Questions regarding Maoist threat to India.

[indo]

My questions are regarding Maoist insurgency in India.

1)Why doesn't the GoI go all out against them ?
2)Do they enjoy local people's support ?
3)Do we lack the required equipment and expertise to tackle them ?
4)What are we waiting for , what scenario ( comparable to 26/11 or 9/11 ) will force us to react ?
5)Why are we not so sensitive regarding the deaths of CRPF jawans , police , CoBRA's by the Maoist ?
6)Many people in India and this forum treat them as "criminals" and not as "terrorists" , what is this assertion based on ?
I mean they are fighting against our state.
7)How can our politicians allow them to control swathes of land ?


According to me government should adopt 3 pronged strategy. Give them a warning and bring some factions to negotiating table. Launch all out war against remaining, and simultaneously pay special attention to development in these areas.

edit : what kind of warfare and strategy the experts would suggest to exterminate the naxals ?


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Please help me tag other members too.

 

[Pomegranate]

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[indo]

1 2 3 , @Etilla @SpArK @Srinivas @desert warrior @DRAY @pumkinduke @wolfpack @pursuit of happiness @danish_vij @rubyjackass @Star Wars @Ammyy @bloo @Marxist @karan.1970 @Not Sure @Arav_Rana @Avik274 @SamantK @Major Shaitan Singh @Omega007 @farhan_9909 @haviZsultan @Sidak @ranjeet @Yogijaat @ravi Nair @WAR-rior @halupridol @he-man @Indrani @Mike_Brando @SarthakGanguly @sreekumar @OrionHunter @lightoftruth @Water Car Engineer @indiatester @Ind4Ever @13 komaun @anant_s @itachiii @SwAggeR @Brahmos_2 @Blue_Eyes @bhangi bava @SAMEET @naveen mishra @Bagha @utraash @Chanakya's_Chant @Krate M @gslv mk3 @r1_vns @blood @noksss @kurup @PARIKRAMA @thesolar65 @Rohit Patel @wolfschanzze @levina @vostok @rahi2357

Thanks bro.

 

[SarthakGanguly]

They are largely history now. Occasional acts of violence continues though. Writ of the State has been restored.

 

[Pomegranate]

Thanks bro.

You're welcome

 

[anant_s]

Well they have been treated like citizens of the state irrespective of their activities and perhaps that is why army hasn't been used, although special task forces have been formed and they are acting with good amount of success.

 

[indo]

They are largely history now. Occasional acts of violence continues though. Writ of the State has been restored.

I really doubt that, every now and then there's news regarding maoist's killings.
I created this thread exactly for this perception.

I want to post some proof , but I cannot since I am a new member and thus cannot post links.
Just search " maoists kill " in the news section of google and you will get their everyday killing activities.

 

[Hindustani78]

Indian Home ministry is working to sort out the naxal problem.

Fight against Naxals: Rajnath Singh to chair meeting of four CMs | Zee News


The worst Maoist violence-affected states are Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The central government has deployed nearly one lakh personnel of paramilitary forces in these affected states to deal with the rebels.

 

[wolfschanzze]

1)You don't bring a Tank to a Knife fight.Yes,the earlier Governments were reluctant, but this one is going all out now.It will involve all the Surrounding 5 states around Chattisgarh,Jharkhand etc.To cut off the escape routes of Maoists.
Fight against Naxals: Rajnath Singh to chair meeting of four CMs | Zee News

2)They used to enjoy local people's support earlier in 80's,90's When there were people who really fought for the rights of Tribals,oppressed by Landowners etc.
Now,there is no support, as every wants to Move to city and have a better life,Maoists right now are a bunch of Mercenaries and people without jobs,you give them cash,they will give up Arms.

3)Some states lack the Necessary Equipment,training,Expertise to tackle them,mostly its the small states like Jharkhand,Chattisgarh etc.
Large states like ours AP etc. eradicated Naxal menace in 90's with Specialized Police Commando force"GreyHounds".Who went after the Maoists in aggressive COIN ops.This sort of Specialization is lacking in smaller states,which don't have the budget to modernize their police force.

4)We are not waiting for anything, everyday their numbers are thinning out,ATTRITION is a big issue for Maoists,they are losing more people than they can find recruits.New recruits are not easy to find nowadays as everyone is getting educated and wants to live a peaceful good life, not the life on the run in Jungles.

5)We are sensitive about the deaths of any security personnel,it is just that certain sections of media,don't play it up for TRP's and instead play Masala news for TRP.Most of the Media is paid news.

6)They are not "Terrorists" most of them have genuine complaints,that they were cheated by some Landlord etc.Once you give them good education,facilities and jobs they quickly enter mainstream.It's the frustration of not being able live a good life,that is being addressed and we have spectacular results in that field.That is the reason you seldom see,Maoists blow up Schools,Telecom towers,Post Offices etc. As they want people to be poor,illiterate so they can have their steady stream of recruits from such people.

7)Communist parties give Covert support to Maoists, it was their idea to turn India into communist nation, it failed after Indira Gandhi's bid to become Dictator during Emergency in 1974 failed.
I know many of my friends in Police, who narrate real life experiences where they had surrounded the whole Naxal leaders in a area and had the chance to cut off the 'Head of the snake' in one blow, but they were told to back off in the last minute on their Radio sets by higher ups.,as the Communists were threatening some state Governments with riots,large scale violence, if the Police went ahead and killed the Leaders of Maoists.
Communist parties are dying in India, which is a good thing and so is their,clout and ability to cover up Maoists.In a Decade the Communist parties like CPI,CPI(Marxist),CPI(Leninist) will win no seats in Parliament or State Assemblies.

Anything more?

 

[WAR-rior]

I see it in a more pragmatic manner compared to fanboys who dont understand politics and its solutions.

@indo, below are my takes on ur specific pointers.

1)Why doesn't the GoI go all out against them ?

Coz they are not some insurgents who want a seperate country. They are the victims of age old soviet era policies which have to be worked upon for benefit of ur citizens rather than eradicating the citizens themselves. Afterall what Maoists want is rational as ompared to other terrorists in the region. Maoists only want their share for the govt activities on THEIR land. Till date, coz of bullshit land laws, not only maoists but common poor of India suffered.

2)Do they enjoy local people's support ?

Yes they do and rightly so. We in our A/c rooms will not understand their plight but locals do. Afterall, 90+ % of Below poverty line people are all tribals. Now dont they have right to life. And their actions become even more justified when govt programs for the poor are misused coz of red tapism and corruption at lower levels. Afterall, its govt figures that only 15/100 rupees from govt programs reach the last target person. Now u say, is our govt and their lack of political will responsible for maoist's plight or they themselves? Afterall, its not a crime to fight for your right to life.

3)Do we lack the required equipment and expertise to tackle them ?

No we dont. But somewhere or the other the govt knows that simply calling for their heads will be seen as inhumane for the already inhumanly treated people. Thats why nowadays u see, central govt call for talks and desire to solve their problems. But on ground their plight in not tackled seriously. But again, to a large extent things are been taken care and catered too. Some reason why so many maoists have surrendered. Now with growing economy, India is able to bring their life above the poverty line of not out of poverty. With time, they all will get into mainstream. Its just govt has to be sincere and focussed to bring them in mainstream. As we say, its not easy to undo a centuries old menace. It takes its own sweet time.

4)What are we waiting for , what scenario ( comparable to 26/11 or 9/11 ) will force us to react ?

Dont comapre 26/11 to Maoists. They are not interested in killing anyone outside their region. They are not some jihadis. They fight in their own forests coz their idea is to safeguard it from govt force who wanna sell it to corporates for almost free or peanuts. theats exactly why they are anti capitalism.

5)Why are we not so sensitive regarding the deaths of CRPF jawans , police , CoBRA's by the Maoist ?

Point is both the sides are our own people. Poor CRPFs have to go into their region and flush them out so obviously they retaliate. Instead of CRPFs, they need govt partnership for their land and growth of this country.

6)Many people in India and this forum treat them as "criminals" and not as "terrorists" , what is this assertion based on ?
I mean they are fighting against our state.

Terrorist is one who terrorize innocents. Maoists never came to Mumbai or Delhi to kill commoner. They only try to safeguard their region from external insurgents/occupiers coz their region has the best minerals that india can provide. Now govt want to own it in name of govt property which it never was for millenia.

7)How can our politicians allow them to control swathes of land ?

Coz its theirs and always was. Its their livelyhood. Just coz India is a democracy doesnt mean it can snatch any land unlawfully. BAsic funda of democracy is rule of land. Even u agree, our Land laws were obselete and half century old. With latest reforms, maoism will only decline and the way to move forward rather than suppressing it. Afterall, they r not asking freedom from India but freedom from atrocity and treatment as per Indian law.

 

[rubyjackass]

My questions are regarding Maoist insurgency in India.

1)Why doesn't the GoI go all out against them ?

Because a lot of them are general population with some grievance or under some indoctrination.

2)Do they enjoy local people's support ?

Yes. In some villages, they gave up a generation for revolution. They are not simply going to admit their sons/daughters died for a stupid cause

3)Do we lack the required equipment and expertise to tackle them ?

In some states, yes, there is a lack of expertise. The states that did weed out Naxalism did so with considerably lesser bloodshed. Andhra Pradesh simply increased its intelligence multi-fold and took/drove out the top leaders. Once the leaders leave the state, the government machinery can give people access to governance.

4)What are we waiting for , what scenario ( comparable to 26/11 or 9/11 ) will force us to react ?
5)Why are we not so sensitive regarding the deaths of CRPF jawans , police , CoBRA's by the Maoist ?
6)Many people in India and this forum treat them as "criminals" and not as "terrorists" , what is this assertion based on ?

The problem with Maoism is that they are not terrorists. By the laws of war, it is legitimate to hit the armed forces of enemy. Maoists do not even hit civilian logistic targets, let alone commit acts of terrorism. They consider it a war with Indian government and there is a simple logic behind their not attacking innocent civilians. They will quickly lose their support if they did not follow the rules they set themselves. Unfortunately the nomenclature of terrorism after Bush's antics meant that every act of violence is an act of terrorism, but it is not so.

We are not sensitive regarding deaths of our policemen because life is cheap in India. You just have to look at the equipment they have. And to be a little insensitive with a fact, the policemen chose the profession, which brings some duties. The politicians don't give a sh*t to even give a respectful treatment to our policemen's bodies.

Well they do not fit the definition of terrorists who specialize in terrorizing civilians. Read above.

I mean they are fighting against our state.
7)How can our politicians allow them to control swathes of land ?

The question is tricky. Maoists do not have effective control over large swathes of land in the classical sense. They are like nomads and they never face off with police like LTTE did with a defined area under its hold. They always melt away when the police are coming. What is left is a village of people with some questionable sympathies with the Indian state.

As long as the politicians do not understand what their law enforcement agencies want, the response will be ineffective. Politicians usually don't care unless one of theirs is hit.

 

[ashok mourya]

We need one more Operation Steeplechase now

In July 1971, Indira Gandhi took advantage of President's rule to mobilise the Indian Army against the Naxalites and launched a colossal combined army and police counter-insurgency operation, termed "Operation Steeplechase," killing hundreds of Naxalites and imprisoning more than 20,000 suspects and cadres, including senior leaders.[23] Theparamilitary forces and a brigade of para commandos also participated in Operation Steeplechase. The operation was choreographed in October 1969, and J.F.R. Jacob was enjoined by Govind Narain, the Home Secretary of India, that "there should be no publicity and no records" and Jacob's request to receive the orders in writing was also denied bySam Manekshaw.[24]

Operation Green hunt...going on
In October 2009, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) announced that it was in the final stages of planning the offensive and had received approval from the Union-led government. The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) would take the lead in the operations against Maoist insurgents.[15] But in September 2009, the media had already reported a "massive 3 day joint operation" by the CoBRA andChhattisgarh police against the Maoists in Dantewada.[1]

At the beginning of November 2009, the first phase of the operation began inGadchiroli district. As many as 18 companies of the central paramilitary forces were moved into the area in anticipation of the operation.[16]

In April 2010, Mark Sofer had a conversation with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and M. K. Narayanan on the subject of the "Maoist extremism" and West Bengal's internal security, and offered assistance by Israel in the state's battle against the Maoists.[17]

Initially in 2009, the government of India had decided to move 80,000 central paramilitary personnel to wage offensive against the Maoists, strengthened by a fleet of 10 armed helicopters from the Indian Air Force.[18] According to the Daily Mail, by mid 2012, about 100,000 paramilitary personnel were deployed by the Indian government in its anti-Maoist operations from the CRPF, Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and CoBRA.[2] On 3 January 2013, the government of India issued a statement that it is deploying 10,000 more central paramilitary personnel inBastar, Odisha and some parts of Jharkhand.[3] By May 2013, about 84,000 troops from the CRPF had been stationed in the Red corridor to beef up the offensive.[19] Apart from the paramilitary personnel, the SAPF personnel deployed in operations against the Maoists are estimated to number around 200,000.[6] In his analysis in March 2014, Gautam Navlakha has claimed that 286,200 CRPF personnel along with 100,000 personnel from other central paramilitary forces and the SAPF are now engaged in the offensive against the CPI (Maoist) in 10 states of India.[20] On 8 June 2014, theMinister of Home Affairs officially approved the deployment of another 10,000 troops from the paramilitary forces to fight against the Maoists in Chhattisgarh.[4]

To further boost the government's offensive, the Ministry of Home Affairs is looking forward to "clone" new commandounits on the likes of Andhra Pradesh's Greyhounds and induce them in the ongoing anti-Maoist operations in five other states – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra and Odisha.[2] The Times of India, in May 2013, stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to induce 10,000 more paramilitary personal to move "towards a fight to finish war against Maoists in Red Zone."[21]

The Indian Army has also been stationed in the Red corridor, however, the Army claims that it is present there to train the paramilitary personnel to fight against the Maoists and denies its direct role in the offensive operations.[22] TheChief of the Army Staff and the 7 army commanders in mid-2011 had assessed that, if required, about 60,000-65,000 troops from the Indian Army would need to be induced in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal to battle the Naxalites.[23] On 30 May 2013, the Indian Air Force's Air Chief Marshal declared that apart from the currently operating MI-17 helicopters, the Indian Air Force is inducing a fleet of MI-17V5 helicopters to "provide full support to anti-Naxal operations."[8]

Recently in August 2014, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated that it is "sending" 2,000 personnel from the Naga Battalions of the Nagaland's Indian Reserve Battalions (IRB) in Chhattisgarh's Bastar to attack the Maoists, which according to The Economic Times, would make Bastar "the most–militarised zone in India." The Naga Battalion personnel are being send to fight the Maoists for a second time, with having battled the Maoists once before in West Bengal.[5]

The Indian armed forces' personnel use satellite phones and they also have access to unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs).[6] Security forces have been using UAVs in anti-Maoist operations for quite some time in Bihar, Chhattisgarhand Jharkhand.[24] Presently, the UAVs are being provided by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and Indian Air Force, but they have not been able to yield desired results for the armed forces. Hence, to further advance the offensive, the Defence Research and Development Organisation has taken an initiative to specially develop UAVs with "lower frequency radars" for the armed forces to "track down" the Maoists.[25] The NTRO has specially imported 12 drones from Israel for aerial surveillance of Naxalites' activities in the forest region on Andhra Pradesh–Orissa–Chhattisgarh border.[9]

The Ministry of Home Affairs says that from 2007 to 2012, the Indian armed forces have killed 905 Naxalites and arrested 12,008.[11] According to an analysis of the news reports by the South Asia Terrorism Portal, 2111 Maoists, 2669 civilians, and 1695 armed forces' personnel have lost their lives in the battle since 2005

 

[CONNAN]

The peasant movement in Andhra Pradesh just after India’s independence was a precursor to the rise of Maoist thought. But it was an attack on a tribal man in the Naxalbari village of West Bengal on March 2, 1967 that sparked the violent, extremist left-wing movement. A police research paper says the movement was subdued for two decades till 1991. Maoists are mostly active in what has come to be known as the red corridor from Andhra Pradesh in the south to West Bengal in the east. But they do have some sort of presence in 21 out of 28 states in India.

In general, India’s fundamental problems stem from the lack of reform and accountability in the government. The lack of reform reflects the profound ambivalence of India’s aging rulers toward bettering the country as a whole. The government has failed to be held responsible for the needy majority and has instead served the best connected minorities, the privileged. The large inequalities create a system whereby social mobility is difficult, if not impossible. Importantly, the country lacks historical examples of upward hierarchical progression, possibly due to prejudice based on background along with religious and tribal affiliation. Additionally, the ruling elite, often defined by caste, gender, educational background and income, are not interested in social equality. Some observers have argued that the deeply ingrained prejudice within the regions is the root cause of the unprecedented disparity. As the country was formed out of tribes, the tribal mentality has been an obstruction to building a unified country. Historically, tribes would take advantage of each other as a matter of practice cheating the other tribes to better your own was how tribes functioned. Teamwork extending outside one’s immediate group was never an important cultural element. This same tribal mentality has sabotaged progress and reform in independent India. As a result, each regional government applies its own tactics in fighting Naxalism with very little regard for a unified strategic vision.

Naxalites recognize that their armed forces are weaker than the local government’s potential, but as with all terrorist groups, they win simply by surviving. The group’s main strategy is to slowly attack the security forces, especially during times when the nation is preoccupied with external wars. Naxalism has gained support as it has correctly identified the deeply ingrained problems of Indian society, even if their methods of fighting it are not the most fitting. Inequality within Indian society is rampant, both between the castes and also within regions. Most Naxalites are tribal and among the bottom strata of the Indian caste system. However, these two groups make up a quarter of the population.

In general, the Naxalites are fighting a losing battle as they are unlikely to be a major threat to national security, rather remaining as a regional threat. The Maoist ideologies have been outdated globally, and will not apply in India as the country develops further. Although the movement is viewed as the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by India, the movement has remained on the margins of society and is unlikely to spread further. For one, the movement loses with the spread of development and information. However, the Naxalite movement is fighting the Indian government on its weakest front the rampant inequality of opportunity. Fighting Naxalism is also very important to the Indian government because the areas involved are rich in natural resources. As long as the central government is inconsistent in delivering development to all of the country’s regions, the Naxalite movement will not fade.

 

[ashok mourya]

 

[Krate M]

Nice replies.
I would like to add that the above replies are mostly true but the picture has changed a bit.

Due to improved development the people support of maoists has reduced a lot. Now they mostly terrorize the tribals into submission and support, get money from timber smuggling, poaching wildlife, extortion and kidnapping. So from protectors against abusive exploitation of jungle resources, they have become exploiters.
Their political support has also reduced, and now the most vocal support is from some smalltime local politicians.

The communist party support base has eroded drastically and now they have become political nobodies.

The main problem has been the politicians who are exploiting the tribals and using the maoists as a political tool at the same time, Congress being foremost in this game. That has changed now and gradual transition is happening.

There are still some bastards like jogi who play the double game. There were other Congress leader who worked to change this as well like Mahendra Karma.