What’s Mao got to do with India?

February 23rd, 2010

It seems that the political, social, and economic goals with which Mao Zedong ruled China with, in 1943-1976, still resonates strongly today except, this has nothing to do with China. I’m talking about the Maoist rebels of India. These rebels have been fighting the Indian government for over 40 years, with the newest batch of radical Maoists springing up in 2004. Although these rebels use deadly force to help get their points across, they believe in many of the same ideals that the Chairman himself espoused. These insurgents can be found in 20 of the 28 Indian states and the size of the group is estimated around 20,000. Violence has been ongoing for decades, yet the Indian government and military forces have been unable to put down this “terrorist organization”.

Just as recent as the 16th of February, 24 policemen were killed in an attack on police forces by rebels wielding machine guns on motorcycles and trucks. This attack took place 105 miles south of Calcutta and similar attacks have taken place in the rebel stronghold of Northeastern India. The insurgents and the military forces have been in constant back and forth battles, with each side suffering casualties. These rebels are targeting officials such as military, police, and political figureheads. The Maoists are trying to fight for what they believe in, but isn’t using deadly force just invalidating their political legitimacy?

After learning more about the Maoists, they have certain points that they believe in the following:

  • Land to the poor and landless. Later on cooperative farming is to be established on voluntary basis.
  • Forest to the tribal people.
  • End of the rule of the rich and the upper caste in villages and the uprooting of the caste system. Uproot all discrimination based on gender and religion.
  • Seizure of the ill gotten wealth and assets of multinational corporations and their local Indian partners.
  • Self-determination for the nationalities, political autonomy for the tribes.
  • Establish a state by the poor and for the poor, where the present day exploiters would be expropriated.
  • Participation of people in day to day administrative work and decision making. Democracy at the true grassroots level with people having the power to recall their democratic representatives.

The Maoists are mainly comprised of the extremely poor citizens, including Dalits (untouchables) and tribal peoples. They want to ensure freedom and equal rights for everyone, regardless of religion, social, economic, or geographic status. Albeit their cause seems noble, violently killing the people that could possibly help them in the long run seems like the wrong way to act. There have been small instances of violence all around the country, and as we prepare for our trip, every precaution must be taken to prepare ourselves for any and all skirmishes. How does a country like India solve a crisis that has been going on for over 40 years? Is there another alternative to fighting?

I do not want to sound like the harbinger of bad news or the one who is overly worried about security issues; I only want to highlight current events that are taking place in India. I’m positive that every precaution will be taken and that, we will be taken nowhere near any form of violence. With that said, I am looking forward to an excellent and safe adventure in India. Click here for Article 1 and Article 2.

-Jason Silver

Addendum:

Jason, I really enjoyed this article as it tries to analyze and understand both sides of the coin. CPI (Maoist) is the new outfit after Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC) merged to join ranks. They are called naxalites (they are terrorists in a sense but not really). They are self-styled vigilante and believe that liberation through people’s revolution even if in a bloody way, is the only way. Purportedly, the groups are tacitly and actively supported by China to destabilize India.  So the assertion that it has nothing to do with China is debatable.  Please read the following article about the impediments in the way of Indo-china relations where the article discusses India’s concerns (Click Here).

However traditionally, the naxals or naxalites do not target foreigners and do not conduct operations in cities. I have never read till date about foreigners being targeted by the naxals. That is not their goal. They target cops, their informers, and rich people (supposedly bad elements only). They conduct people’s courts in villages and decide on the punishments to those bad elements. It is true that common people have died in the crossfire but the naxals most of the time live in dense forests and chances of you guyz going there are minimal.  So, your fears are completely unfounded.
Note that this is not the first time they killed cops.  Its just that the western media has been taking an increasing interest lately, in the happenings in India. Recently, the Government of India conducted a long overdue crack down on these subversive elements and this attack by the Maoist group seemingly was in response to that crack down.  Also recently, they offered a truce proposal to the Government supposedly to buy time when the maoist separatists are at a relative disadvantage, particularly when the trees shed their leaves thinning the foliage, which acts as a cover (Click Here).
-Hemanth

Entry Filed under: 2010 Student Blogs, India, Misc.

3 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Jason Silver  |  February 24th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    I’m glad that you are able to share a better understanding of these rebels. I am in no way scared of these rebels and am not fearful of traveling to India one bit. I must have been caught up in the Western media’s fascination with the Maoists. I understand that groups like these operate underground and what they are fighting for would be severely diminished if they were to target tourists. After reading your article, it seems that there is more of a connection with China than I originally thought. India- China relations are very important for world peace and economic stability. Supporting separatist groups would undermine both of those processes.

  • 2. Jordan Wente  |  February 26th, 2010 at 7:07 pm

    I looked into this attack myself recently and found that India is taking measures to end violence. They are responding with a paramilitary and police campaign, Operation Green Hut, with intent of isolating Maoist fighters. Maoist fighters thrive by recruiting the under represented Indian population, where spending on health, infrastructure and education is low. Given this I would have to say that an alternative to fighting would be to increase government attention to these neglected areas so the citizens have an option and thus are not easily recruited. This may seem tough to accomplish but as India continues to prosper, hopefully the prosperity will begin to spread to these underrepresented areas. Additionally, policing is the responsibility of the government. It must be a challenging task to police a country so large and with such rapid development.
    As we in the United States have learned, putting down any type of a terrorist organization is complicated and even the most sophisticated countries have trouble eliminating the threat. Finding an alternative to fighting will not be easy.

    On another note, while Maoist fighters are fighting for what they believe in, you have to consider they have limited resources so there are not very many options to build legitimacy. Terrorist tactics arise due to this lack of resources as a way of getting their message heard. Like Hemanth mentioned they are going to fight for what they believe in no matter how bloody the fight might become. Similarly, Mao also fought for what he believed in even if the fight turned bloody.
    On a final note, I highly doubt that as tourists we have to worry about a threat from this group.

  • 3. Chase Janvrin  |  March 1st, 2010 at 5:27 pm

    “Establish a state by the poor and for the poor”? At first glance the ideals of this group are easy to agree with, until you get to this one. While this goal is reminiscent of a philosophical argument, a bigot is still a bigot no matter which direction he travels. To be sure, wealthy are frequently powerful, and sometimes try to hoard that power. But democratic and capitalist societies are about prosperity, not hatred. While money may be the root of some evil, it’s not the root of all evil; power is. And no matter where the money is someone will still be fighting for power somewhere else. I wonder who will lead this great state of the poor once it’s created? Because that’s what this world needs, another great, big, poor state.

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