UPSC Express

“Being the centers of concentration of the industrial proletariat, urban areas play an important part within the political strategy of the new Democratic Revolution”. Examine this statement in the light of rising Maoist activity in the urban areas and why is it essential to keep a close watch on Maoist activities in towns and cities?

Approach:
 Introduce the first statement of the question
 Evidences of Maoist activities in urban centres
 Causes for the rise in Maoist activities

Answer:

The urban movement has a defined role in the political strategy and military strategy of the CPI (Maoist). They believe that in the absence of a strong revolutionary urban movement, the growth of the people’s war will face limitations and difficulties in its advancement. Working class leadership is the indispensable condition for the Maoist design in India. Working class has to send its advanced detachments to rural areas. The rebels stress on forming secret party units in the bastis and slums of the urban areas. Their main focus is that of mass political mobilization by inculcating the leadership qualities in the urban working class: the real class, according to Karl Marx, which possesses the consciousness of revolution.
Evidences:

 The basic task of the Communist Party of India (Maoists) in the urban domain is to deal with the problem of coordination between open and secret work. Another chief component is to retain contacts between city organization and leadership in the rural areas – the heartland of the insurgency.
 Propaganda through student-worker organizations would be the mainstay of their strategy
 According to latest estimates, 104 districts in 13 states are affected by the Maoist movement.
 With 2017 marking the 50th anniversary of the Naxalite movement, security forces
stationed in the so-called Red Corridor have sounded the alarm that recent attacks on security forces could signal the start of a resurgence of anti-state activity by the armed insurgents. On March 11, 12 personnel of the CRPF were killed by Maoists in Sukma of Chhattisgarh.
Causes:
 India’s central and eastern parts, home to about 84 million adivasi, or indigenous people,is rich in mineral resources. Renewed mining activity pose a threat to their livelihoods. Most of them are subsistence farmers or landless, mainly living in extreme poverty.
 The Naxalite movement heavily draws intellectual support from urban intelligentsia.
 Maoists from Andhra Pradesh helped organize tribals in Chhattisgarh over the issue of land rights and displacement during the 1980s. The state has emerged as the stronghold of the Maoists in recent decades since 2000 when mining was initiated.
 The movement keeps on reappearing like a phoenix because the basic socio-economic factors, which are responsible for it, remain unaddressed. Poverty continues to be a problem and, according to the expert group headed by C Rangarajan, 29.5% of the population lived below the poverty line in 2011-12. Wealth is increasing, but its distribution is unequal.
 Unemployment is another area of concern. Land reforms have been forgotten. Tribals are an alienated lot, largely due to their displacement as a result of developmental activities in the forest areas.
 Home Ministry has identified several org. in Delhi & National Capital Region as Maoist front organizations.
 These organizations and political parties try to gain inroads by talking about issues
like “bijli, paani, sadak aur rojgaar “, issues that are relevant to the common person. At the same time, the masterminds work on their bigger strategy of disruption and taking over control of government.

Way forward:
 The state police to take the terrorists/extremists head-on, to win the battle against terrorism/extremism.
 Government departments to establish themselves in areas when the Maoists have been driven away, so that it does not surface again.
 Step up human intelligence network and continue to nab the urban outfits of the Maoists as they had been doing for some time recently.
 Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, equipped with cameras, data and video links are the latest weapons can be deployed against Naxals in India.
 Government service delivery should be improved in these tribal areas. Both state and government must ensure that things such as statutory minimum wages, access to land and water sources initiatives are implemented.
 By opening dialogue, the government can give opportunity for the rebels 2join the
mainstream by showing them that solutions can be created together with the government, by being part of the political system in a legitimate way