On April 24, 2017 a contingent of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was ambushed by the Maoists in Burkapal area of Chhattisgarh's Sukma district. This attack resulted in the death of 25 CRPF personnel and seven others were reported injured.

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The background

The Naxalite movement can be traced to the year 1967, and it draws its name from a village called Naxalbari. The movement was the result of a split in the Communist Party of India (CPI), led by Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, and Jangal Santhal initiated an uprising in 1967. The leaders of this outfit believed in the principle of using force to achieve their political goals. This led to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).

Origin of the movement

One of the most iconic reforms post independence were the land ceiling laws.These laws were enacted to ensure that the zamindari system in India came to an end. But two decades after India's independence the implementation of these had been so poor that the poor continued to get exploited at the hands of the rich. Leading up to the uprising, Jotedars (rich peasantry in villages) tried to manipulate land records to deceive farmers but the tipping point for the Naxalbari uprising was when on March 23, 1967 a sharecropper, Bigul Kisan, was beaten up by the local Jotedar for ploughing a patch of land. 

The next day, Inspector Sonam Wangdi was killed by a volley of arrows. On May 25, 1967 the struggle intensified and the police, perhaps in an attempt to control the situation, allegedly killed nine women and children. In the months that followed, the struggle swept West Bengal and peasants took up firearms and looted Jotedars and used force to occupy land. The movement has survived for 40 years despite spirited efforts by our security establishment. The situation turned so intense that in 2008, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned that this was the single biggest internal threat that the country faced.

Why it continues to survive

Despite the pressure exerted on them, the Maoists are highly motivated, and have many factors that put them at an advantage in a fight. Some of these include a strong net of local informants and a better understanding of the terrain. They also have significant support from the local villagers. This is partly because of the government's failed strategy in previous years. While successive governments have only increased the number of troops in the violence-affected regions, they failed to understand that the underlying force behind this is socio-economic and its not so much of a law and order problem.

Carrot and stick policy

The security forces now follow a two-pronged strategy to counter these ultras. The first is the use of force to neutralise the armed fighter and the second is to pump funds for developmental projects like roads, schools and hospitals in that region. If statistics are to be believed then the carrot and stick policy of the government has paid off. The number of violence-affected districts has come down significantly.

From purpose to politics

The Naxalite movement which began to guarantee the economic and social well-being of the villagers has become one the main causes for their backwardness by effectively blocking any development measures given by the government. In the last 40 years, the naxalite movement has turned into nothing more than a violent terrorist organisation that has nothing to do with ushering a political revolution and bringing equality in our country. The very fact that many Naxalites have laid down their weapons and have entered mainstream politics to ensure the betterment of the people and their long term development proves that there is no excuse for the violent designs of the naxals to still exist.

The writer is a Class 12 student at Bombay Scottish School, Mumbai, who loves to read, eat, breathe and talk politics.