Naxalite Terrorism in India

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Continuous Assessment Test-I

On

Naxalite Terrorism in India

SUBMITTED BY : SUBMITTED TO :

BAGADA RAM Mr. VINAYAK PANDEY

ROLL-103, SEC. (A) ASST. PROFESSOR

B.A. LL.B. (H.) INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

SEMESTER VI NUSRL, RANCHI

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDY AND RESEARCH IN LAW,

RANCHI

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 Naxalite Terrorism in India

Naxalite Terrorism in India

Introduction

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 in India. In the eastern states of the
mainland India (Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa), they are usually known as, or refer to
themselves as Maoists. Inspired by the doctrines of Mao Zedong, Naxalites work to overthrow
the government and upper classes by violence. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
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 Activities (Prevention) Act of India (1967). 1 The Naxalite movement erupted
violently in 1967, spreading to almost all parts of the country.2 Some of the finest brains and
creams of Indias youth in certain areas left their homes and colleages to chase the dream of a
new world, a new social order. Two decades had passed since the dawn of independence and yet
large segments of the Indian population peasants, tribals, workers continued to suffer the worst
forms of exploitation. Naxalism arose from certain basic factors: social injustice, economic
inequality and the failure of the system to redress the grievances of large sections of people who
suffered and continue to suffer the worst form of exploitation. As we all know naxalites are the
people of lower rung of society. Who are in everyway socially, economically suppressed class
who resort to this practices in order to keep their limb and body entact. It is well known saying
that we should hate the sin and not the sinners because they dont do such things out of
fascination but out of their miserable condition otherwise there is hardly any human being who is
not attached to emotions and sentiments. The Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared in the Rajya
Sabha on August 11, 1970 that the government was committed to putting down the activities of
1 History of Naxalism. Hindustan Times. 15 December 2005. Archived from the original on 8 February
2011.

2 Lawrence E. Cline, The Insurgency Environment in Northeast India, Small Wars and Insurgencies17, no. 2
(June 2006): 126-147.

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naxalities and the operation steeplechase had already broken the backbone of naxalism. For the
past 20 years, it has grown mostly from displaced tribals and natives who are fighting against
exploitation from major Indian corporations and local officials whom they believe to be corrupt.
In 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned, Naxalism is the greatest threat to our
internal security. The credit for the survival of the movement for over 40 years must go to the
Government, which has failed abysmally in addressing the causes and conditions that sustain the
movement. The problem has been in the Indian states perception of the causes of the Naxal
movement.3 In February 2009, the Indian Central government announced a new nation wide
initiative, to be called the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for broad, co-ordinate operations aimed
at dealing with the Naxalite problem in all affected states, namely (Karnataka, Chhattisgarh,
Orissa, Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and WestBengal). Importantly,
this plan included funding for grass-roots economic development projects in Naxalite affected
areas, as well as increased special police funding for better containment and reduction of
Naxalite influence in these areas.4 In 2009, Naxalites were active across approximately 180
districts in ten states of India. This includes, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

History

This Naxalite movement begin violently in 1967, with three sharecroppers Lappa Singh, Sanga
Kishan, Ratia Kishan supported by 150 CPI(M) followers armed with lathis, bows and arrows
and carrying party flags, lifted the entire stock of 300mds of paddy from the landlords granary
without giving him any share. This incident marked a turning point in the history of the
communist movement in India. According to Kanu Sanyal it was an armed struggle not for land
but for state power. A new political philosophy based on Mao Tse Tung thought was being
applied. There was a spark in a small village Naxalbari on the tri junction of India, Nepal and
Bangladesh and this spread within few years to distant parts of the country. The total population
of naxalbari area there was near about 1,26,719 tribals constituting the most important segment.

3 South Asia | Senior Maoist 'arrested' in India. BBC News. 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2009-03-17.

4 The Times of India. 2011-12-08. Retrieved 2012-01-02. Times of India describe some details of on
going nationwide Naxalite containment program, its Integrated Action Plan.

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They included santhals, Madesia, oraons, mundas etc this movement was shaped by Charu
majumdar, Kanu sanyal, Jangal santhal. Charu majumdar was the brain, Kanu sanyal spread the
organisational network while jangal mobilized the santhals.5 They propagated that all the land
belonging to kulkas would taken away by the government and would be available to the kisans if
they became members of the kisan sabha. In meanwhile an incident took place an armed police
party led by Inspector Sonam wangdi went to the village near naxalbari police station to arrest
some wanted persons. On his approach, the men folk went hiding some of them taking positions
with their bows and arrows behind the bushes. Wangdi went to persuade the women folk to
surrender men without any trouble. While the dialogue was going on his body was riddled with
three arrows and wangdi died on the spot. The situation thereafter progressively deteriorated and
there was cases of murder dacoity, looting of property etc in meanwhile a firm action was called
for to tackle the situation. The west Bengal cabinet decided in favour of police action about 700
persons was arrested. Nearly 1500 policemen were employed to tackle this problem. 6 All this
while, government was steadily building up. In 1967, Naxalites organized the All India
Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and later broke away from
CPM. Violent uprisings were organized in several parts of the country. In 1969, the AICCCR
gave birth to the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI (ML)). Practically all
Naxalite groups trace their origin to the CPI (ML). A separate offshoot from the beginning was
the Maoist Communist Centre, which evolved out of the Dakshin Desh group. The MCC later
fused with the Peoples War Group to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).A third off
shoot was that of the Andhra revolutionary communists, mainly represented by the UCCRI
(ML), following them as line legacy of T. Nagi Reddy, which broke with the AICCCR at an early
stage. During the 1970s, the movement was fragmented into disputing factions. By 1980, it was
estimated that around 30 Naxalite groups were active, with a combined membership of 30,000.7

The factors causing of Naxalite Movement

5 Sen, Sunil Kumar (1982). Peasant movements in India: mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi.

6 Diwanji, A. K. (2 October 2003). Primer: Who are the Naxalites?. Rediff.com. Retrieved 2007-03-15.

7 Singh, Prakash. The Naxalite Movement in India.New Delhi:Rupa & Co., 1999. p. 101.

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Naxalism is the most significant political movement since independence. It has been the most
long-lasting though it has had its ups and downs. Despite its fragmented nature a continuing
thread with some variations can be seen in the ideological thrust, strategy and tactics of
mobilization of different groups within its fold. It is the only movement which having started in
one police station of a single district in West Bengal in 1967 has expanded its activities covering
over 460 police stations in 160 districts across 14 states despite the police force and
infrastructure having grown manifold during this period. The movements capacity to challenge
the state has also enormously increased considering the incidents of violence and casualties
resulting from them. The movement is viewed with greater anxiety in the government because it
is most intense precisely in areas which are rich in natural resources and, therefore, targeted for
fast-track industrial development.

The main reason causing Naxalite movement and its existence even in post in post cold war era
is failure of implementing the 5th & 9th Schedules of the Constitution of India.

The Fifth Schedule states briefly that all scheduled areas of the country which are forest reserves
and inhabited by scheduled tribes are to be administered by the governors of the states by
appointing tribal advisory councils from among the tribals of a particular forest reserve or a
scheduled area. Regrettably, no governor of any state in India has ever constituted tribal advisory
councils of scheduled tribes living in the reserve forests or scheduled areas of the states they
were governing. In this deliberately created vacuum, the chief ministers of the states have
merrily administered their reserve forests by leasing forests for mining to private companies,
evicting the tribals living in these forests for millennia.

The Ninth Schedule of the Constitution dealt with the fact that cultivable land which over
thousands of years had come under the ownership of upper castes should be acquired by the
government and redistributed among Indias landless peasantry. Since land revenue was a state
subject, the states were directed to legislate land ceiling laws and implement them by acquiring
farmlands from landlords and redistributing them to landless farmers who for centuries worked
under the most abominable conditions on the lands of the landowners

There are some reason causing Naxalite movement and its existence that the first is that
insurgencies arise out of unmet political demands, usually from a minority that feels it is being

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oppressed.8 The second school of thought cites economic inequality as a reason for insurgent
uprising, typified by the revolts of lower class social groups against what they feel is lack of
access to economic gain.9 A third, smaller body of literature stresses the importance of
contributing factors, asserting that uprisings are more likely to occur where the terrain provides
sanctuary to small groups that can train, equip, and educate their followers outside the reach of
government forces.10

Naxalite Movement is Revolution or Terrorism

Naxalite movement is organized group of social and political activists perpetrating violence and
keeping the people under threats in certain parts of rural India over the past few years are
variously known as the Naxalites and the red rebels etc. The Naxalites who believe in spreading
terrorism. The term Naxalite is widely used by the media and the common men for the terrorists
of the present brand. Eleven states of the country including Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,
Chhatisgarh, Madhya Prdesh, Bihar, Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh, are faced with the problem of
terrorism from the Naxalites. From January 2006 to October 2007 as many as 1221 persons have
been killed and the incidents of violence which have taken place, have increased to 1258. The
terrorists are equipped with land mines, bombs, self loading riffles (SLR), A.K-47, cartridges and
other sophisticated weapons. They have their hideouts in forests and hilly areas and operate in a
well organized way. The plans of action of the Naxalites include hostage takings, kidnapping,
blasting on railway tracks, assassinations, arson, lootings and guerrilla warfare inside the forests.
Their targets are carefully chosen and they operate in a planned manner from remote and
inaccessible tribal and rural areas. There are certain pockets in all these states which have
8 James D. Fearon and David D. Laitin, Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War, American PoliticalScience Review
97, no. 1 (February 2003): 75-90; Ashutosh Varshney, "Why Democracy Survives,"
Journal of Democracy 9, no. 3 (1998): 36- 50.

9 Edward N. Muller and Mitchell A. Seligson, Inequality and Insurgency, American PoliticalScience Review 81,
no. 2 (June 1987): 425-452; Jenkins, Rob, "Democracy, Development and India's
Struggle Against Corruption," Public Policy Research 13, no. 3 (September 2006): 147-165.

10 D. M. (John) Mitra, Understanding Indian Insurgencies: Implications for CounterinsurgencyOperations in the

Third World, (MS thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, 2005).

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witnessed the worst kind of violence. They aim at killing political leaders, key functionaries of
the rural local bodies and policemen and loot arms from the police and reserve government
armory. At times they kill people in the areas of their operation whom they suspect to be their
enemies and informers of the police. Revenge killing and killing of people who refuse their
demands for cash payment are carried on regularly to boost the morale of the terrorist squads.
The civilian population is kept in a state of perpetual threat and shock Shopkeepers, rich
landlords, mill-owners and contractors of village roads are compelled to pay them security
money failing which they are hacked in the public. Very often the state intelligence agencies fail
even to get an inkling of their operations. Now we can conclude that naxalite is a terrorism.

Conclusion
The Naxalite Movement has thus greatly disrupted the smooth progressing of the country and has
causes loss of thousands of innocent lives across India. The Government should effectively come
into the pictureand should deal with their various problems like of social exclusion,
environmental degradation, grant of rights and should ensure means of proper governance to deal
with them in a comprehensive manner and then only this problem can be solved in a better way.
To deal with them in a comprehensive manner and then only this problem can be solved in a
better way.

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