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Mao - flation in India

Bhuwan Thapaliya - 5/9/2010

Forget about the rapid Economic growth of India. These days, we seem to hear one question over and over again: Can India curb the Maoists crisis? The concerns posed by this question unmask India’s Achilles Heel.

No doubt, the Maoists threat is alarming in India – since their initiation in the village of Naxalbari in West Bengel in 1967, Maoists number has grown into a force of about 40,000 permanent armed cadres and 100,000 militia members, according to the sources. Furthermore, the rebels are now active in almost a third of India. And they are regarded by many as India’s foremost challenge.



P Chidambaram, India’s Home Minister announced that the Maoists infiltrate more threat to India then other Islamic terror outfits. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, had previously described the Maoists – also known as Naxals or Naxalites as the biggest internal threat to India’s security.



Chidambaram said the Maoists had a presence in 200 of India’s 626 districts, were capable of striking in 84 districts and virtually dominated 34 districts. This statistics is scary: Maoist violence claimed 908 lives in India in 2009 and they have killed about 7,500 people since 1998, according to government figures.



An early morning ruthless ambush on April 6, by the Maoists killed 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and a policeman in the forests of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh. That was a barbaric act of terrorism by the Maoists who have declared a war against the Indian state.

The paradox however is this: more than ever, the nation is lacking in self – sustaining internal defense policy – especially when it comes to tackling the Left extremists such as the Maoists. As a result, India remains very much a levered prey to the Maoist rebellion. There lies a growing risk as India’s economy is going neck to neck with China. If the Maoists violence rises, the Indian economy will fade and India could be headed for a serious trouble – could provide ample breeding ground for the likes of the Maoists.

Particularly worrisome is the nation’s unbalanced growth model – an uneven micro dynamics that some say is the root of the Maoism in India. What that means of course, is that this unbalanced city centered growth, aimed at challenging the world has created a vacuum and the Maoists are further inflating that vacuum by their inhumane terror tactics. Needless to say, the true story of the Indian villages is more complicated – and more tragic – than that of the Indian slums in Delhi or Mumbai but New Delhi is trying to present before the world a rather distorted story. Sometimes, economic growth is not the ultimate solution. The secret of solving the problem is simple – empower the villages.

For the moment, by sending the foot soldiers to restrain the Maoists movements in the villages, the Indian government is concentrating in a short – term gain. It is making the same mistake, its neighbor Nepal made - this could back fire. Instead, the Government should hold peace talks with the Maoists and the Maoists should declare cease fire and implement the same safe landing plan as implemented by their counterparts in Nepal. Look, where the Nepali Maoists are today after their democratic transformation. If the Maoists continue to use violent tactics against the state then it would back fire them too. Both, the Indian Government and the Maoists perhaps should take a lesson or two from Nepal and reach a consensus.

There looks no other alternative rather than peace talks if the crisis is to be amended soon. Whether the negotiation deadlock can be finally broken will depend on both parties’ future attitudes and actions. That pretty much says it all. Should the demands of the both parties left unmet – a distinct possibility – India would be in serious trouble.