Fighting the Naxalite Menace in the Heartland of India

Many people have been wondering how a nation like India with the third largest standing Army in the world is unable to snuff out the Maoist menace, which in essence is a rag tag army. One of the reasons is that the Maoists who perhaps number a few thousand have the benefit of operating in an environment that supports them. They thus have the advantage of terrain.

It is a simplistic thought that this rag tag army inspired by Mao is a revolution with a purpose. Many intellectuals in India and abroad have romantic notions of the Maoists as people with a missionary zeal who wish for the upliftment of the masses. However the facts are different and these men are far from the ideology of Mao who genuinely believed in the emancipation of the Chinese masses.

We must face up to the fact that this Maoist menace in the heart land of India is in reality an association of a bunch of hoodlums who earn their livelihood by extortion, murder and threats.  Maoist cadres routinely exploit the women members as sex slaves. Many women who have run away from the Maoists are witness to this sexual subjugation where the women members satisfy the carnal desires of the Maoist leadership.

The ineffectiveness of the Indian military might lies in the inherent dichotomy of its use. The army and the air force are not being used and the battle entrusted to para military forces, who are poorly trained and armed. No battle can be won by such a force.

The Naxals  or Maoists are like a shadow. How do we annihilate them? This is the question. The answer lies in following  what the US Army did in Vietnam. There they created a special force called the Green Berets who were trained to live and operate independently in the Vietnamese jungles. They were effective and passed vital information as they merged with the countryside.

This is the need of the hour, special trained forces to fight the Maoists at their own game. To catch a thief set up a thief. There is little point in moving thousands of untrained soldiers into the arena. The results will be similar to what happened at Dantewada where nearly 80 personnel lost their lives.

There is no dearth of human rights activists who advocate a policy of development in the region to control the Maoists. I am afraid this by itself is not a solution. The need of the hour is to stamp out the Maoists first and for this there is no other option. Simultaneously where the state writ runs development projects can be taken up. It must be clearly understood that the duty of a democratic government lies in following the wishes of the majority and thus for the common good the Naxal menace must be snuffed out first. That means deployment of the army and special forces with helicopter gunships. Ask the traders, shopkeepers and farmers of the affected regions and they will support this.