Naxalite Herb Connection

Authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa are complaining that "huge tracts" of marijuana are being grown to finance the activities of Maoist rebels in the state and neighboring territories, the India News reported Monday. Police reported discoveries of "massive cultivation" in at least eight villages in the Chitrakonda and Kalimela blocks in the Malkangiri district, the agency reported.

Chitrakonda and Kalimela are considered strongholds of well-established Maoist rebels who have been operating in the area for years and who have considered the forested areas of Orissa and neighboring Andhra Pradesh a "liberated zone." From their forest bases, the Maoists have been attacking police and landlords for years.

And local authorities are not having much luck persuading farmers to stop growing pot or even cooperate in their efforts. "We are unable to arrest many of them because we do not get enough information. People do not come to us, fearing that the Maoists would kill them. We have arrested 41 persons and seized 27 quintals of ganja over past weeks," district police chief Jani Koil told the news agency." Even if we conduct raid and arrest people, the cultivation and business that are offences punishable under the country's anti-narcotics laws never stop," Koil said.

Another anonymous Indian official complained that peasant farmers are working with the rebels. "The tribals cultivate them and share a major chunk of the revenue with the Maoists. This becomes a headache for us," the official said, on the condition of anonymity. "We are upset because the illegal activities are not only growing rapidly, it is also contributing in increasing the financial strength of Maoists operating in those areas," he said.

The peasant farmers number at least 500 families in the area, officials said.

According to the official, about 500 families of the Gunthawada and Nalagunthi panchayats (village councils) alone depend on marijuana cultivation. The crops are financed by smugglers from Orissa, Andrha Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Madyha Pradesh who provide farmers with seeds,equipment, and cash advances, the official said.

India should seek peace talks with Maoist rebels whose influence has spread to half the country and who threaten to undermine an economic boom, according to an internal report sent to the Government yesterday.

The report, a copy of which was seen by The Times, urges the reversal of the 40-year policy of refusing to negotiate with the Naxalites, as the Maoists are known, until they renounce violence.

It also criticises the Government for treating the insurgency as a law-and-order problem rather than addressing its underlying causes: poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, social injustice and the caste system.

“The first point is to talk to them - we just have to open the lines of communication,” said Santosh Mehrotra, a member of the panel that compiled the report for the Planning Commission, the Government's internal think-tank.

Related Links

• 50 killed in Maoist attack on police post

• The cities are the future – but India's fate will be decided in the fields

“Point two is that the Government's approach has been so heavily security-centric. That's not the way to go. It has to be walking on two legs - security and development.”

Dr Mehrotra said that the report was sent to the offices of Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, and several senior Government members yesterday.

The recommendations mark the first time since the 1980s that the Government has explored the root causes of the Naxalite movement and highlights growing concern about India's unbalanced economic development.

Mr Singh described the Naxalites last year as India's single biggest internal security threat. Officials now fear that the Naxalites have been encouraged by the success of the Maoists in neighbouring Nepal, who won a parliamentary election last month after fighting a decade-long insurgency.

Inspired by Mao Zedong, the Naxalite movement began with a peasant uprising in 1967 in the village of Naxalbari - after which it is named - in the state of West Bengal. Since then it has claimed about 7,000 lives and grown into a force of 40,000 permanent armed cadres and 100,000 militia members, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, a research centre based in Delhi.

The Naxalites now control a “Red Corridor”, consisting mainly of dense forest, stretching from West Bengal to the border of Nepal. The group is active in 16 of India's 28 states.

Last year Naxalite violence caused 696 deaths, compared with 678 in 2006, and so far this year more than 220 people have died in Maoist-related violence.

The latest reported deaths came over the weekend when Naxalite rebels killed three policemen in the eastern state of Jarkhand.

The Maoists are also now striking at economic targets, such as an iron ore enrichment plant in the state of Chhattisgarh, where they set fire to more than 50 lorries eight days ago.

Several state governments have responded by supporting local armed vigilante groups, known as Salwa Judum, which means “purification hunt”.

But the report recommended disbanding them, saying that it “delegitimises politics, dehumanises people, degenerates those engaged in their security and above all represents the abdication of the State itself”. In Chhattisgarh, the violence between the two sides had displaced about 100,000 people, many of them from indigenous tribal groups, it said.

The report said that the Government should focus instead on bridging the widening income gap between urban and rural populations, and between upper castes and lower castes or ethnic minorities. “To reduce the anger of the people, it is necessary that those affected should feel they are a part of mainstream Indian society and not an external element to be looked down on by others.”

Some experts on the Naxalites disagreed with the report's recommendations, claiming that development would take too long and security should remain the priority. But Dr Mehrotra said that he hoped the report would prompt the Government to place greater emphasis on development in Naxalite areas, instead of simply trying to crush the rebels.

“I think the tide is turning,” he said.

Like their Nepalese bretheren, the CPI(M) are threatening to beat the government into submission. They should avoid the current round of talks and negotiate on more favorable terms after the establishment of the red corridor. In related news, CPI(M) has killed 50 imperialist lackeys in their latest strike.

Nepal 'boosts international communism'

The leader of Nepal's Maoists has said that his party's recent election victory is a sign of the global resurgence of communism.

But Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, stressed his party believed in retaining multi-party competition.

Prachanda has made it clear that he wants to become the first president of a Nepalese republic.

The Maoists won twice as many seats as their nearest rivals in last month's polls for a constitutional assembly.

Investment priorities

Prachanda's comments are a reminder of the extraordinary way in which Nepal has contradicted the world's move away from communism in the past 20 years.

The leader of the former rebels told the AFP news agency that the Maoists' big poll victory signalled a wave of revolution in developing countries, which he said would spread to the developed world.

But Prachanda stressed that the Maoists did not believe in a one-party state.

He said they had concluded that "multi-partyism is a must, even in socialism" and that without competition, a vibrant society could not be created.

The Maoists have said time and again that such pluralism is necessary.

Another senior Maoist leader, CP Gajurel, recently told the BBC that communism had failed in other countries precisely because it did not allow competition, adding that it would be normal for the party to lose some elections, then come back to win others.

Prachanda also reiterated the Maoists' support for private investment in Nepal, both local and foreign.

But he said Nepal's people and government should decide on investment priorities.

The new assembly is due to sit some time after 20 May and is set to abolish the monarchy.

Discussions are in progress on what should be the composition of the country's new government.

Some in the traditionally biggest party, the Nepali Congress, say the current Congress Prime Minister GP Koirala should continue in the post. But many others ridicule this suggestion.

Maoists in India

http://www.metimes.com/Security/2008/05/01/analysis_maoists_eye_indias_northeast/9b74/

NEW DELHI, May 1 (UPI) -- Indian intelligence and security agencies are worried over the efforts of Maoist rebels to set up bases in the already restive northeast, which has now overtaken Jammu and Kashmir in militancy-related violence.

Security experts are analyzing the possible ramifications of the move. Following inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, the Interior Ministry sounded a red alert to the region's seven states directing them to put their police and central paramilitary forces on high alert, said a top IB official, who declined to be named.

The official said agencies are worried because the presence of Maoist rebels would further complicate the situation in the region, already under the grip of a severe armed conflict.

Intelligence inputs sent to the federal Interior Ministry suggest Maoist rebels have supported the issue of scheduled tribe status in Assam that would grant the state's residents greater access to educational and employment opportunities. Assam's tribal communities have demanded the status.

Intelligence inputs suggest Maoists have targeted two comparatively weak separatist outfits, the All Adivasi (tribal) National Liberation Army and Adivasi Viper Militant Force. The inputs say Maoists have already established contacts with these two organizations, which are active in the districts of Assam bordering Bhutan. These two groups have launched a massive recruitment drive in various parts of Assam and other northeastern states.

Ajai Sahani, executive director of Institute of Conflict Management, a nongovernmental think tank, said: "Armed Maoist guerrillas have prepared a detailed action plan for the future, which is aimed at a geographical spread. The plan includes ... the following:

"Coordinate the people's war with the ongoing armed struggles of the various oppressed nationalities in Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and other parts of the northeast. Build a broad united front of all secular forces and persecuted religious minorities such as Muslims, Christians and Sikhs."

The strife-torn region is dominated by Christian and ethnic minorities.

Maoist rebels operate in 13 Indian states and are trying to set up a Maoist republic in the country.

Security agencies say they are keeping a close watch on the activities of the AALNA and its associate group. Communications of leaders and top activists of these two groups have been put under surveillance in a bid to intercept possible communications with the Maoists.

A report on internal security states: " The security situation in the northeastern region would further deteriorate if Maoist rebels succeed in getting their foothold in the militancy-marred region."

Maoists are also eager to enter the northeast as it is part of their long-cherished dream of establishing a Red Corridor from Andhra Pradesh state to Nepal.

The documents of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) reflect a comprehensive strategy -- military, political, economic, cultural and psychological -- harnessed through the party, the People's Army, and the United Front.

India's security establishment has conceded that the Maoist threat is the country's single-biggest internal security challenge. But the threat is still viewed restrictively as it affects only a few states.

"Statistics of incidents never give a real picture of the ground. Whatever is visible is only the mere tip of the iceberg. Unless caution is exercised, volcanoes can erupt," said O.P. Rathore, director general of police of Maoist-hit state of Chhattisgarh.

If the Maoists can manage to set up the Red Corridor, the GOI will be in a poor position to crush them. They could resort to disrupting trade on a national scale, which ought to be enough to deal with any covert ops or military action.

Dialogue on the CPI(M)

This is a Q+A between me and another poster on a forum about the Indian Maoists. I think it is some of my better geopolitically oriented writing, so I'm reposting it here for (snicker) posterity. It has been minimally edited for narrative flow and to preserve anonymity.

Originally Posted by X

in the past you've come across portraying this possibility in South Asia as a good thing (i.e. Communists gaining strength, possibly power, and the U.S. retreating rather than building up good relations).

I think it is undeniable that, at least in the case of Nepal, the people's war is laudable. The king and royal family expropriated the countries wealth to a huge extent (all of the country's airlines closed when he traveled, for example). The idea of a contemporary nation still holding to the doctrine of the King's two Bodies strains the imagination, but as a point of fact this was the case until (almost literally) last Thursday.

Quote:

Is is, and why? It sounds like something that would derail the upward trajectory of the place. (Unless that is the good thing? )

India's development is indeed rapid, but hardly even. This is the main concern of CPI(M) and one I find hard to dismiss. The multinational corporations that CPI(M) initially reacted against have a firm track record of buying up tribally owned land, shunting the inhabitants off to concentration camps (let's not mince words here) and permanently destroying their livelihoods. Salwa Judum and other government-sponsored death squads retaliate brutally against any natives who wish to preserve their lands and ways of life. High caste landowners (as I'm sure you're aware, the abolition of the caste system is more nominal than real in the hinterlands) are free to hire private security forces to kill, torture and rape those who oppose their interests (and their families). It is, of course, possible that conditions under the CPI(M) would be even worse, but given their level of popular support (they have persisted for over 30 years now - most of the time depending on local populations for everything) and given the parallel developments in Nepal (where the CPN(M) won an overwhelming electoral majority after having governed large parts of the country in parallel with the Nepalese government - going to show that it is not simply a case of choosing the devil you don't know over the one you do), I believe that the CPI(M) has the interests of India's dispossessed more clearly in mind than the government, and that they are competent to act on this concern from a position of power.

EDIT: I think this is worth a lengthy quote, to demonstrate both how royally screwed up resource allocation is in rural India and the extent to which the rural areas are being bled dry to serve the booming megalopolises. It's like Chinatown with a billion victims.

http://www.navdanya.org/earthdcracy/...itz-letter.htm

The 24x7 scheme being funded by the World Bank for two South Delhi zones is also a privatization scheme since the contract is to be awarded to global corporations like Vivendi, Suez, Saur.

The Statement by Michael Carter, Country Director of the World Bank in India, made at the peak of the debate on World bank driven privatisation in Delhi has stated that the World Bank funds, will be used to “award management contracts to professional operators” in two zones of Delhi. The implication is that the water workers and the engineers of the Delhi Jal Board are not “professional”. There is also the implication that the other zones in Delhi can be denied reliable water supply, as all financial and management focus is limited to two zones. This is a recipe of water apartheid, not improving urban water supply. The free water provided to the poor is being stopped by stopping water provisioning through public taps and tankers to slums. While referring to the poor in the 24x7 schemes, the Bank is hiding the fact that even the poor will have to pay for water. If supplying water to two zones with 14 lakh population will cost $ 250 million, then on the World Bank model, Delhi’s 13 million will need $ 2.5 billion. This is a recipe for financial non-sustainability and permanent indebtedness. When the World Bank’s past lending has left our rivers and ground water aquifers dry, the tacky consumerist slogan of 24x7 can only bring water twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, to privileged enclaves by diverting it from other users – the rural and urban poor. 24x7 projects are in effect 24x7 drying up of our rivers, 24x7 denial of water to the economically underprivileged, politically marginalized communities; 24x7 guaranteed super profits for MNC’s.

Originally Posted by X

What I was really interested in is if you think Communism is the way to go for India. Would it raise the standard of living the way it did in China?

Put simply, I don't know. We'll know a lot more when we see how the CPN(M) does in power. If you're interested, i posted a long interview with Prachanda in the SP (under a thread about nepalese maoists). What I do believe is that it is imperative, almost categorically so, to put an end to the unmitigated rapine that India's rural poor are suffering under the IMF/multinational/GOI (government of India) death pact. When subsistence farmers are being deprived of their groundwater for the sake of Coca Cola and Pepsico bottling plants, one simply has no time to carefully consider a series of alternatives. I support the CPI(M) in their people's war, while reserving the right to withdraw my support in the future.

Quote:

There are a lot of differences between India and China. The average IQ among the poor is much lower in India.

This may be true, but we should be careful. China's rural population is basically inaccessible to psychometricians. The (quite high) national IQ is based, AFAICT, entirely on surveys of urban-dwellers.

Quote:

My concern is that Communism might render it somewhere halfway between China and Zimbabwe, and possibly a failed state. Yes, capitalism and free markets are going to make the rich richer, however a portion of that trickles down. This is something we can be fairly certain of.

My concern is that the combined and uneven development of India's urban and rural areas (especially if the 24/7 scheme is implemented) will lead to an exacerbation of the already critical overburdening of India's urban centers and, ultimately, economic disaster. Furthermore, I would be willing to bet that this would happen well before any possible benefits of IMF led development could reach India's rural communities. More likely, everyone will move to the cities and the subcontinent will burn from the inside out.

Nepalese Maoists

I've been keeping track of these guys for a while. Now I note that, unlike their main rivals in global antisystemic activity (international mujihideen), the RIM has actually managed to get themselves firmly entrenched in government, and do so without either A) compromising with the prerevolutionary government or B) seizing power by force of arms. Contemporary Maoism is a strange beast indeed. It is adopted by erudite French philosophers and practiced by guerrilla insurgents. The Maoists of Southeast Asia are what this blog is about. They have simply not been informed that Marxism is dead, that Mao was a psychopathic killer (and in any case incoherent and barely Marxist), and that the parameters of global geopolitics are now such that the only possible site of conflict is within the clash of civilizations between Islam and The West. Rather, through practical philosophizing in the best Maoist tradition, they have arrived at similar conclusions about 'post-ideological' geopolitics as one the first world's foremost minds. With regard to the power elite, they are what Rumsfeld would call one of the things 'you don't know you don't know.' They succeed using methods that have been conclusively demonstrated to produce failure. They are beneath notice, but are now causing serious tremors in a region that is crucial to the continued success of global Capitalism. They have the potential to shift the situation of Southeast Asia into a site with true revolutionary possibilities.