A lost cause

The Hindu     15th November 2021     Save    

Context: The deaths of 26 Communist Party of India (Maoist) rebels in a police operation in Gadchiroli raised questions over continuing Maoist security risks in India. 

Challenges of ‘Left-Wing Extremism - Maoist’ in India 

  • Expansion of Maoist presence: They have extended their presence from neighboring Chhattisgarh to Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, a largely forested and tribal-dominated district, poorest region in the state.  
  • Refuse to withdraw: Despite suffering significant losses to its leadership either in military operations or due to physical infirmities and a shrinking of areas of influence, Maoists have refused to withdraw from their pursuit of armed struggle. 
  • Continuous loss of human lives: Cycles of violence have not provided Maoists any heft in expanding their presence or increasing their support base but loss of human lives.
    • Security forces continually lose combatants.
    • The poor tribal people lives are caught in a prolonged crossfire.
  • Futile causes: They refuses to acknowledge diverse industrial base in country, their reject liberal democratic instruments in the Indian state and the faith of the poor in the robust electoral system.
  • Unresolvable conflict of interests and methods: Their quixotic pursuit of armed struggle as means to achieve their aims, which bases itself on replicating the Chinese Revolution is a failure as the conditions in India and its peasantry are remotely closer to that of China during Chinese revolution.

Conclusion: Government must not rest on its success in militarily diminishing the Maoist. It must act continually in winning over the support of tribals and retaining their faith in the liberal democratic institutions of the state. 

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