDX cable wires, gelatine sticks, detonators, country made weapons, INSAS rifles, AK-47s, SLR and improvised explosive devices. According to MHA reports, the CRPF seized over 6000 kg of explosives in Bihar and 893 kg in Jharkhand till October 2008. Security forces also recovered cortex wire in Jharkhand for the first time, a highly potent explosive with a blast-range of up to 720 meters, which has so far been used only by modern national armies. [4]
Tactics of Naxalites
25. Naxals have been evincing greater precision, penetration, organization and audacity in striking their chosen targets at will. They have also attacked many such symbols of state authority, mostly police, as witnessed in their incursions in Koraput in Orissa, Madhubani in Bihar, Giridih and Bokaro in Jharkhand and in Karnataka, killing hundreds of policemen and looting fire arms and money. Transforming themselves into a modern guerilla force, Naxals, today, are equipped with sophisticated weapons and communication system. With the formation of a united outfit namely CPI (Maoist) along with the raising of an armed wing i.e. People's Liberation Guerrilla Army through the merger of Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and People's War Group (PWG), the Naxal Movement has not only succeeded in getting over the problem of sanguinary infighting amongst them, but the Movement has also witnessed a shift in focus and strategy. Today, they are not only logistically better organized and better trained, they are also better motivated and better led. With the programme of a New Democratic Revolution, the Naxals wish to attain their goals through the spread of disaffection amongst the rural poor, by creating an impression that the new economic policy, hegemonic and imperialistic as it is, is prejudicial to their interests. The newly acquired prosperity of the landlords, bourgeois traders and bureaucrats further annoys and frustrates them. They believe that the benefits of the Panchayati Raj have been cornered by a handful of well-to-do peasants. Hence, they have declared all landlords, big or small, and all bourgeois, powerful or petty, as class enemies and have been working for their elimination by violent means. The new strategy is one of protracted armed struggle whose objective is not seizure of land, crops or other immediate goals, but the seizure of the state power. Within this perspective, participation in elections and engagement with the prevailing bourgeois democracy are rejected, and all efforts and attention are firmly focussed on revolutionary activities to undermine the state and seize power, by hook or by crook. They plan to mount further attacks against the symbols of 'feudalism, imperialism and bureaucratic capitalism' and they also do not mind supporting the struggle of nationalities for the self-determination, including the right to secession. They have also been paying special attention to mobilizing and organizing women as a mighty force of the bloody revolution they are waging. [5] The recent surge in naxal violence has established beyond doubt that naxalism is more than a mere law and order problem. And now that increasing evidence is being found of their extra-national linkages with the forces hostile to the interests of this country, there is definitely a need for a renewed thrust for tackling this hot potato. Army intelligence is reported to have proved a close connection between the Maoists and the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The arrest and subsequent interrogation of the Nepalese Maoist, Pasang Lama, on Indian Territory has only substantiated this link. Hence, an emergent need has been felt to develop a more synergized strategy to tackle this menace.
26. As evidenced from the recent activities of Maoists, they seem to have targeted the CRPF in a big way. Once the government started taking the security threat by Maoists somewhat seriously, the immediate action was to deploy the CRPF since 2006 -2007. By this time the state police were on the back foot due to direct action against them by Naxalites. The Maoists started taking on the CRPF posts, patrols and road opening parties. So far these terrorists have not allowed the CRPF to settle down in its relatively new role and heavy casualties have been inflicted on CRPF troops. The guerilla tactics of hit and run have been adopted by Naxalites during these attacks. Add to that, the audacity with which these attacks have been carried out shows the professional manner in which they can handle such missions. Ambush of security forces is the most common tactics adopted by Naxals. They have also perfected the use of explosives and improvised explosive devices. They have blown up buses and derailed the trains at will. These guerillas have successfully raided police and CRPF posts killing almost all the men inside the post and also taken away wepons from these posts. In Sep 2010, the Maoist guerillas abducted four policemen and demanded release of jailed Naxal leaders in exchange of these policemen. They killed one of the policemen and threatened to kill others. This incident shows the amount of crisis the Naxalites can create by affecting such hostage crisis. Very soon, we would not need a Lashkar e Toiba to create a 26/11 type crisis. Naxals will soon extend their reach from forests to villages and then to the cities.
27. The People's Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) of the CPI (Maoist) has grown into an efficient guerilla force trained on the lines of a professional armed force. The CPI (Maoist) has an elaborate command structure; at the apex is their Central Military Commission followed by five regional bureaus. Under each regional bureau there is a Zonal Military Commission, which is responsible for executing armed operations. The people's militia is at the bottom of this structure. The Naxals now run at least 80 training camps all over India and each camp has the infrastructure to train 300 cadres at a time. The Naxals have been using wireless scanners, which can tap into the frequency of police communications. It is speculated that United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has been a major source of supplying automatic weapons to Maoist cadres.
