Not long ago the Indian government was more concerned with helping the government in Nepal wipe out its Maoist insurgency. Now India faces a real political and military threat to its future. For example:
The Christian Science Monitor, August 22, 2006, reported
Maoist rebels spread across rural India India plans to deploy paramilitary forces to deal with growing insurgency. By Anuj Chopra Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor ULGARA, INDIA – A sprawling, yet largely hidden, war is raging in India's rural countryside, and after years of ignoring it, Delhi is signalling a military counteroffensive. India's Maoist insurgents, also called Naxalites, have expanded their area of operations from just four states 10 years ago to half of India's 28 states today. In 165 districts, they claim to run parallel "People's" governments. This year alone, fighting between rebel and government forces has claimed more than 500lives - many civilian.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh turned heads recently by calling the Naxalites, "The single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country."
To tackle the threat, Delhi is planning to deploy 11 battalions of paramilitary police and is sponsoring opposing vigilante groups who espouse violence. But issues of underdevelopment and poor human rights are the real oxygen of the Maoist insurgency, not local police weakness, argue critics of the new government approach.
"India has failed to rein in the Maoists simply because there are no quick-fix solutions to the problems arising out of [bad governance]," says Suhas Chakma, the director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), Delhi.
Hardest hit in this conflict are poor, tribal residents of rural villages like Ulgara, a hamlet in the rural interior of Jharkhand state. Naxalites pass through often, stopping sometimes to demand food, which villagers quietly admit they give out of fear. Five years ago, in the wee hours of the night, nearly 100 guerrillas attacked the village, torching 19-year-old Rakesh Kumar's house. His father was shot and his family beaten.
"We're stuck in the middle - between the Naxalites and the state," says Mr. Kumar, explaining that it's neither safe to support the Maoists nor turn them away.
Many beleaguered villagers have fled the area. Others, including the Kumars, are scrounging together money to move to the city. In parts of India, fearful villagers have reportedly abandoned whole villages.
Aiming to bring the fight to cities
Recent reports suggest that this rural insurgency is slowly, yet inexorably, spreading into four more states, with what analysts see is a long-term plan to extend their red corridor - called the "Compact Revolutionary Zone" - throughout India. Their ultimate stated goal is to capture India's cities and overthrow Parliament. In an interview last year with The Telegraph newspaper, a national daily, a member of the Maoist Central Committee named "Comrade Dhruba" said, "Our mass base is getting ready. After five years, we will launch our strikes."
While most observers doubt the Naxalites can directly threaten urban India, the guerrilla attacks are becoming more audacious - and lethal. Rebels attack in large numbers - much like the Maoists of Nepal, with whom they're suspected to have links - often to overwhelm their target.Attacks on police forces, train hijacking, and brutal beheadings are common. Just last month, India witnessed its worst spasm of Naxalite violence. In the thick of the night, nearly 800 armed Maoists sprayed bullets, killing 32, in an anti-Maoist relief camp in the Indian state of Chattisgarh - an impoverished region most affected by Naxalite violence.
To tackle the threat, Delhi is planning to deploy 11 battalions of paramilitary police and is sponsoring opposing vigilante groups who espouse violence. But issues of underdevelopment and poor human rights are the real oxygen of the Maoist insurgency, not local police weakness, argue critics of the new government approach.
"India has failed to rein in the Maoists simply because there are no quick-fix solutions to the problems arising out of [bad governance]," says Suhas Chakma, the director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), Delhi.
Hardest hit in this conflict are poor, tribal residents of rural villages like Ulgara, a hamlet in the rural interior of Jharkhand state. Naxalites pass through often, stopping sometimes to demand food, which villagers quietly admit they give out of fear. Five years ago, in the wee hours of the night, nearly 100 guerrillas attacked the village, torching 19-year-old Rakesh Kumar's house. His father was shot and his family beaten.
"We're stuck in the middle - between the Naxalites and the state," says Mr. Kumar, explaining that it's neither safe to support the Maoists nor turn them away.
Many beleaguered villagers have fled the area. Others, including the Kumars, are scrounging together money to move to the city. In parts of India, fearful villagers have reportedly abandoned whole villages.
Aiming to bring the fight to cities
Recent reports suggest that this rural insurgency is slowly, yet inexorably, spreading into four more states, with what analysts see is a long-term plan to extend their red corridor - called the "Compact Revolutionary Zone" - throughout India. Their ultimate stated goal is to capture India's cities and overthrow Parliament. In an interview last year with The Telegraph newspaper, a national daily, a member of the Maoist Central Committee named "Comrade Dhruba" said, "Our mass base is getting ready. After five years, we will launch our strikes."
While most observers doubt the Naxalites can directly threaten urban India, the guerrilla attacks are becoming more audacious - and lethal. Rebels attack in large numbers - much like the Maoists of Nepal, with whom they're suspected to have links - often to overwhelm their target.Attacks on police forces, train hijacking, and brutal beheadings are common. Just last month, India witnessed its worst spasm of Naxalite violence. In the thick of the night, nearly 800 armed Maoists sprayed bullets, killing 32, in an anti-Maoist relief camp in the Indian state of Chattisgarh - an impoverished region most affected by Naxalite violence.
The CPI has it’s own website called People’s March.
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