Seizure of state power

Editorial of Statesman

While Nepal has witnessed a reconciliation with the Maoists, as reflected in the latter’s participation in the new government, India continues to be a victim of their violence. With the extremists joining the mainstream, the movement ought to end in Nepal. India is still groping in trying to assess the problem and formulate a strategy.
The recent surge in Naxalite violence confirms that it is more than a mere law and order problem. There is increasing evidence of their extra-national links with forces hostile to the interests of this country. This calls for a renewed thrust in coping with the issue. Army intelligence points to a close connection between the Maoists and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The arrest and subsequent interrogation of the Nepalese Maoist, Pasang Lama, on Indian territory has only substantiated this link.
A synergized strategy is imperative. The recent Bhubaneswar meeting of the National Naxalite Coordination Commtitee was a step in this direction.

Compact zone

Maoist violence has spread from 156 districts in 13 states in September 2004 to 170 districts in 15 states in February 2005, affecting about 40 per cent of the geographical area of the country and 35 per cent of its population, going by intelligence reports. With the objective of establishing a “Compact Revolutionary Zone” as typified by the Red Corridor, extending from North Bihar to the underdeveloped hinterland of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal, the Naxalites want to use this stretch for eventual seizure of the state power.
Whether it is the activism of Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh, the attack on Jehanabad jail (resulting in freeing of about 340 prisoners and their leader Ajay Kanu) in Bihar, the killing of Sunil Mahato, the JMM MP or the recent attack on a police camp in Bastar killing about 56 policemen, the extremists have demonstrated greater precision, penetration, organisation and audacity in striking their chosen targets at will.
They are trying to transform themselves into a modern guerrilla force, equipped with sophisticated weapons and communication system. With the formation of a united outfit namely CPI(Maoist) along with the raising of an armed wing called the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army through the merger of Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the People’s War Group (PWG), the movement has been able to resolve infighting. There has also been a shift in focus and strategy. Today, they are not only logistically better organised and better trained, they are also better motivated and better led.
With the programme of a New Democratic Revolution, the extremists want to attain their objective through the spread of disaffection amongst the rural poor, by creating an impression that the new economic policy, hegemonic and imperialistic as it is, is prejudicial to their interests. The newly acquired prosperity of the landlords, bourgeois traders and bureaucrats further annoys and frustrates them. They believe that the benefits of the Panchayati Raj have been cornered by a handful of well-do-peasants. Hence, they have declared all landlords, big or small, and all bourgeois, powerful or petty, as class enemies and have been working for their elimination through violent means.
The new strategy is one of protracted armed struggle whose objective is not seizure of land, crops or other immediate targets, but the seizure of state power. Within this perspective, participation in elections and engagements with the prevailing bourgeois democracy are rejected, and all efforts are focussed on revolutionary activities to undermine the state and seize power. They plan to mount further attacks against the symbols of “feudalism, imperialism and comprador bureaucratic capitalism’ and they don’t mind supporting the struggle of nationalities for their self-determination, including the right to secession.
They are believed to be working on a counter-strategy to intensify the people’s war by increasing their mass base across the country and strengthening its armed cadres. If we try to examine the pattern, breadth and precision of extremist violence in the country, we will notice that they have not only been successful in strengthening the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the military wing of the CPI-Maoist, but have also succeeded in recruiting more cadres. They have done this through militant, but populist mass movements against the neo-liberal policies of globalisation, liberalisation, and privatisation. Their strategies are aimed at expanding the armed struggle from “guerrilla war” to “urban and mobile warfare”, focusing on industrial areas.
With Singur and Nandigram coming into focus, the extremists are placing more emphasis on an agrarian revolution and a protracted people’s war as the path towards a “new democratic revolution”, as witnessed during the heyday of the Naxalbari upsurge in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Naxalites have cashed in on the popular resistance to the proposed land acquisitions in Singur and Nandigram, if reports of their expanding mass base in such areas are any indication. They further plan to use resistance to the SEZ phenomenon as a means to extend their presence to new areas. Today, as many as 250 proposals to establish SEZs in 21 states are awaiting approval and Naxalites are reportedly busy drawing up plans for more such flare-ups.
Taking a cue from their Nepalese counterparts, the home-grown Maoists are believed to be in collusion with sundry revisionist and secessionist forces in order to expand their support base. The Maoists in Nepal had declared their support to eight minority autonomous regions during their armed struggle. In return, they received support from these areas.
Naxalites here have also been supporting demands for separate states like Telengana and Vidarbha. They also support the secessionist movements in the North-east and Kashmir and as such pose a bigger threat to national security than we have cared to believe so far.

Emotive issues

The extremists are trying to set up new bases by taking up such emotive issues as forcible displacement caused by the Special Economic Zones, industrialisation, infrastructure development projects, caste oppression and religious fascism. They intend to turn the guerrilla war into a mobile war and guerrilla zones into base areas. They have also been exploring new tactics against the background of the changes taking place in the agrarian sector.
No form of government has proved to be better than democracy. And Indian democracy is remarkably resilient. If the Maoists still feel differently, they must come forward to discuss the issues across the table. The government has responded to the standard charges of “inequitable and inegalitarian development”. It has come forward with a series of development proposals to address the inequity. The Maoist support to secessionist and separatist movements is misplaced and points to a garbled conception of politics. By indulging in the brazen and unprincipled acts of violence, they are not only hurting the cause of development, but are also playing into the hands of our enemies. The government, on its part, needs to strengthen the capabilities of the police and the Intelligence network.