ENGLISH PROJECT ON NAXALISM IN INDIA Hidayatullah National Law University Raipur, Chhattisgarh Submitted to: Mrs. Alka Mehta (Assistant Professor, English) Submitted by: Ayushi Dwivedi Roll No.-47 Semester- I, Batch XIII, B.A.L.LB.(Hons.) Date of Submission: 08/26/2013 ENGLISH PROJECT Page 1
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ENGLISH PROJECT ON
NAXALISM IN INDIA
Hidayatullah National Law University
Raipur, Chhattisgarh
Submitted to:
Mrs. Alka Mehta
(Assistant Professor, English)
Submitted by:
Ayushi Dwivedi
Roll No.-47
Semester- I, Batch XIII, B.A.L.LB.(Hons.)
Date of Submission: 08/26/2013
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Certificate of declaration ……………….....………………………….03
I hereby declare that the project work entitled “Naxalism in India “submitted to HNLU, Raipur,
is record of an original work done by me under the able guidance of Mrs. Alka Mehta, Faculty
Member, HNLU, Raipur.
AYUSHI DWIVEDI
ROLL NO. 47
SEM-I
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 3
2.Acknowledgements
Thanks to the Almighty who gave me the strength to accomplish the project with sheer hard
work and honesty. This research venture has been made possible due to the generous co-
operation of various persons. To list them all is not possible, even to repay them in words is
beyond the domain of my lexicon.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my teacher Mrs. Alka Mehta,
Faculty of English at HNLU, who had always been there at my side whenever I needed some
help regarding any information. She has been my mentor in the truest sense of the term. The
administration has also been kind enough to let me use their facilities for research work. I thank
them for this.
AYUSHI DWIVEDI
ROLL NO. 47
SEM I
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 4
3.Introduction:
The word Naxal, Naxalite or Naksalvadi is a generic term used to refer various militant
Communist groups operating in different parts of India under different organizational envelopes.
In the eastern states of the mainland India (Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa), they are usually
known as, or refer to themselves as Maoists while in southern states like Andhra Pradesh they
are known under other titles. They have been declared as a terrorist organization under the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of India (1967).1Leaders of the movement have been found
to have hideout located in China.2
The term 'Naxal' is derived from the name of the village Naxalbari in the state of West Bengal,
India, where the movement had its origin. The Naxals are considered far-left radical communists,
supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Their origin can be traced to the split in
1967 of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), leading to the formation of the Communist
Party of India (Marxist–Leninist). Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In later
years, it spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh,
Orissa and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist
Party of India (Maoist).3 For the past 10 years, it has grown mostly from displaced tribals and
natives who are fighting against exploitation from major Indian corporations and local officials
who they believe to be corrupt.
1http://www.mha.nic.in/uniquepage.asp?id_pk=292
2 "Cops nail China link with Naxals". The Times Of India. 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2011-12-31.Times of India describes new findings
of China ISI links to Naxal movement.
3Ramakrishnan, Venkitesh (2005-09-21). "The Naxalite Challenge ".Frontline Magazine (The Hindu).Retrieved 2007-03-15.
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4.Objectives
(1).The main objective of this project to is to study the origin and history of Naxalism in India.
(2).Another main objective is to study the reasons that how the Naxalites lost their motive and
became a threat to the society.
(3).To find some specific solutions to this problem.
Focusing on these objectives I will try to explain ‘NAXALISM’ through research and study by
the various resources and will try to bring the truth behind the curtain using the best of my
capabilities.
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 6
5.Research Methodology:
This project work is descriptive & analytical in approach. It is largely based on the analysis of
the origin and spread of the Naxalites in India. Books & other references as guided by faculty of
English were primarily helpful for the completion of this project.
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 7
6.History and Origin:
The term Naxalites comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a section of
the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) led by Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, Ram
Prabhav Singh and Jangal Santhal, initiated a violent uprising in 1967. On May 18, 1967, the
Siliguri Kishan Sabha, of which Jangal was the president, declared their readiness to adopt armed
struggle to redistribute land to the landless.4The following week, a sharecropper near Naxalbari
village was attacked by the landlord's men over a land dispute. On May 24, when a police team
arrived to arrest the peasant leaders, it was ambushed by a group of tribals led by Jangal Santhal,
and a police inspector was killed in a hail of arrows. This event encouraged many Santhal tribals
and other poor people to join the movement and to start attacking local landlords.5
These conflicts go back to the failure of implementing the 5th & 9th Schedules of the
Constitution of India. These Schedules provide for a limited form of tribal autonomy with regard
to exploiting natural resources on their lands, e.g. pharmaceutical & mining, and 'land ceiling
laws', limiting the land to be possessed by landlords and distribution of excess land to landless
farmers & labourers. The caste system is another important social aspect of these conflicts.
Mao Zedong provided ideological leadership for the Naxalbari movement, advocating that Indian
peasants and lower class tribals overthrow the government and upper classes by force. A large
number of urban elites were also attracted to the ideology, which spread through Majumdar’s
writings, particularly the 'Historic Eight Documents' which formed the basis of Naxalite
ideology.6In 1967, Naxalites organized the All India Coordination Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and later broke away from CPM. Violent uprisings were organized
4Sunil Kumar Sen} ({1982}). {Peasant movements in India: mid-nineteenth and twentieth centurie Naxalism}. {K.P. Bagchi}.
5Diwanji, A. K. (2003-10-02). "Primer: Who are the Naxalites?" Rediff.com.Retrieved 2007-03-15.
6 Hindustan Times: History of Naxalism
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 8
in several parts of the country. In 1969, the AICCCR gave birth to the Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist) [CPI (ML)].
Practically all Naxalite groups trace their origin to the CPI (ML). A separate offshoot from the
beginning was the Maoist Communist Centre, which evolved out of the Dakshin Desh group.
The MCC later fused with the People's War Group to form the Communist Party of India
(Maoist). A third offshoot was that of the Andhra revolutionary communists, mainly represented
by the UCCRI (ML), following the mass line legacy of T. Nagi Reddy, which broke with the
AICCCR at an early stage.
During the 1970s, the movement was fragmented into disputing factions. By 1980, it was
estimated that around 30 Naxalite groups were active, with a combined membership of
30,0007and at present the membership of the Naxalites has increased to lakhs.
Today, some Naxalite groups have become legal organisations participating in parliamentary
elections, such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. Others, such as
the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
Janashakti.
7Singh, Prakash. The Naxalite Movement in India. New Delhii: Rupa& Co., 1999. p. 101.
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 9
7.Some common Questions Regarding
The Naxalites:
7.1 Who are the Naxalites?
The Naxalites, also sometimes called the Naxals, is a loose term used to define groups waging a
violent struggle on behalf of landless labourers and tribal people against landlords and others.
The Naxalites say they are fighting oppression and exploitation to create a classless society.
Their opponents say the Naxalites are terrorists oppressing people in the name of a class war.
7.2 How many Naxalite groups are there?
Many groups operate under different names. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
is the political outfit that propagates the Naxalite ideology. There are front organisations and
special outfits for specific groups such as the Indian People's Front.
The two main groups involved in violent activities, besides many factions and smaller outfits, are
the People's War, the group many believe is responsible for the attempt on Chandra Babu Naidu,
and the Maoist Communist Centre.
7.3 Where do they operate?
The most prominent area of operation is a broad swathe across the very heartland of India, often
considered the least developed area of this country. The Naxalites operate mostly in the rural and
Adivasi areas, often out of the continuous jungles in these regions. Their operations are most
prominent in (from North to South) Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
easternMaharashtra, the Telengana (northwestern) region of Andhra Pradesh, and western
Orissa. It will be seen that these areas are all inland, from the coastline.
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.
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 10
7.4 Who do they represent?
The Naxalites claim to represent the most oppressed people in India, those who are often left
untouched by India's development and bypassed by the electoral process. Invariably, they are the
Adivasis, Dalits, and the poorest of the poor, who work as landless labourers for a pittance, often
below India's mandated minimum wages.
The criticism against the Naxalites is that despite their ideology, they have over the years
become just another terrorist outfit, extorting money from middle-level landowners (since rich
landowners invariably buy protection), and worse, even extorting and dominating the lives of the
Adivasis and villagers who they claim to represent in the name of providing justice.
7.5 Who do the Naxalites target?
Ideologically, the Naxalites claim they are against India as she exists currently. They believe that
Indians are still to acquire freedom from hunger and deprivation and that the rich classes --
landlords, industrialists, traders, etc. -- control the means of production. Their final aim is the
overthrow of the present system, hence the targeting of politicians, police officers and men,
forest contractors, etc.
At a more local level, the Naxalites have invariably targeted landlords in the villages, often
claiming protection money from them. Naxalites have also been known to claim 'tax' from the
Adivasis and landless farmers in areas where their writ runs more than that of the government.
7.6 When did this movement start? How did it get its
name?
The earliest manifestation of the movement was the Telengana Struggle in July 1948 (100 years
after the Paris Communes were first set up, coining the word Communist). This struggle was
based on the ideology of China's Mao Zedong, with the aim of creating an Indian revolution. Not
surprisingly, the ideology remains strong in this region of Andhra Pradesh.
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 11
But the Naxalite movement took shape after some members of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) split to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), after the former agreed
to participate in elections and form a coalition government in West Bengal. Charu Mazumdar led
the split.
On May 25, 1967, in Naxalbari village in Darjeeling district, northern West Bengal, local goons
attacked a tribal who had been given land by the courts under the tenancy laws. In retaliation, the
tribals attacked landlords and claimed the land. From this 'Naxalbari Uprising' came the word
Naxalite.
7.7 Was it ever popular?
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Naxalite movement was popular. There were reports of
brilliant students, including from the famed IITs, dropping out of college to join the struggle for
the rights of the tribals and landless labourers. But as has been the case with many movements
set up with high principles, over the years the Naxalite movement is seen as having lost its vision
and having compromised its principles. Nevertheless, the fact that it has an endless supply of
men and women joining its ranks shows that many still believe in its cause.
7.8 Do the Naxalites face much opposition?
Yes they do, almost from the entire Indian political spectrum. Noticeably, when the Naxalite
movement first started in the late sixties in West Bengal, it was the CPI-M that cracked down
hardest on the Maoist rebels, with ample support from the Congress at the Centre. At village
levels, the Naxalites' terror tactics have spawned local armies to provide protection to the
landlords and others. The most infamous of these is the Ranvir Sena in Bihar and Jharkhand,
formed by Bhumihar caste landlords, which kill tribals, Dalits and landless labourers either in
retaliation or to enforce their domination.
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8.Violence By Naxalites:
There are uncountable numbers of cases which shows the violent face of the Naxalites and brings
them in the category of terrorists.
Few very shocking and extreme cases are:
8.1 The Killing of 29 police men along with the Superintendent of
Police in Chhattisgarh:
On 12th of July, 2009 a troop of 29 policemen were going for a search operation inside the
jungles of Madanvada (a dense Naxalite area) and it was led by the Superintendent of Police of
Rajnanadgaon District Mr. Vinod Kumar Chaubey. While they were moving inside the jungle,
they were being attacked by about 400 naxalites who trapped these policemen in an ambush and
then all the 29 policemen including the SP Shaheed Mr. Vinod Kumar Chaubey laid their lives
while fighting with the gorillas and it was the first time in the history of Chhattisgarh and
Madhya Pradesh when an IPS officer was being killed in an Naxalite attack.
8.2 Killing of 76 CRPF Soldiers:
On 6 April 2010 Naxalites showed another face of terror and violence by killing 76 security
personnel. The attack was launched by up to 1,000 Naxalites in a well-planned attack, killing an
estimated 76 CRPF policemen in two separate ambushes and wounding 50 others, in the remote
jungles of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district in Eastern/ Central India. Also on 17 May, Naxals
blew up a bus on Dantewda-sukhma road in Chhattisgarh, killing 15 policemen and 20 civilians.
In third Major attack by Naxals on 29 June, at least 26 personnel of Indian Centre Reserve
Forces (CRPF) were killed in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.
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8.3 The Gyaneshwari express blast:
On 28th May, 2010 the Naxalites launched the most deadly assault in the history of the Naxalite
movement by blasting the Gyaneshwari express near the kharagpur station. When at about 3 am
the train was passing from the Rourkela-Kharagpur route which is considered to be one of the
most dangerous Naxalite belt, the train was being blasted by the Naxalites by fitting the blasting
elements in the railway track.
About 150 people were killed in this blast and many more were injured.
8.4 The Kidnapping of the District Magistrate and the foreign citizens:
Many cases of kidnapping by Naxalites were till now heard but in last 1 year the cases of
kidnapping the District Magistrates of Sukma (C.G), a DM and a MLA of Orissa in 2011 was
inin news.In March 2012 Maoist rebels kidnapped two Italians in the eastern Indian state of
Orissa, the first time Westerners were abducted there. 8
In late 2011, the death of Kishenji, the military leader of Communist Party of India (Maoist) was
killed in an encounter with the joint operation forces, which was a huge blow to the Naxalite
movement in Eastern India.12 CRPF personnel were killed on 27 March 2012 in a landmine
blast triggered by suspected Naxalites in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.9
8.5 Darbha Valley Attack: On 25 May 2013, Naxalite insurgents of the Communist Party of
India (Maoist) attacked a convoy of Indian National Congress leaders in the Darbha Valley in the
Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, India. The attack caused at least 27 deaths, including that of
former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel
Vidya Charan Shukla, a senior Congress leader also later succumbed to his injuries on 11 June
2013.10
8India Maoists kidnap Italian tourists in Orissa. BBC News. 2012-03-18.
9 12 CRPF jawans killed in Gadchiroli Naxal ambush". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2012-03-27.10 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Naxal_attack_in_Darbha_valley
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9.Naxalism: A Short Introduction to
India's Scariest Security Challenge:
Prime Minister Mahoman Singh has called them "the single biggest security challenge ever faced
by our country". Fourteen Indian states are struggling to battle the insurgency waged by their
20,000 fighters. Over the last three years some 2,600 people have died by their hands.
These are the Naxalites, the source of India's scariest security challenge.
Naxalism. It is a topic few in the West are aware of. The international media lends little attention
to India's Maoist insurgents, choosing instead to focus its attention on the more dramatic attacks
of groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba. It is hard to blame them: writing about Islamic terrorism has
become too easy. There is no need to perform substantive reporting or analysis on the cause of
events; pundits simply need to boil down Muslim gunmen and bombers to the level of caricature
and the news has been written. Naxalism, in contrast, does not lend itself to such easy
stereotypes. Not surprisingly, most media outlets have been conspicuously quiet about the
movement.
This silence is not sustainable. Indeed,an attack staged by the Naxalites was so spectacular that
even the New York Times could not ignore it. On the eighth of October 2009 Naxalites
ambushed a large contingent of Maharashtra police commandos, killing 17 of them in a gunfight
staged in broad daylight. As the Indian government begins a major nation-wide paramilitary
offensive against the Naxalites, the ambush on the eighth shall surely be but the first of many
battles. I suspect that as this conflict enlarges in scope and drags through time the word
"Naxalite" shall lose its alien sound. The day will come when Beltway analysts will pronounce
the fate of Chhattisgarh in the same steady voice as they prophesize of Xinjiang; soon the pundit
class will talk as freely of the Naxalites as they do the P.K.K.
However, this is all in the future -- the post below is for those of you who want a head start.
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The term "Naxalite" is derived from Naxalbari, the name of the West-Bengal town where India's
Maoist movement began. During the late 1960s the Communist Party of India was sharply
divided on how to bring about India's communist revolution. The party broke into two camps:
those in favor of a attaining power by election, whereby the party would have the influence to
provide momentum for a great urban uprising, and those in favor of utilizing the country's vast
peasant class to bring about a government-toppling armed insurrection. In 1967 Charu
Mazumdar, a member of this second camp, grew tired with the Communist Party's dithering and
debates and set out to begin the revolution himself. The Naxalbari revolts were the result of his
efforts.
Mazumdar called his new movement the "All India Coordination Committee of Communist
Revolutionaries", but most Indians knew the group by their place of origin, and began to call all
Maoist-style guerrillas "Naxalites." The movement was supported by two very different groups:
leftist college students (mostly from Kolkata), and poor Dalits and peasants who had just barely
survived India's worst famine in a century. A steady flow of aid from China further strengthened
the movement, allowing it to spread beyond the Naxalbari region itself, taking root in Andhra
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand.
From this point on events turned against the Naxalites. Chinese aid was cut off in the early 70s
when the Chinese Communist Party ended their long standing policy of funding Asian Maoist
groups. A brutal counterterror campaign was began by Bengal's police, and it decimated the
ranks of the Naxalite faithful. To top things off, Mazumdar himself was captured by state police,
and he stayed in their custody until his death in 1972.
Absent a study source of funding, a base of operations, and a leader, the Naxalite movement fell
apart. What had been one organization splintered into 30; divided and prone to factional
infighting, Majumdar’s mass movement was forced to the precipice of Indian society. Only in
rural areas far removed from government power did Naxalism retain a vestige of popular
support.
This state of affairs was the status quo well into the 1990s. By this time Naxalism had been
reduced to irrelevancy, prompting national and state governments to focus on more pressing
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 16
problems. Given breathing space the Naxalites were able to to rebound and then expand. By
2004 the two largest Naxalite factions joined together to form a new organization, the
Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist). The creation of CPI-Maoist was a watershed
event, ending the era of interactional violence among the Naxalbari and paving the way for
Naxalite resurgence.
Naxalism thrives in the regions of India devoid of state control and subject to endemic poverty.
Naxalites are often welcomed with open arms in such circumstances; those leading lives of toil
in India's isolated jungle villages eagerly grasp opportunities to escape the system of oppression
and impoverishment that dominates rural India. Once welcomed in, CPI-Maoists construct a
shadow-state, complete with taxes, regulations, and courts, all ostensibly for the betterment of
disenfranchised dalit peasants and tribal groups.
Yet for these oppressed groups seeking recourse by way of Naxalite is an inevitable Faustian
bargain. As it becomes clear that a Naxal shadow state has supplanted the authority of state
government, police forces are sent to drive the Naxalites out. In the violence that follows it is the
Dalits and tribals who suffer most.
That Naxalite groups find continued support in rural areas despite the ills that accompany their
presence marks another aspect of the regions Naxalites favour: the absence of an educated
citizenry. The states with a significant Naxal presence all have literacy rates below the national
average; the gap in literacy found between Bihar (54%) and Kerala (91% ) mirrors the extant of
Naxalite control in the two states.
The area of India where support for the Naxalism runs highest has been called
“THE RED CORRIDOR”, a long stretch of territory reaching from southern tip of Andhra
Pradesh to the eastern regions of West Bengal. The intensity of Naxalite insurgency varies across
this stretch; in most places Naxalites rule unopposed only in remote pockets and patches of the
region's countryside.
In the past opposition from the rural population of Eastern India has kept Naxalism from
growing past these remote pockets. The response to CPI-Maoists’ expansion was violent; many
rural landowners would not tolerate a Naxalite shadow state and founded anti-Maoist militias in
ENGLISH PROJECT Page 17
an attempt at armed resistance. The pattern was set by the SalwaJudum, a grass roots resistance
movement in Chhattisgarh that was co-opted by the state government soon after its founding.
Eager to find a quick fix to the Naxalite problem, the government of Chhattisgarh paid members
of the Salwa Judum as "Special Police Officers" and ordered them to clear the jungle of
Naxalite influence. The battles that followed this command resulted in thousands of internal
refugees across the state. The heavy handed tactics of the Salwa Judum and their government
patrons alienated many of the state's rural poor, and early this year the last vestiges of the
movement disappeared.
The same cannot be said for the Naxalites. Every bit of lost legitimacy for the Indian government
was a gain for the Naxalite's shadow state; by the end of this summer the Naxalites had enough
popular authority to set up road blocks on national highways and frisk employees of the
Chhattisgarh government.
The surge in Naxalite power is not limited to Chhattisgarh. Multiple states, some outside the red
corridor, have seen a troubling growth in Naxalite related violence. Part of the reason the
October 8th ambush made headlines is because it did not occur in Chhattisgarh, Bihar,
Jharkhand, or Orissa, the four states traditionally subject to Naxal violence.
The scope this violence has ensured action on the part of India's central government. Last month
the Central Reserve Police Force reported that it had lost six times the number of men to
Naxalites this year than it has to all other groups in all other combat zones, including Kashmir.
The CRPF announced that it was launching a nation-wide operation to counter the Naxal threat.
Titled "Operation Green Hunt", the campaign is expected to last two years.
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10.Reasons for failure, 1967–1975:
In a methodical study, Sailen Debnath has surmised the consequences and reasons of failures of
the Naxalite movement organised by Kanu Sanyal and Charu Majumdar.11 He writes "The
Naxalite movement, though continued intensively from 1967 to the middle of the 1970s and
resurfaced after some years, could not go a long way achieving anything commendable because
of the following reasons:"
The Naxalites wanted to surround the towns and cities by the villages, i.e., they wanted to
encircle the urban centres with organized peasant forces of the villages. If the peasant militia
could have occupied the cities, according to Majumdar, the so-called bourgeois government
would fall making the passage to the coming of a socialist government; but the Naxalites could
not and did not come up to a stage capable of organizing the peasants and thereby encircling the
towns.
Majumdar gave sole importance to secret organization, and justified the policy of continuing the
Movement without the need to build any popular mass base, forgetting or ignoring the fact,
popular mass base is the basic criteria of any Communist-Leftist Revolutionary movement. Kanu
Sanyal the original founder of the Movement vehemently did oppose this wrong action plan,
while being interred in the 'Parvatipuram Conspiracy Case’. Armed training for the purpose of
eliminating 'Class Enemies' was preached, but the educating the cadres on the Marxist-Leninist
thought process was never taken up, resulting in a lions majority of the cadres coming out of an
urban-frustrated-middle class background without any Revolutionary teaching and zeal, and who
were desperate for senseless actions. As the Naxalites did not have mass level organization, they
lacked mass support. With only a few armed elements, and those not properly educated in the
party line, little could be accomplished.
"Khatam" (the action of eliminating the so-called class enemies in villages) was a wrongheaded
attempt at political mobilization based on the individual murders of a select few people whose
political class and character was never adjudged by their socio-economic conditions or the
properties they possessed but very often only by their political affiliation or by the name and
11 Sailen Debnath, West Bengal in Doldrums, ISBN 9788186860342, N.L. Publishers