The Naxalites: What is the solution

After declaring that beheading is their signature, Naxalites hog the limelight of the Indian media and our leaders are forced to speak on this issue repeatedly. The soft-corner approach to them as to cater their political motives has boomeranged. The ruling Government has mastered the art of creating demons and becoming a victim to the same demon later. Who are naxals and how to tackle – some share of thought!
Naxalites or Naxals, is a term used to define the groups waging a violent war allegedly on behalf of landless laborers and tribal people against landlords and higher-caste people. The term Naxals or Naxalites derived from Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal where this movement got originated.
An extremist section led by Charu Majumdar & Kanu Sanyal in 1967, initiated the process of “revolutionary opposition” opposing the CPI(M) leadership. The attack on a farmer by local goondas over a land dispute (involving judgment from the Court) proved as a spring-board to this group. This group, in the guise of farmers attacked the landlords and aggravated the violence. This initiated the formation of Naxal movement in India. However, even before this episode, seeds are sown for this group to evolve in 1948 at Telangana. This struggle was based on the ideology of China's Mao Zedong, with the aim of creating an Indian revolution.
Ideologically, the Naxalites claim they are against India, the country, per se. They believe that Indians are yet to get freedom from hunger and deprivation and that the rich classes say landlords, industrialists, etc., control the means of production. Nor do they believe in Democracy. They are not willing to participate in elections but wishes to rule the people by terrorizing them. Their aims are to overthrow the present system and hence are targeting politicians, police officers and forest officials etc.
The Naxalites say they are fighting oppression and exploitation to create a classless society. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is the political outfit that propagates the Naxalite ideology. There are many groups operate under different names but with this same principle. The two main groups involved in violent activities, besides many factions are the People's War Group, and the Maoist Communist Centre.
This movement remained popular in early ‘70s. There were reports IIT students dropping out of college to join this movement. Films were produced justifying the wrong deeds of Naxals and portrayed them as saviors of poor or as modern day Robin-hoods. However, as seen with many other outfits that started with a principle later drifted apart, the Naxalite movement too, is seen as having lost its vision and having compromised its principles.
The Naxalites mostly operate in the rural and tribal areas far from the mainstream. Their operations are prominent in Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern Maharashtra, Telangana (northwestern) region of Andhra Pradesh, Western Orissa and North-west region of Tamilnadu. It will be seen that these areas are all inland, far from the coastline. While the People's War is active mainly in Andhra Pradesh, western Orissa and eastern Maharashtra while the Maoist Communist Centre is active in Bihar, Jharkhand and northern Chhattisgarh.
The Naxalites claim to represent the most oppressed people in India, those who are often left untouched by Governments both State & Central and bypassed by the electoral process. Invariably, these men are the tribes, Dalits, and the poorest of the poor, who work as landless laborers for very poor wages.
The truth about the Naxalites is that despite their ideology, they have, over the years, turned into another terrorist outfit, extorting money from middle-level landowners (as the rich landowners buy Naxals themselves). They even extort and dominate the lives of the villagers who they claim to represent in the name of providing justice. Naxalites have also been known to collect 'tax' from the Adivasis and landless farmers in areas where their writ runs more than that of the Government. To have a comprehensive view, in the last decade alone they have killed more than 6500 innocent people in India. The terror tactics of Naxalites had given birth to private armies like Ranvir Sena in Bihar and Jharkhand.
Naxalites thrived on uneducated, jobless class of tribes who were repeatedly neglected by the officials and the politicians. The ruling Government at the Center took a lenient step towards this organization because of their left-leaning attitudes. The central govt repeatedly shied away from this issue and took the excuse of not interfering with State issues.

How to tackle:

¨ At the outset, the Government has to accept that it is not a law and order problem of individual states that are affected, but a national problem.

¨ Over the years, naxalites possess sophisticated rockets that can hit targets as far as one kilometer and the targets could be moving targets like car, truck, bus or train or in the air to hit landing helicopters. Hence the Police force should be strengthened in terms of infrastructure.

¨ We have to defeat them militarily. Complete military dominance is the key ( in the words of Arun Shourie).

¨ The policemen are to be trained and kept motivated. (Motivation of the fighting team is the key)



While these are the ideas floated very easily by all of us, the basic things are left out that provides ammunition to these naxals – that is the public support. After all, why the public should support these naxals? Is this out of terror or they have lost hopes on the government? Even the elite class does not believe the Government but surrenders to goons are what we have observed in the recent episode of Karan Johar’s Bombay joke. If this is the case in a metro city, there is no surprise in people supporting naxals in these tribal areas where the Government never ever attempts to access.
Developmental work: Considering that most naxal-affected places are rural and tribal areas, the government has to do something that make their presence felt. They should ensure that these areas have basic amenities provided if not some development. A police station would not suffice but these areas need hospitals, schools, drinking water and other basic amenities. Expecting the police to don the role civil administration would not serve the purpose but also weaken the police strength.
Win the confidence of local people: We should learn from the episode of Veerappan who simply survived by the local support and gave slips to the entire police team repeatedly. To do this, the Government has to communicate to the people in a continuous manner. This should be direct & informal and not through the movie clips produced by Films Division of India. Unless we stop the support of local population to these naxals, it would be difficult for anyone to make an inroad let alone defeating them. For this, we need to win the confidence of the local people that can be achieved only by providing the basic infra-structure for day-to-day life.
Dialog with people and not with Naxals: The most effective way to tackle the problem is to have a dialog not with the Naxalites but with the people in those areas. A dialog with Naxals would give a sign of approval of what they are doing.