Naxalism: A threat to India's Internal Security

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has recently announced that Naxalites are the major threat to India's internal security. Why? Lets see it in this article.

Not until the Naxalites had stopped Rajdhani Express on 27th Oct was I interested in knowing about them. However that night I was travelling on a train from Howrah to Kharagpur and my train stopped in middle of no where for about 2 hrs. Then I came to know that since naxalites have stopped Rajdhani Express near Midnapur, my train is not being allowed to pass.

Naxals- Maoist- agitations in our country are different from the agitations that we observe in say J&K, Punjab or Assam. The activists in these states have a clear cut agenda of breaking away from mainstream India on the basis of difference in religion, language or other grounds. Today Naxal's movement has no such goal.
Naxal activities in India today spreads across 90 districs in 10 states: West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Karnataka. A look at this list will convince you beyond doubt that goal of Naxalites is not to break away from mainstream India. At least six languages are spoken in 10 different states.

Another striking feature that you will observe is that Naxalism has spread its fangs on those states which have been very poor but abundant with natural resources. Studies show that 85 of India's 100 poorest districts are located in one of those 10 states. 32% of population is officially below poverty line as comapred to national average of 24%. Only 68 % of Naxal affected districts get safe drinking water as compared to national average of 74%. Only 43% of women in these areas get skilled medical attention during pregnancy as compared to national average of 51%.

In addition to all these statistics these states have for long been suffering from resource curse. As I previously mentioned that these states are very rich in mineral source but still they have poor economic growth and poor development outcomes than states will lesser natural resources. Around Dhanbad and Asansol in East, Coal mafias control everything: trucking, transportation, movement of Railway Wagonsand labour contracts. The power of local mining overlords make it easy for them to evict land, fell trees, sell minerals from ground illegally.

These Naxal hit areas are hotbeds of crime and the rural regions are specially ruled by the Naxalites with their rules and laws followed by village tribals. It is still not clear what they want. Following the footprints of Maoism, they have deviated largely from their goals. It is very difficult to remove Naxalites from these states by sending military and using violence. Mobilising support of people is absolutely essential to weaken their base. People have to become more aware of their politacal and social responsibilities. They should understand whom to vote and whom not to. By bringing a Naxalite to power only increases political power of these morons.

I have written this article with help of Economic Times, 17 Nov,09 and from Economic and Political Weekly, October,09.