The recent unprecedented success, one of the most important achieved so far against Maoist terrorism, in which 29 Maoists including two Divisional Commanders were killed in an encounter in Abujhmad area, the most inaccessible part of Bastar Forest in Chhattisgarh has not been achieved overnight. It is the result of sustained, persistent implementation of the National Action and Policy Plan prepared by the Government in 2015 under which a multi pronged strategy with zero tolerance for violence was adopted to counter Maoist terrorism which is the biggest threat to internal security. Abujhmad as the name implies is an unknown plateau hills and an area that is not known and far away from civilisation. At the edge of Narayanpur in Bastar area, before the hills start, is a high school run by Swamis of the Ramakrishna Mission headed by Swami Vyaptanandaji assisted by junior Swamis exclusively for Janjatiya children of Abujhmad area. I went to this school last year and for the first time observed the unspoilt, pristine simplicity of Abujhmad tribals and the cooperative, harmonious living of the tribe in behaviour of these children, as yet uncorrupted by civilisation. Maoism is a form of Communism developed by Mao Tse Tung. It is a doctrine to capture State power through a combination of armed insurgency, mass mobilisation and strategic alliances.
Encouraging Anti-National Thinking
The Maoists also use propaganda and disinformation against State institutions as other components of their insurgency doctrine. The Urban Naxal phenomenon began in the 1960s when Left political parties supported the ruling parties in making up the requisite numbers to form Governments. Thus, Left leaning intellectuals came to head major universities. Their writings and books guided the academic discourse, they set curricula of education and syllabi, question papers and evaluations in Competitive Examinations like the UPSC, brainwashing generations of students into anti-national thinking. This provided the ideological backdrop for Maoist terrorism and support and sympathy in sections of media and society snug in their sanitised air conditioned urban lives, environs far away from the privations of a majority population.
Pursuing Anti-Bharat Agenda
Many started NGOs funded by grants violating Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) made by foreign agencies that wanted to control the mindset of the erstwhile colonial population through intellectual neocolonialism. These NGOs were also liberally funded by cartels that jeopardised Bharat’s economic interests by tweaking studies, lopsided news and elaborate papers that maligned our image abroad and affected our exports and economy. These Urban Naxals dominated the cultural space also to propagate their agenda. Subtle activism, propaganda and networking were used to enlist support and membership. Bastar area that was but one large district earlier in undivided Madhya Pradesh, has been now carved into eight districts namely Bastar, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Sukma, Kondagaon and Kanker for better administration and effective implementation of development schemes and efficient delivery of civic services.
Maoist terrorism is also called the Naxal movement in Bharat as it began in village Naxalbari in West Bengal under the leadership of Charu Mazumdar and two of his friends. Later, it was wiped out in West Bengal but spread to then Bihar and then Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Maoist Communist Centre of India, the armed wing of CPI(M), was spreading in South Bihar and Bastar area. The People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army was founded on December 2, 2000, and known as the People’s Guerrilla Army (PGA) by the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), also known as the People’s War Group or People’s War. This People’s War Group, under the leadership of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, supported and trained by LTTE rebels, spread its activities in Andhra Pradesh and surrounding States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In 2004, the two extremist outfits merged to form MCC, sharing among other things military strategy and Landmine Technology taught by LTTE. This Improvised Explosive Device technology was by far the most dangerous and lethal. Landmines were improvised out of large milk cans, urea and called Can Bomb. It was used to blow up innumerable police vehicles and hundreds and thousands of police personnel were killed. With the change in Government in 2014, it was increasingly felt by the new Government that Maoist terrorism cannot be countered by armed combat alone, involvement of the citizens was absolutely essential if Maoist terrorism was to be fought effectively. In 2015, a multi-pronged National Action Policy and Plan was prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs, under directions of Prime Minister Office that envisaged that legitimate and entitled rights needed to be given to the poorest of the poor living in the remotest areas.
Janjatiya Samaj, tribals dwelling in the forest areas were most affected by Maoist terrorism. The hapless forest dwellers were totally at the mercy of these armed Naxals roaming the jungles with a sense of entitlement, Lords and Masters of all they surveyed. They would seek shelter in any hut in the middle of night and demand to be fed, waited upon and served. They killed villagers on the mere suspicion of being police informers. They would hold kangaroo courts in the interiors and dispensed instant justice maiming and killing people with impunity. Their favourite catchphrase was Chhah Inch Chhota Kar Do (reduce by six inches), a command for brutally beheading the helpless villager. They targeted school buildings, communication lines, health infrastructure, roads, railways, bridges etc on a large scale. Come 2015, the basic principles changed. The premise was that rural infrastructure is the cornerstone of overall development of the nation.
Bridging the Gap
Under the new Government, rural infrastructure development received massive impetus so as to bridge the gap between rural and urban life. Police and public order being State subjects, close cooperation from State Governments was ensured through generous funding of schemes to combat Maoist terrorism. The Government and local administration became alert and responsive. These safe pockets in the interiors for Maoist terrorism started shrinking, in some areas disappearing altogether. Road Requirement Plan-I (RRP-I) for Maoist terrorism affected areas built large road networks. Also, 5500 kms of rural roads were built in affected areas under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Gramin Vikas Yojana. Rural poor livelihood promotion was undertaken in these areas on a large scale with the Aajivika Yojana . Development was strengthened and made more inclusive. The Government’s priority was to reach the poorest of the poor, the man on the last rung. Jan Dhan Khata, zero balance accounts made it possible to directly transfer deposit, scheme and subsidy benefit into the account of the beneficiary cutting out leakages and delays. Dindayal Antyoday Yojana has targeted the poorest of the poor and the Pradhanmantri Aawas Yojana reached the rural poor. Rurban Mission, National Social Assistance programme, Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana lifted the face of these areas and brought about economic upliftment. About 200 new CAPF camps have been established in the past two years alone. The Central Armed Police Forces reached out to the local people and assisted them in their daily problems contributing to their development and social integration under the Civic Action Programme proved successful in raising the morale of the villagers.
In the last five years alone, Central Armed Police Forces have spent Rs 122 crore under Civic Action plan for development of the areas where they are deployed. Their deployment has been rationalised and covers many hitherto inaccessible areas. Determination of the Government, spreading awareness and working in tandem with the states has curbed Maoist terrorism. Enhanced penetration of communication was achieved under Mobile Tower Project increasing the number of mobile towers. The Aspirational Districts Programme has reduced the vacuum areas where the administration had no reach. To cut off the roots, financing of activities of Left extremism has been choked. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are working closely with State Agencies to this end. Many NGOs run by urban Naxals were receiving foreign grants violating FCRA. By strict enforcement of FCRA, this financing conduit has been restricted. Government has given a call to the misled youth under the sway of romantic ideas of Revolution to eschew violence and join the mainstream of society. It has put into place skill development and Employment Programmes for them.
To boost resistance and increase public participation in this fight against Maoist terrorism, the ex-gratia amount for victims of Maoist terrorism has been increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. Security Related expenditure has more than doubled in the past 10 years As a result of this proactive initiatives of Governmental renewal and resurgence, violent incidents related to Maoist terrorism have come down by 76 per cent. Number of districts affected by Maoist terrorism has come down by 70 per cent. It is this empowering the marginalised and voiceless poor, giving them tangible alternatives that allow them to live with dignity which is winning the war against Maoist terrorism, the biggest challenge to our internal security.
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