NAXALISM IN

INDIA
 ORIGIN OF NAXALISM

• The advent of Naxalite movement in India took place in

1967, in a remote village of West Bengal called Naxalbari
when a tribal youth named Bimal Kissan obtained a judicial
order, allowing him to plough his land. The local landlords
with the help of their goons and musclemen attacked him.
This event enraged the local tribal population and led to a
violent revenge by the tribal community to reacquire their
land. The Naxalbari event took shape of a huge rebellion and
gained popularity and support across West Bengal, Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Tamil Nadu and Uttar
Pradesh.
 ABOUT NAXALISM

The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency, officially referred to as

the Left Wing Extremism (LWE), is an ongoing
Conflict between Maoist groups known as Naxalites or
Naxals (a group of communists supportive of Maoist political
sentiment and ideology) and the Indian government. The
influence zone of LWE is called the Red corridor which is
active in states like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa,
Jharkhand, etc. The movement first emerged in 1920 and with
the course of time has grown into many states and areas. The
idea behind it is to create a classless society.
• There is no belief in the parliament democracy and its
practices. The rural areas are made to transform into guerilla
zones which they call “ liberated zones” where such illegal
practices are carried out. It all started when the Communist
party of India Marxist which was led by Charu Majumdar
initiated a violent uprising in 1967.
ABOUT
CHARU Charu Majumdar , popularly known as CM,
MAJUMDAR was a Communist leader from India, and
founder of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist). Majumdar was born in
1919 in Matualaloi, Rajshahi (now Siliguri) to
the Zamindar family. After dropping out,
Majumdar joined the then banned Communist
Party of India(CPI) to work in its peasant front.
Soon an arrest warrant forced him to go
underground for the first time as a leftist
activist. During the mid-1960s Majumdar
organized a leftist faction in Communist Party
of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) in northern Bengal.
In 1967, a militant peasant uprising took place
in Naxalbari, led by his comrade-in-arms Kanu
Sanyal. This group would later be known as
the Naxalites, and eight articles written by him
at this time—known as the Historic Eight
Documents—have been seen as providing
their ideological foundation
 ABOUT CPI (M)
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is a Marxist
Leninist Maoist banned communist political party and
militant organization in India which aims to overthrow
the "semi-colonial and semi-feudal Indian state“
through protracted people's war. It was founded on 21
September 2004, through the merger of the Communist
Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War (People's
War Group). CPI(M) currently operates in the forest belt
around central India in the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha.
The ideology of the party is contained in a "Party
Programme." In the document, the Maoists
denounce globalisation as a war on the people
by market fundamentalists and the caste system as a
form of social oppression. The CPI (Maoist) claim that
they are conducting a "people's war", a strategic
approach developed by Mao Zedong during the
guerrilla warfare phase of the Communist Party of
China. Their eventual objective is to install a "people's
government" via a New Democratic Revolution.
 ABOUT SALWA JUDUM – A
BANNED MILITIA
Salwa Judum (meaning "peace march" or "purification
hunt" in the Gondi language) was a militia that was
mobilised and deployed as part
of counterinsurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India,
aimed at countering Naxalite violence in the region. The
militia, consisting of local tribal youth, received support
and training from the Chhattisgarh state government. It
was outlawed and banned by a Supreme Court court
order but continues to exist in the form of armed
auxiliary forces, District Reserve Groups, and other
vigilante groups. On 25 May 2013, the group's
founder, Mahendra Karma, who had become a
senior Congress party leader, was killed in a Naxalite
attack.
 CAUSES FOR NAXALITE
MOVEMENT

⚫ Haphazard tribal policy implementation, marginalisation, and

displacement of the tribal communities worsened the situation.

⚫ Lack of industrialisation, poor infrastructure growth and

unemployment in rural areas led to disparity among the people living
in these areas. This has led to an anti-government mindset among the
locals in the isolated villages.

⚫ Forest mismanagement was one of the main causes of the spread of

Naxalism. It originated during the time of British administration when
new laws were passed to ensure the monopolisation of the forest
resources.
⚫ Indian Youth - Failing to generate sufficient jobs for Indian youth just graduating
from colleges and universities has been one of the major causes of the rise in
Naxalism. The idealism for the Naxal movement has been inflicted on the youth who
are fresh graduates. Hence the increase in such numbers has been in leaps and
bounds in the past few years.

⚫ The poor implementation of the land reforms has not yielded the necessary
results. India’s agrarian set up is characterised by the absence of proper surveys and
other details.

⚫ Interregional discrepancies - The poor in India have always been the less
privileged. In previous years the government did not make any schemes or policies
for the poor. So Naxalites became the voice of the poor, and the people from the
lower economic class thought the Naxalites would solve their problems. Hence they
started joining the Naxalism movement.
 INITIATIVES BY THE GOVERNMENT
• SAMADHAN Doctrine - Launched in 2017, it stands for S – smart leadership, A –
Aggressive strategy, M – Motivation and training, A – Actionable intelligence, D –
Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas), H –
Harnessing Technology, A – Action Plan for each theatre and N – No access to
financing. Its aim is to enhance the government’s anti-Maoist initiatives, even the
basic components of the counterinsurgency campaign.

The banning of CPI (Maoist) and enactment of the UAPA Act, 1967 THE UNLAWFUL
ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT,1967. The nationwide ban on CPI (Maoist) and the
enactment of UAPA ensured pressure on Maoists.

Modernization of Police Forces: The government has launched a Police Modernization

Scheme in areas affected by Naxal movements. Under this scheme, central
government provided money to the state governments to modernize their equipment
and tactical gear including latest communication, vehicles and infrastructure facility.
INITIATIVES BY THE GOVERNMENT

• Operation Green Hunt: It was started in 2010 and massive deployment

of security forces was done in the naxal-affected areas. From 223
districts that were affected due to naxalism in the year 2010, the
number has come down to 90 in ten years. The operation is believed to
have begun in November 2009 along five states in the “Red Corridor”.

• Deployment of Central Paramilitary Forces: Central Reserved Police

Forces (CAPF) have been created to carry out counterinsurgency
strategies. More than 70,000 CRPFs have been deployed in the Naxal-
affected states. In addition, the Centre has helped states to raise 14
Specialized Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) that are
equipped and trained in guerrilla and jungle warfare techniques and
deployed to the worst-affected districts.
 CONCLUSION

• The concerted effort from both the Centre and Naxal affected
states is a rare example of cooperative federalism.
Comprehensive COIN strategy, encompassing both the
population-centric and enemy-centric approaches has
significantly reduced the Naxal footprint in many of the
militant groups in the region. Yet, the Naxalites still remain a
formidable force that can nevertheless be considered a threat
to India’s national security. However, unlike in the 2000s, the
Indian government is well prepared in addressing this issue
through a comprehensive strategy that is already in place.