The trend of Naxalism has been rising rapidly, yet steadily, in the last couple of years in India. Wait, what is that supposed to mean? What is the trend of “Naxalism”? Is it good or is it bad? Will it bring harm to us, or will it be a blessing?
Everything that you need to know about Naxalism will be explained in the next couple of paragraphs, in detail. We will soon learn what the trend of Naxalism is, whether it is a blessing or a curse, what do the Naxalites do, and how it is going to impact the future of our invaluable country India.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is Naxalism based off?
Before we get into what Naxalism is, to understand it further first, we need to know what Communism is. As is part of the general store of knowledge today, there are two main economic systems of the world: the capitalist system and the communist system.
Capitalism dictates that the government would be democratic, but there would be a system of rich and poor whereas communism indicates that the governance system would be totalitarian, and there should be a central control on economy.
India, for that matter, does not follow either of the above two economic systems. India follows socialism, a system that was mainly favoured by our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
But there are certain groups in India that believe otherwise. They do not support the socialist system chosen by India. Some are there that believe Capitalism would have been better. There is another set of people who believe that Communism is the right choice.
These people have gone so far as to form a political party known as the Communist Party of India (CPI). This party was formed in Calcutta, in the year 1969. It is one of the largest existing political parties in India today.
This party of Communism is based of two smaller groups together which follow Maoism and Naxalism respectively.
Maoists and Naxalites
The Maoists were originally based in China. They believe very strongly in the form of Communism theory that were explicitly taught by the Chinese Communist political leader Mao Zedong. As we all know, even to today, China is a communist country. Up till the years 1977 and 1978, Mao Zedong’s teachings were the fundamental basis of the political and military structures of China. And now the same ideology is being followed by the Maoists.
These Maoists basically aim to overthrow the government of India, solely through was. They had formed in the year 2004 and ever since then, the war they are waging has been going on. They are designated as a terrorist organization in India, and are often referred to be the “single biggest internal security challenge” for our country.
The people who believe in the philosophy of Naxalism and who practice it are called Naxalites. The name is derived from the Naxalbari village in West Bengal, where it had originally begun. It had actually begun as a rebellion against the landlords. The landlords in question had beaten up a peasant over a dispute about the land.
Two young men began leading the peasants into the rebellion with the objective of redistribution of land to the peasants instead of being in the grasp of the landlords.
The Naxalites are the extreme left radical communists. As they are sometimes referred to, the Naxals support the Maoist ideology. They include the tribal people and the peasants who support and put their trust in the Marxist – Leninist ideology.
What are the past acts of the Naxalites?
Some of the actions of the Naxals, or the Naxalites, have ended up terrifying our nation. Their acts are most aimed at giving more rights to the peasants and the tribal people but the method of achieving this objective is completely wrong. Their actions are not gaining any rights, but just terrorising the nation.
The range of violence has been conducted, which has had no consequence on the rights of the people, but has invariably ended up harming the masses by way of disruption in the elections, and destruction of schools, trains and rail lines.
Naxal violence has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 people and has displaced more than 12 million people. Since 1980, there has been a significant rise in the number of people killed in Naxalism controlled states. In fact, more than two hundred of India’s six hundred and forty districts are indirectly under Naxal control.
On the 15th of February, in the year 2010, there was an attack of many guerrilla commanders of the Communist Party of India. All the commanders are believed to be women. They killed a total of twenty four personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles at Silda in West Bengal. The attack was directed by a certain man named Kishenji.
Almost immediately after the attack and the raid of the Naxalites’ at the paramilitary camp, Kishenji addressed the news channels and media, stating that the violence had not been started by the Naxalites and they would most definitely not be the ones to end it. This attack was supposed to be in response to the “Operation Green Hunt” which they termed as an inhuman military operation.
They challenged the Central government to find a solution or they threatened to continue their response in a violent way.
Later that same year, on the 6th of April, the Naxals and the Maoists ambushed and killed seventy five paramilitary personnel who fell into the trap laid by the lurking Maoists.
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) described the incident as a “direct consequence” of the Operation Green Hunt. They defended their actions by stating that they had been surrounded by paramilitary battalions who were setting fire to the forests and making tribal people flee. In the acclaimed situation, they apparently had no other alternative but to stage attacks.
In the year 2013, on the 25th of May, the Communist Party of India ambushed a convoy of the Indian National Congress (INC) at Bastar, and killed 27 people. The people killed were prominent leaders of the INC. Some victims include Mahendra Karma, Nand Kumar Patel and Vidya Charan Shukla.
While they claimed they regretted the death of a few innocent Congress functionaries during the incident, they hold the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress’ policies which they view as “anti-people” in nature, as directly responsible for the attack. Later, 14 Maoist who had allegedly participated in the ambush were gunned down in Odisha by the Special Operation Group with the assistance of Border Security Force.
The Naxalite movement has attempted to achieve equity in the society by means of a mass movement and struggle, and they did achieve it to some extent but at the cost of the economic development of the state.
What can be done to control the rising tide?
As obvious, there has to be something done to control the rising tide of Naxalism. In my opinion, the Union government of India must come to a mutual understanding with the Naxalites. This understanding must prevail, must be for the advantage of the people of India and must finally end the internal rebellion.
The main reason why the Naxalites are powerful and mainly effective on in certain areas in India is because of the contradictions and unresolved issues in our society and communities. Their rapid growth is because they have an ideology that inspires the youth. Apart from this, they also have a highly organised structure and armed groups.
What can be a proper solution to this problem is the righteous enforcement of land ceiling laws and efficient utilisation of the funds provided by the government to the maximum. The central reason for the advancement of Naxalism is the vast exploitation of the poor and the scheduled castes. People, who have been displaced, should be given proper rehabilitation along with police protection. Security, as well as development, has to run hand in hand.
Conclusion
To conclude, it is very clear that something must be done about this rising trend of Naxalism, as well as all the other internal terrorist organizations in India. A country cannot prosper while there are internal rebellions still going on. We have to curb these fights and protect our nation.