Maoist Challenge Needs Political Understanding, Not Over-Reliance on Security

In this post based on a newspaper article, the prudence of measuring the efficacy of the Maoist movement not through the number of violent incidents reported but through the declining social base is discussed. This topic is relevant for the IAS exam and this particular argument can be useful while writing answers for the IAS mains exam.

The Maoist Challenge

• The security challenge posed by the Maoists needs to be dealt with through political understanding instead of using force.
• The root cause of the growth of Naxalism is land alienation and poverty among scheduled tribes and Dalits and lack of access to basic forest resources. These reasons were cited in the D Bandyopadhyay Committee set up by the Planning Commission in 2006.
• Whether the state’s model of development addresses these concerns is questionable and the development model adopted by the state’s model of development led to displacement of tribals.
• Irrespective of the political parties in power most governments followed a similar model of development which was unacceptable to tribals.
• During the UPA regime, the eminent domain doctrine was invoked which argued for ownership of all resources by the nation and their extraction to fulfil national interest.
• The Maoists also complicate problems by lacking solutions to the aspirations of the new generation and having a simplified understanding of complex situations.

Read more on left-wing extremism or naxalism in India in the linked article.

What Tribals Want

• The tribals also desire modern development and aspire for access to infrastructures such as roads, transport, schools and hospitals.
• The view that development is a zero-sum game by both sides only leads to a stalemate.
• Due to the inability to understand various shades, the multiplicity of demands and growing social differentiation among the tribals the Maoist movement has hollowed out as a political project.
• It is also questionable why tribals should be the fodder for a political vision of a takeover of state power by the Maoists. 
• The Maoists who claim to represent the poor end up killing more of the poor and those in the lower rung of society when they target jawans and tribals for being “informants”.

Way forward:

• The social issue of exclusion cannot be addressed or understood through security measures or violence and focus on overthrowing state power. Non-violent measures to address social problems are also the common view of Dr Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.
• Both Dr Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi show the way by being champions of non-violence and the resolution of social problems through constitutional means.

Maoist Challenge Needs Political Understanding, Not Over-Reliance on Security:- Download PDF Here