Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
26 July 2011
India’s War against Maoist Guerrillas
Called Naxalites after a village in which their movement
was born, a group of Communist rebels is becoming
a major problem for the Indian government
A guerrilla group that started out in the remote forests of West Bengal in the 1960s has been ramping up the level of violence in its fight against India’s central government.
Calling themselves Naxalites, they follow the Communist teaching of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong to bring about a “revolution from the barrel of a gun.”
The original rebellion was put down by Indian authorities but remnants reformed and
added recruits. Today, India’s Maoists, says the BBC (April 6, 2010) in a profile
of the movement have “asserted control over vast swathes of land in central and eastern
India, establishing a so-
“This spans the states of Jharkand, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh and also reaches into Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka.”
Goal of Establishing a Communist State
The group presented itself as the voice of the poor and landless and fought oppressive landlords. The BBC says that the Maoists have the support of India’s rural poor who complain that New Delhi does nothing to ease their plight.
Persecution by Indian authorities also throws Indigenous Peoples into the arms of the rebels. In a May 2007 report Amnesty International wrote about “the alleged involvement of police in unlawful killings of 12 adivasis (indigenous communities) in Santoshpur on March 31. The allegations have been substantiated by a police inquiry but the state government refuses to approve the prosecutions of those suspected to be involved in the killings.”
The Naxalites have demanded the government set aside communist enclaves within the state in Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring regions. The government has refused, but the group does seem to control some activities in some areas of India.
Rebels Have Moved to Terrorism
Over the years, the Maoists have graduated to targeting the state and the security forces.
There are thought to be between 9,000 and 10,000 fighters with the support of tens of thousands more.
The spring of 2010 was particularly violent. In April, Maoists killed 75 policemen
in Chhattisgarth state. They followed this up in mid-
In late June 2010, an attack left 27 security personnel dead in Narayanpur district. The Hindu newspaper (July 2, 2010) quotes a spokesperson for the Maoists as saying “We will continue to hit hard security personnel because their atrocities on local innocent people are continuing.”
Big Threat to Indian Security
The Times of India (April 6, 2010) quotes Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram as saying “Naxalism is the first enemy of the country.”
According to the newspaper the minister “says Naxalism has assumed gigantic proportions as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 12 years,” adding that “the menace would be completely rooted out in another two or three years.”
According to CNN, “In February [the minister] “said more than 900 people, including
almost 600 civilians, were killed in Maoist-
Sources
“Profile: India’s Maoist Rebels.” BBC News, April 6, 2010
“We’ll Keep Targeting Security Forces: Maoists.” The Hindu, July 2, 2010.
“26 Troopers Killed in Suspected India Maoist Assault.” Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN, June 29, 2010
“Naxalism Country’s First Enemy: Chidambaram.” The Times of India, April 5, 2010.
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The Communist flag flies in an Indian village noted for its Naxalite activity.
Shreyans Bhansali
“In 2010, the Maoists faced India’s biggest ever anti-
Nearly 50,000 federal paramilitary troops and tens of thousands of policemen took part in the operation across several states.”
BBC News
March 2011