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The battle for Chhattisgarh
The TLDR: The bloody ambush of soldiers in Sukma—and the abduction of one of them—has turned the spotlight on the last Maoist bastion in India. But in the din of the headlines, no one has bothered to explain what is happening and, more importantly, why.
A recap and an update
- Twenty two jawans were killed—and 31 injured—after a four-hour battle with Maoists. This is the highest death toll imposed by the militias since April 2017.
- The massive security operation—which involved 2000 personnel—was conducted in the forests on the Bijapur-Sukma border.
- The aim: To capture a highly wanted and mysterious Maoist leader called Hidma.
- But the operation soon turned out to be a trap, and the soldiers were pinned down in the forest by around 400 armed Maoists. All of which has led to great amounts of finger-pointing, and much talk of failed intelligence and leadership.
- One of the commandos was captured by the militia—along with a cache of sophisticated weaponry. Rakeshwar Singh Manhas is a member of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA)—which is a specialised unit of the CRPF.
- The Maoists have since released his photo (see below), and demanded that the government negotiate for his release.
Ok, tell me about these Maoists…
We hear the words ‘naxals’ and ‘Maoists’ but most of us don’t really know what they refer to. Here’s a quick primer:
The history: The origins of the communist movement go back to colonial India, but the first radical movement was launched in Andhra Pradesh soon after Independence. The first armed uprising, however, took place in West Bengal in 1967 in a remote village in Naxalbari. Hence, the term ‘naxals’. This was a violent uprising of poor peasants and landless farmers revolting against the rich landowners. The movement soon spread across India. For decades, the Maoists controlled the “Red Corridor”—spread across the states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
The present situation: The government has been fairly successful in squashing naxal activity in most states. They were present in only 106 districts across 10 states in 2017—down from 200 districts across 20 states a decade before. While actual count is unknown, the estimates for the number of Maoist rebels range from 10,000-25,000. The official Home Ministry number is 8,500—and most of them are in Chhattisgarh which is the last remaining bastion for the armed rebellion.
Point to note: According to the official records, around 4,246 people have been killed in 12,338 incidents across 10 Indian states since 2010. Chhattisgarh is on top with 1,642. More than 20,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since 1980. But actual numbers are likely far higher. Both security forces and the Maoists bear responsibility for the toll. Human rights activists have pointed to military excesses such as mass killings, rapes etc. And Maoists routinely kill villagers for allegedly being police informers—a trend which escalated last year.
The current uprising:
- Central and Eastern India is home to about 84 million adivasis, and is rich in mineral resources.
- The roots of the current troubles date back to the liberalisation of the 1990s—when the government started granting mining licences to private and multinational corporations.
- The displacement of tribals, and the accompanying loss of their lands and livelihoods sparked great rage—and this gave fresh energy to the Maoist movement.
- In 2004, the Communist Party of India (Maoist)—formed with the merger of three separate groups—emerged as the driving force.
- The CPI (Maoist) is—as its name suggests—inspired by the teachings of Mao Zedong, and its “ultimate aim is to bring about communism.”
Ok, tell me about Chhattisgarh
Let’s start with a map that shows ground zero for this conflict: the Sukma-Bijapur-Dantewada axis in the Bastar region:
A very ‘rich’ state: The mineral-rich state has drawn in a variety of mining companies (including Adani) looking for gold, diamonds and coal. The Maoists from Andhra Pradesh first made inroads with the tribals in 1982 around the issue of land rights. Their influence increased as the government dialed up mining projects in the 1990s. And inevitably so. Here’s what unrestricted mining did to the adivasis:
- The government allocated mineral-rich areas to companies without consulting—and in many cases, without compensating—the people who actually lived on that land.
- And this policy continues to this day—with the current government removing all restrictions on coal mining.
- The adivasis both lost their land and their livelihoods, throwing them into abject poverty.
- The mining in turn contaminated the nearby rivers and streams with red oxide, causing malnutrition and a severe shortage of drinking water.
A very poor state: The state is rich in natural resources, but its people are among the poorest in India. Around 50-60% of families in Bastar (a Maoist stronghold) live below the poverty line compared to the national average of 22%. Bijapur and Sukma—where the latest ambush took place—are second and third from the bottom in terms of literacy.
A Maoist magnet: So it isn’t surprising that Chhattisgarh has become a Maoist stronghold—since the rebels speak to the reality of injustice experienced by the adivasis. As one expert notes, “About 80 to 90 percent of their cadre comes from local tribals. They [Maoists] are deeply embedded in the villages.”
The ‘liberated’ area in Chhattisgarh ranges from 3,000 to 10,000 sq. km, mostly in the Narayanpur, Bijapur and Sukma districts. Of this area, around 3,000 sq. km is totally out of the control of the government, while the outside world has some access to the rest. For example, food and medicine supplies are allowed in, but the security forces are not.
A development disaster: Vast swathes of Chhattisgarh lack proper roads, communication networks or any kind of administration or infrastructure. The government has simply left these areas to the Maoists who have stepped in to fill its role. As even the Home Ministry recognised in a report:
“Over the years, the Maoists have managed to entrench themselves in remote and inaccessible tribal pockets in a few States. Correspondingly, the state institutions of governance also withdrew gradually from such areas, resulting in a security and development vacuum. This suited the Maoists, who have set up some form of rudimentary parallel system of administration in these areas.”
And that’s why the Maoists are winning?
The Maoists have been losing their popularity in recent years. But as noted before, there is no one to take their place since the government has been totally AWOL. But in military terms, they have been very effective in outwitting security forces in the state. The reasons include:
- The unwillingness of the local police to take the lead. Unlike other states, the battle here is fought by the CRPF—who do not have the necessary local knowledge.
- The lack of development—and therefore, basic infrastructure like roads—has become an achilles heel since security forces can’t access remote areas where the Maoists rule the roost.
- This in turn leads to a complete absence of intelligence—which became glaringly clear in the ambush. As one Home Ministry official admitted: “There are no roads, no schools, no hospitals and no police stations. The existing ones are in CRPF camps. No one will approach such a set-up to provide intelligence.”
- And a senior former CRPF officer NC Asthana blames the tragedy on the “megalomania” of the police leadership which has been chasing hare-brained ideas like aerial bombing, setting fire to the jungles, planting wireless ‘bugs’ in every adivasi household, or using unmanned drones—in an area with thick jungle cover!
Big point to note: There are anywhere between 8,500-10,000 Maoists in Chhattisgarh—at least according to media reports. The government, OTOH, has deployed more than 100,000 troops—a third of them paramilitary forces. As one human rights activist points out, “In the Bastar region alone, there are 36,000 security forces, which means one soldier for 55 people. In Afghanistan, there is one soldier for about 150 people.”
The bottomline: is best summed up by Asthana, who writes:
“If a ragtag band of less than 10,000 poorly armed people has managed to survive the might of lakhs of soldiers since 1967, it means that its strength does not lie in just a few clever leaders. It also shows that there is something fundamentally wrong with the approach of the government in handling this challenge to internal security… Anti-naxal operations, as purely military matters, must have limited objectives in the first place and no one should delude himself or the government that one huge operation will wipe them off the face of India.”
And yet after the ambush, Home Minister Amit Shah declared: “The government will not tolerate such bloodshed and a befitting response will be given. We will put an end to the ongoing battle with Maoists.”
Reading list
Al Jazeera offers a great explainer on the history of the Maoists and a deep dive into why their ideology is attractive to Adivasis. NC Asthana in Quint pens a scathing takedown of the police leadership in Chhattisgarh. Indian Express looks at successful anti-Maoist operations in other states. India Today explains why the Maoists are killing more civilians. The Week reports on the yearning for dialogue and peace among the tribal communities. Indian Express profiles the mysterious Hidma, the most wanted Maoist in the country.