Dangerous Tactics: On Recent Maoist Attacks
Recent attacks suggest that Maoists are focussing on greater militarisation
There has been an uptick in attacks by Maoists, indicating that their ability to strike remains strong. Last week, in two attacks in Chhattisgarh, five persons were killed in a blast in Dantewada district, and one BSF sub-inspector was killed in Kanker district. Maoists have also owned up responsibility for the killing of TDP MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and his predecessor Siveri Soma in Araku valley in Andhra Pradesh in September. These attacks, however, come amid a series of military setbacks to the Maoists in the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border regions. Clearly, the government’s strategy of using military force while earmarking funds for infrastructure and welfare programmes in the districts most affected by left-wing extremism has weakened the Maoists. Paramilitary and police actions have resulted in the death of senior leaders, including Cherukuri Rajkumar (‘Azad’) and Mallojula Koteswara Rao (‘Kishenji’). Welfare measures, even if they have been implemented haphazardly, have enabled outreach into tribal areas where the state was hitherto absent. These actions have forced the Maoists to retreat further into the forest areas of central and south-central India to use them as bases to launch attacks, seeking to invite state repression on tribal people and to get recruits. The change of guard in the CPI (Maoist) leadership also suggests that it has moved towards further militarisation to secure its guerrilla forces’ influence. General secretary Nambala Kesava Rao (‘Basavraj’), who has replaced Muppala Lakshmana Rao (‘Ganapathy’), is alleged to have led attacks on security forces and killings.
The CPI (Maoist) has sought to project itself as a revolutionary political movement led by peasants and tribals, seeking to rebuild after the failures of the earlier Naxalite movement. After the merger of the People’s War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre of India into the CPI (Maoist) in 2004, the outlawed party managed to consolidate its presence across a “Red Corridor” spanning central and north-central India, marked by rural deprivation. Rather than focussing on socio-economic struggles to uplift peasants and tribals in this region, the Maoists relied on waging a military battle against the state with the intention of capturing power through violent means. This was largely due to a gross and mindless misreading of the nature of the Indian state and its democratic institutions. These actions have resulted in the militarisation of these areas, repression of tribal people both by state actions such as the creation of the Salwa Judum — disbanded by judicial order — and Maoist authoritarianism. The change in leadership of the CPI (Maoist) and its recent actions suggest there is no end in sight to this insurgency in the near term — a sad reality for tribals caught in the crossfire.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) earmarking
Meaning : designate (funds or resources) for a particular purpose.
Synonyms : brand
Antonyms : use
Example : “the cash had been earmarked for a big expansion of the programme”
2) repression
Meaning : the action of subduing someone or something by force.(n)
Tamil Meaning : அடக்குமுறை
Synonyms : restraint
Antonyms : liberty
Example : “students sparked off events that ended in brutal repression”
3) peasants
Meaning : a poor smallholder or agricultural labourer of low social status (chiefly in historical use or with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries).
Tamil Meaning : விவசாயி
Synonyms : rustics
Antonyms : great wealth
Example : “peasant farmers”
4) outlawed
Meaning : ban or make illegal.(v)
Tamil Meaning : தடை
Synonyms : expired
Antonyms : allowed
Example : “secondary picketing has been outlawed”
5) deprivation
Meaning : the damaging lack of material benefits considered to be basic necessities in a society.(n)
Tamil Meaning : இழப்பு
Synonyms : privation
Antonyms : indulgence
Example : “low wages mean that 3.75 million people suffer serious deprivation”
6) relied
Meaning : depend on with full trust or confidence.(v)
Tamil Meaning : நம்பியிருந்தன
Synonyms : believed
Antonyms : distrusted
Example : “I know I can rely on your discretion”
7) repression
Meaning : the action of subduing someone or something by force.(n)
Tamil Meaning : அடக்குமுறை
Synonyms : restraint
Antonyms : liberty
Example : “students sparked off events that ended in brutal repression”
8) exploiting
Meaning : make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource).(v)
Tamil Meaning : பயன்படுத்தி
Synonyms : acting
Antonyms : wasting
Example : “500 companies sprang up to exploit this new technology”
9) duct
Meaning : a tube or passageway in a building or machine for air, liquid, cables, etc.(n)
Synonyms : conduit
Antonyms : amble
Example : “leading the air through ducts in the floor”
10) despite
Meaning : contemptuous treatment or behaviour; outrage.(n)
Tamil Meaning : போதிலும்
Synonyms : in spite of
Antonyms : exalt
Example : “the despite done by him to the holy relics”
11) shunned
Meaning : persistently avoid, ignore, or reject (someone or something) through antipathy or caution.(v)
Tamil Meaning : தவிர்த்தேன்
Synonyms : rejected
Antonyms : desired
Example : “he shunned fashionable society”
12) prominent
Meaning : important; famous.(adj)
Tamil Meaning : முக்கிய
Synonyms : eminent
Antonyms : invisible
Example : “she was a prominent member of the city council”
13) notion
Meaning : a conception of or belief about something.(n)
Tamil Meaning : கருத்து
Synonyms : opinion
Antonyms : need
Example : “children have different notions about the roles of their parents”
