Maoists torch bus near Andhra-Chhattisgarh border

Suspected members of the Konta Area Committee of the banned CPI (Maoist), Chhattisgarh, set fire to a private bus after asking all the 40 passengers to alight from the vehicle, on the National Highway near Sarivela in Chintoor Agency area of Alluri Sitaramaraju district.

Location of the incident

• The incident occurred close to the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border area.
• The Maoists reportedly chose the isolated Sarivela-Kothuru area, which is just 3 km away from Chintoor police headquarters.
• The Sarivela-Kothuru block is one of the strategic locations for the Maoists operating from the Dandakaranya area, as it is barely 2.8 km from Chhattisgarh and about 7 km from the core bases of the Maoist strongholds in Chhattisgarh.

Left Wing Extremism in India:

• Left-wing extremists, popularly known as Maoists worldwide and as Naxalites in India.
• The term Naxalism derives its name from the village Naxalbari of West Bengal.
• It originated as a rebellion against local landlords who bashed a peasant over a land dispute.
• The rebellion was initiated in 1967, with an objective of rightful redistribution of the land to working peasants under the leadership of Kanu Sanyal and Jagan Santhal.
• The movement has spread across the Eastern India in less developed areas of states such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
• It is considered that Naxals support Maoist political sentiments and ideology.
• Maoism is a form of communism developed by Mao Tse Tung. It is a doctrine to capture State power through a combination of armed insurgency, mass mobilization and strategic alliances.
• The region, affected by LWE, is referred to as the Red corridor.

Reasons for the LWE:

• Tribal Discontent:
  • The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been used to target tribals, who depend on forest produce for their living.
• Massive displacement of tribal population in the naxalism-affected states due to development projects, mining operations and other reasons.
• Easy Target for Maoists:
  • Such people who do not have any source of living are taken into naxalism by Maoists.
  • Maoists provide arms and ammunition and money to such people.
• Gaps in the Socio-Economic System of the Country:
  • Government measures its success on the basis of the number of violent attacks rather than the development done in the naxal-affected areas.
  • Absence of strong technical intelligence to fight with naxalites.
  • Infrastructural problems, for instance, some villages are not yet connected properly with any communication network.
• No Follow-Up from Administration:
  • It is seen that even after police take hold of a region, administration fails to provide essential services to the people of that region.
  • Confusion over tackling naxalism as a social issue or as a security threat.

Government Initiatives to Fight LWE

• Greyhounds: It was raised in 1989 as an elite anti-Naxal force.
• Operation Green Hunt: It was started in 2009-10 and massive deployment of security forces was done in the Naxal-affected areas
• Aspirational Districts Programme: Launched in 2018, it aims to rapidly transform the districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.
• SAMADHAN doctrine is the one-stop solution for the LWE problem. It encompasses the entire strategy of government from short-term policy to long-term policy formulated at different levels. SAMADHAN stands for-
  • S- Smart Leadership,
  • A- Aggressive Strategy,
  • M- Motivation and Training,
  • A- Actionable Intelligence,
  • D- Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAs (Key Result Areas),
  • H- Harnessing Technology,
  • A- Action plan for each Theatre,
  • N- No access to Financing.
• ROSHNI is a special initiative under, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (Formerly Ajeevika Skills), launched in June 2013 for training and placement of rural poor youth from 27 LWE affected districts in 09 States
• Intelligence sharing and raising of a separate 66 Indian Reserved Battalion(IRBs), CRPF battalions like COBRA battalion, Bastariya battalion etc were done by the government to curb the menace of LWE organizations.

Way Forward

• Augmenting capacity building of Local forces:
  • States play a vital role in maintaining law and order. So, emphasis should be laid on the capacity-building and modernization of the local police forces.
• Opting Innovative measures:
  • In preventing IED (Improvised Explosive Device) related incidents which have caused significant casualties in recent years.
• Rationalizing the surrender policy:
  • States should rationalize their surrender policy in order to bring innocent individuals caught in the trap of LWE into the mainstream.
  • Continued efforts and focus are needed in eliminating such groups.
• Role of state:
  • The Centre and the States should make efforts in sync that are crucial in eliminating such radicalization amongst groups (like confidence-building measures, education, welfare schemes etc)

Exam Track

Prelims Takeaway

• SAMADHAN
• ROSHNI

Mains Track

Q. LWE incidents have reduced from 2,258 in 2009 to 349 incidents till August 2021. Highlight the reasons for the decline and also suggest some measures that could be taken to curb the menace of Left Wing Extremism from the country.