The Case Of Women Maoists: How Gender Equality Can Tackle Terror

Context: Addressing the gender injustices that motivate many to join Maoist cadres can help the Indian state contain this insurgency.

Expressions of gender motivators in the Red Corridor:

• Dominant presence of women in Maoist cadres: Women occupy 60% of total Maoist cadres and almost all operational and tactical positions responsible for sustaining Maoist rebellion.
  • Communist Party of India (Maoist) released a list of 22 martyred women cadres: To applaud the contribution of women to its cause.
• Moist appeal rooted in commitment towards women’s rights: This commitment manifests in all-women squads such as the Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sangathan (KAMS).
  • They led extensive campaigns against forced marriage, abduction, outcasting menstruating women, bigamy, domestic violence, and police brutality.
  • The umbrella grievance of women in the movement is that of gender inequality.
• Increased crimes against women: National Crime Records Bureau 2019 data shows that Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha registered 84,938 such crimes.
  • Women face sexual harassment from the state as well as insurgents, with no avenues to seek justice.
  • Tribal women were victims of 69.6% of violence against women over the past decade.
  • Thus, police brutality and impunity push women towards Maoism, creating a cycle of violence.
• Increasing layers of inequality: The Red Corridor’s SC/ST women know this first-hand as they endure layers of gender, caste, and class subjugation.
  • Tribal women were victims of 69.6% of violence against women over the past decade.
  • Even within the rebellion, SC/ST women form 40% of the forces but 90% its martyrs.
  • SC/ST women disproportionately suffer mass displacement and loss of livelihood, as 75.8% of India’s mineral production currently comes from their ancestral lands.
• Marginalisation of the rural economy: Renders women poorer than men of the same households. Therefore, many women perceive Maoism as relief from poverty and unemployment.
  • Rashmi Mahli, an ex-combatant from Jharkhand, confirmed this.

Nevertheless, the above gender motivators act as just an illusion since female Maoists are face discrimination within the ranks. E.g. They face sexual assault and gendered division of roles such as cooking, cleaning and nursing.

Way forward

• Re-enter discourse through effective gender-sensitive policies: That offer women better alternatives than joining cadres (Since Maoists are not immune to patriarchal attitudes and behaviour).
• Re-work hard-power security responses: With an adequate focus on ground realities and focus on the welfare of Adivasis.
• Priority must be to diminish motivations, not demean them: The driving factors should not only be understood as incentives behind the violence but potential solutions for peaceful outcomes.