Are these India’s new Maoists?
Who are the Naxalites-Maoists?
Naxalites primarily comprise a group of far-Left radical Communists who believe in the Maoist political ideology. The Naxalites-Maoists primarily believe that real socio-political change can be brought about only through a people’s revolution and a mass movement to overthrow the current political order.
Growth of the Naxal Movement
The Naxal-Maoist insurgency started in 1967 with the splitting of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the formation of the ultra-Left Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). The movement had its cradle in Naxalbari, West Bengal. However, as the modus operandi turned increasingly violent, the movement’s footprints extended beyond West Bengal and into neighbouring Bihar and Odisha and thereafter to Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The West Bengal conundrum
From the early 1970s and until about 1977, West Bengal saw a parallel political movement taking shape through the ideas propagated by the Naxalites, which ran counter to mainstream political parties. This alternative ideology gradually turned extremely violent, leading to a massive crackdown by the state.
Current situation
The Naxalites-Maoists are currently active in about 62 districts of India, with Chhattisgarh being the epicentre. Kidnappings and extortion are some of the ways in which these ultra-Left insurgent groups raise funds. According to one unofficial estimate, until 2010, these groups had accumulated illegal funds to the tune of Rs14 billion (around Dh709.31 million).
The ‘urban Maoists’
The Intelligence Bureau has highlighted the Maoist threat in urban Maharashtra as a serious security challenge. According to Maharashtra Police, the caste violence triggered by a Dalit ceremony in Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, this year, was the result of an unholy nexus between Maoists and backward castes.
Urban Maoists can help mobilise pro-Dalit sentiments and that can reflect poorly on the BJP in certain pockets of India in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Debasis Bhattacharya | former CPI (M-L) member