Maoist Naxal Left Wing Terror – lessons from Andhra Pradesh

Singh

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Left Wing Terror – lessons from Andhra



This headline in the Indian Express today caught my attention. Andhra Pradesh recorded the lowest ever fatalities in recent memory as a result of Maoist violence. Press reports are often half baked, so a its always good to refer back to more rigorous sources. South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) is perhaps the best on the matter. Surprisingly, SATP confirms the view - the total number of non-Maoist fatalities in AP in 2011 is 6, and no police/paramil fatalities. For a change, the media is carrying the right facts.

Here is where the praise stops though. The article goes on to ascribe the success of anti-Maoist capmpaign to the Greyhounds, the elite police formation in AP. Unfortunately, this is the party line bought hook, line and sinker by most politicians and policy makers as well – terror threats need to be combated using "special" forces. However, had that been true, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, with their long experience and experiments with "special" forces like Koya commandos and salwa judum would have had the same success. Or for that matter, West Bengal, whose police forces are "special" only in their sheer inexperience and lack of capacities even by Indian standards, would not have seen such a drastic fall in 2011 from the previous couple of years.

The reasons therefore are more complex than the potency of a special force.

At a combat level, the decisive cutting edge comes from intelligence and basic policing capacities. AP has invested persistently in setting up a first class intelligence network against the Maoists, with the State Intelligence Bureau at the helm of that effort. The potency of this network has enabled it (for now) to mask the inadequacies in capacities endemic to police forces all over the country. Absent this, no number of "specials" can do the job, as the Greyhounds themselves discovered in the Balimella incident, where 33 commandos were killed by the Maoists.

At a different, and more strategic level, tackling Maoism (or any insurgency) is a political challenge. Combat forces can soften up the underground and remove the more virulent personalities from the equation, the final solution has to be always political. The exaggerated operations of the Maoists in West Bengal in the last few years had a lot to do with the large scale rural disaffectation with the ruling CPIM cadres. Incidents like Nandigram provided fertile ground for the Maoists to breed violent actions against state (and quasi state CPIM) elements. The transfer of power post elections to Mamta Bannerjee has given an immediate outlet to people's grievances, and the results are therefore visible in the numbers. Maoism is still alive in WB, but has a much harder job at hand. It is upto the state government to not let the situation drift.

The lessons for states like Jharkhand and C'garh are clear. There are no short cuts possible, disastrous attempts like Salwa Judum worsen the issue. Political action and policing capacities need to be built up in order to defang the Maoist threat.

The Broad Mind » Left Wing Terror – lessons from Andhra
 

Singh

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Annual Naxal Maposts Fatalities Down To A Single Digit In Andhra Pradesh

After 30 Yrs, Annual Naxal Hits Down To A Single Digit In Andhra


As 2011 draws to a close, Andhra Pradesh has a special reason to cheer. After more than three decades of fighting Maoists, this year saw the least deaths as a result of left-wing extremism in the state, staying in single digits. In all, Andhra saw seven civilian deaths, with no police casualities.
Even the number of cases registered involving Maoist violence — 41, including six of murder — were the lowest since 1980 when Naxal attacks started to rise in the state.

A total of 2,065 civilians, including many government officials, have been killed while 575 policemen have died in 31 years of Naxal violence in Andhra.

In 1980, when the People's War Group (PWG) was formed, 38 offences were registered, including six murder cases. The violence reached its peak in 1991, when 178 civilians and 49 policemen were killed and police registered 953 cases against Left-wing extremists.

With 21 of the 23 districts in the state affected by Naxalite violence, 1990 (145 deaths), 1991 (227 deaths), 1992 (212 deaths) and 1993 (143 deaths) were particularly bad years for Andhra.

The figures have been compiled by the anti-Maoist Special Intelligence Branch (SIB). Its report shows that whenever governments have tried to engage the Maoists in talks, the violence has gone down drastically, only to return with a vengeance when talks failed.

It was only 10 years after the special anti-Naxal Greyhounds force was formed and the government overhauled and equipped the police force with modern weapons that the state police started getting an upper hand in the fight against left-wing extremists by 1999. The Naxals were pushed to the state's borders with Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

More than 800 Naxalites and 50 top leaders have been killed in encounters by the police since 2003. In a single year in 2005, more than 300 cadres including four top leaders were killed while many others were arrested or surrendered.

Advising against complacency, deputy inspector general of SIB Shivadhar Reddy said: "A single incident can upset a year's hard work like the Balimella reservoir incident of 2008 in which 36 policemen, including 33 Greyhounds commandos, were shot."

After 30 yrs, annual Naxal hits down to a single digit in Andhra - Indian Express
 

Iamanidiot

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There are people from AP here who know what happened in AP better.

AP waged a socio-economic war against the Maoists its was more a war against poverty and social inequality
The NT Rama Rao government layed the foundation .HE abolished the Patel-Patwari feudal system the feudal post of Karanam in the whole of AP.He replaced them with merit .Add to that he encouraged OBC leaders a lot in the Telangana area in place of the feudal Velalama's and Reddy's.The mid term and long term effect of this was the recruitment grounds for the PWG gradually decreased over the years.
If the law&Order situation on the ground is improved the clout of the naxals decreases.Greyhounds and security forces come at the fag end of the fight with Maoists .Before that the state has a lot of work to do
 

Singh

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There is a definite correlation between beefing up of security and reduction in violence but its not the only causation factor.
 

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