Hearts and Minds

While the Calcutta Telegraph is an virulent anti-Leftwing newspaper, in spite of its overt bias, it is one of the most solid sources of journalism in the country. And, as a creature of West Bengal, it has consistent coverage of Naxalism.

According to the Telegraph, Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister, will be attending a meeting sponsored by civil society groups in Dantewada. The Telegraph:

Chidambaram’s assent is being interpreted by civil society groups wanting to avert armed confrontation as a “victory against hawks in government” who have been pushing a military response to the recent Maoist surge in parts of central and eastern India.

Two things come to mind: 1) the visit seems to be a sensible strategy for a broader ‘hearts and minds’ counter-insurgency strategy and, 2) it’s going to be a hell of a security nightmare.

The Return of People’s March

The ‘Voice of the Indian Revolution’ has returned. In late 2008, the Kerala-based People’s March magazine was banned after the arrest of its editor. According to the Hindustan Times, the publication ban was overturned after the Press Registrar Appellate Board declared that the proscription was invalid as no formal charges had been brought against the magazine by the government. Good for them. Aside from my academic interest in having access to an English language publication which at least semi-represents the views of the CPI (Maoist), it seems that banning propaganda is a particularly crude and ineffective way at combating a highly sophisticated insurgency. If anything, publications such as People’s March can help provide the government with some insight into the current intellectual and tactical direction of the guerillas.

As for the magazine itself, a PDF of the latest issue can be found here. I haven’t yet been able to track down a website.

Sudeep Chakravarti on Maoism in India

Here’s a great clip from Sudeep Chakravati, journalist and author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country, speaking at the Crossword Book Awards 2008 (sorry… the video’s hosted at Rediff and I can’t seem to embed it).

Chakravati is one of the most astute (and accessible) observers of Naxalism in India. He has an admirable ability to humanise the story without obscuring the larger issues.  If there were more people of his calibre tracking the insurgency, perhaps the debate would be less polarised between those who see the Naxalites as mere terrorists and those who see them as virtuous revolutionaries. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Naxal History

Found an article from 2007 in the Hindustan Times which does a good job of comprehensively and succinctly summarising the history of the Naxalites.

Islamic and Left Extremism

There’s a good piece on the recent election violence in India. Link. The author points out the obvious:

“On the first day of polling, the insurgents killed 18 persons in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa. Of these, 11 were security personnel. No one died at the hands of any terrorist of jihadi persuasion.”

Terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam clearly garner far more attention and the government devotes more resources to them than they do to  the Maoists (curious about the comparative figures… will try to find them).  This is understandable. Actions such as the attacks on Mumbai in late 2009 are important because: 1) they are dramatic events which are orchestrated with the intent of attracting media coverage; 2) urban terrorism affects political, business and social elites, precisely those people who are well situated to influence public policy. These attacks (for all of their horrific consequences) are made-for-tv events. Maoist violence in isolated, rural parts of the country simply does not have the same cache.

I think that this is a mistake. The insurgency thrives because large parts of India has been neglected by the government. Unlike the spectacular attacks of jihadists, the Maoists strategically benefit from obscurity as they slowly seize more territory. This is a far greater threat than anything that has happened in Mumbai or Bangalore.

Maoist Violence in Phase I of India’s Election

The first phase of India’s four week long general election was held last week. Voting was held in many of the areas most affected by the insurgency. The Communist Party of India (Maoist), the main rebel group, called an electoral boycott, threatening to sever the thumb of any one whose hand bore the indelible ink which is used to cast a vote.

At least 19 people were killed across the country as the Maoists demonstrated their ability t0 conduct simultaneous, co-ordinated strikes.

As the BBC writes:

“There were more than a dozen other incidents where insurgents attacked polling stations, kidnapped voting officers and fought fierce gun battles with security forces.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8000074.stm

While the Indian media has extensively (if superficially) covered the attacks, I can’t help but think that once the election is over the war will again become largely ignored. Tactically and strategically this serves the Maoists well in this phase of their ‘People’s War’.