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CONNECTION BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF EXTREMISM This is a popular question. It can be framed in many ways. Instead of extremism, they could have also used the word insurgencythe media frequently uses the word naxal terror also. I have seen another form of the question seeking an answer in 2 ! words. The question read like" #$hile development is a useful tool against %aoist extremism, it is imperative that a semblance of order precede in&ection of resources into the extremist' affected areas.( )ritically comment. In the following, I will explain the matter at length for the purpose of your knowledge. Once you have understood the subject, you can always condense the answer in 25 or 5 words. DESIDERATA FOR PROPER UNDERSTANDING *or a proper understanding of the sub&ect, you must understand each of the keywords. The keywords are" %ain problem areas of the country +xtremism %aoist extremism ,axalism Insurgency Terrorism -evelopment deficit .overnance deficit

MAIN PROBLEM AREAS OF THE COUNTRY The main problem areas of the country are the following" Kashmir" In the following when I say /ashmir, I mean only the valley of /ashmir which is almost entirely %uslim. I do not include the 0ammu region and the 1adakh region in this. 0ammu is predominantly 2indu though there is considerable presence of %uslims in some districts. 3ecall the recent communal riots in /ishtwar. 1adakh has native 4uddhists and some %uslims. The basic demand of the troublemakers in /ashmir is that they want the government of India to grant them more

autonomy. $hile 5rticle 67! giving the state a special status is already there, they want something more. $hat exactly they want is never explained. 4ut we know the undercurrents. It has a historical background. The %uslim ma&ority population of the /ashmir valley was ruled by 2indu -ogra kings. 5fter independence, even as most of the princely rulers agreed to merge with the Indian 8nion, three guys, namely the rulers of /ashmir, 0unagadh, and 2yderabad did not agree. +ven as ra&a 2ari 9ingh was dilly'dallying, the %uslim tribal people from across the border attacked /ashmir. The idea was to wrest it by force and merge the %uslim ma&ority /ashmir valley with :akistan. They were secretly supported by the :ak army regulars. The ra&a;s forces melted before them. $hen the tribal forces were only <2 km from 9rinagar, the ra&a fled from 9rinagar to 0ammu. It was under the fear of defeat that he signed the Instrument of 5ccession, agreeing to merge with the Indian 8nion. 5fter that, the government of India sent its forces in /ashmir. They drove back the raiders but not fully. The area which remained under their occupation is called :=/:ak =ccupied /ashmir by us. The :akistanis call it 5>ad /ashmir. The undercurrent is that the troublemakers want the government of India to honour a written commitment that we had made before the 8, in ?@<@ that we would hold a plebiscite in /ashmir. $e never held the plebiscite. The plebiscite was to be held to determine directly from the people, as to what they wantthat is, whether they want to remain with India, go with :akistan, or become independent. =ur contention is that because people have been participating in the elections for so long, it means that they have reposed their faith in the Indian )onstitution and the parliamentary form of democracy. Those who are wielding the gun in /ashmir, do not agree with this. They say that you hold the plebiscite first and then the people will decide what they want. The trouble in /ashmir is very old. In ?@A@, there was a mass movementit, however, gradually petered out. 5fter that it took the form of terrorism. It means that the terrorists attack the security forces, kill innocent people and explode bombs here and there. The role of :akistan in the entire matter is that they are secretly supporting such terrorists. Their arms and ammunition all comes from :akistan. The extremely difficult terrain in /ashmir cannot be fenced hence it is not difficult for the terrorists to cross the border for exfiltration and infiltrationthey go out, train there, pick up guns and come back. Nor h!as " The main problem areas in the northeast are ,agaland, %anipur and 5ssam. Tripura is quiet now. The problem in Na#a$a%& is that they want independence. They have been demanding so since ?@2A. The demand was first raised by a body called ,aga )lub before the 9imon )ommission. 8nlike other states, there was no king in ,agaland

only different tribal chieftains were there. 1ater they formed an organi>ation called the ,,),aga ,ational )ouncil led by :hi>o. 9till later, when the ,,) entered into a pact with the government called the 9hillong 5ccord in ?@7 , some people claimed that it was an act of betrayal and formed an organi>ation called ,9),',ational 9ocialist )ouncil of ,agaland. It was a proper insurgent group which fought bitterly with us. This has now split into three groups. There is a ceasefire since ?@@7 but they have not laid down their arms. The government is in talks with one of themthe group led by Isak and %uivah. The other two are recalcitrant. The problem in Ma%i'(r is that the king merged with the Indian 8nion only in ?@<@. )ommunist revolutionary groups in %anipur re&ected this as one under pressure and demanded secession from India. They also waged insurgency since long. :resently, there are 6< insurgent groups in %anipur. 9ome of them have entered into what is known as 9o='9uspension of =perations 5greement with the government. This is a sort of ceasefire. The problem in Assam is that the 81*5 B8nited 1iberation *ront of 5ssamC wants secession from India. 4odo tribals also want secession. The government is in talk with one faction of the 81*5. Na)a$s*Maois s" They are different from the /ashmiris or the northeast guys. The /ashmiris and the northeast guys are basically ethnic minorities. 2ence they want secession from India on the ground of ethnicity, followed by religion and languageDculture in that order. )an anyone deny that the northeast guys are closer to the people of 4urmaD)hina etc.E 4ut naxals are not so. They do not want secession from India. They are of the same ethnic stock. %ost of the senior naxal leaders are the so'called upper caste intellectuals. 4ut they do not accept India and Indian polity as it is. They say that the existing system is exploitative in character in which the rich exploit the poor and the government Bwhat they call )44+om'ra&or ,(r!a(+ra i+ ,o(r#!ois!C colludes in this. They want to replace it by the ultimate ideal of communist philosophy&i+ a orshi' o- h! 'ro$! aria . 2ow do they want to do itE $ell, as they say, power flows from the barrel of the gun. That is, by a violent revolution of the type that took place in 3ussia, )hina and )ubaa 3ed 3evolution. This requires waging of what they call a :rotracted $ar. It is in pursuit of this that they attack the security forces, kill suspected class enemies, and police informers etc. they oppose exploitation of minerals in tribal areas because they say that the benefits would eventually go to others and would not accrue to the poorest of the poor.

WHAT IS THE PRIMA FACIE CONNECTION OF DEVELOPMENT WITH EXTREMISM OR INSURGENCY. The simplest connection is made by an observation that the naxals are strong in those areas which have remained backwardin fact, 4astar, for example, is the most backward area in the country and there the naxals are the strongest. ,ow strength of a group does not depend merely on the weapons with it. $eapons can be had anywhereeven the mafia dons of 4ombay have many weapons. 4ut they cannot carry out an insurgency like the naxals. $hyE 4ecause they do not have public support. *rom this observation, it is deduced that the naxals are strong in those areas because they have some public support there. !hat gives them public support" !ell, the public gives them support because they are dissatisfied with the government . The fruits of the development of the past FF years have not reached them. Thus there is a &!/!$o'm!% &!-i+i . $hy the fruits of development did not reach thereE 4ecause, there is a #o/!r%a%+! &!-i+i . The government has not been able to enforce and ensure that its officials deliver the fruits of development to the needy. I will explain this with an example. )onsider a :2)'primary health center in a remote rural area. Gou can go there anytime and check. The doctor will never be found. %ost doctors posted to :2)s stay in the cities, do private practice, and go there may be once a month to mark attendance. 5s a result, no medical service is available to the poor. The doctor is never punished because he has a nexus with the )%=this is #o/!r%a%+! &!-i+i or as some people call it0 a&mi%is ra i/! /a+((m. Then there are other issues also. The :2), even if the doctor is there, would usually have no medicines as they might have been sold in the market or they will be sub'standard medicines. This is because of corruption. The net result is that the poor are deprived of the benefits of the funds that are allocated for them by the governmentthis is &!/!$o'm!% &!-i+i . -issatisfied people help the naxals in many ways" 4y providing them cadresby &oining them or sending their children to them 4y taking part in their propaganda activities, rallies etc. 4y acting as spies and scouts for them. This is one of the main reasons of the anti'naxal operations failing. The naxals call them jan militia, village raksha dal etc. They give them advance information about the movement

of troops so that the naxals may ambush them and kill them. I 1o($& sa2 ha his is h! ,i##!s s r!%# h o- h! %a)a$s3 In %alkangiri, =rissa a dam was built in the ?@F!s. That isolated some ?<? villages. Those ?<? villages have not been seen by anybody in either the 9tate or )entral .overnment since ?@F@. ,obody has ever gone to them. There is not a single road, there is no 4-=, no village officer, but we know they exist because the %aoists have come there, been their friends, indoctrinated them. Gou can call it neglect if you want. No !" #here has been serious criticism of the government for both development deficit and governance deficit. #he $eport of an %xpert &roup to 'lanning (ommission, entitled )*evelopment (hallenges in %xtremist +ffected +reas, is also highly critical. #he -upreme (ourt, in the case of .andini -undar also critici/ed the government vehemently and cited form that report. I am attaching this report. 01#, it is only for gyan, not for (ivil -ervices. +nyone who cites it will be in trouble. 2or (ivil -ervice you have only to say that there is such3and3such deficit but do .O# critici/e the government for it. 4ust a statement of facts. .o analysis. DEFINITION OF INSURGENCY 5n insurgency can be defined as a struggle between a non'ruling group Bnon'state actorsC and the ruling authorities Bstate actorsC in which the former consciously employs political resources Borgani>ational skills, propaganda andDor demonstrationsC and instruments of Bostensibly illegalC violence to gain political concessions or outright independence from the existing system. Thus an insurgency is an exertion in open resistance against an established authority which falls short of a revolution or civil war. 5 belligerent involved in activities having an insurrectionary focus becomes an insurgent. It is important to note that the emphasis is on Hopen resistance; or Hdefiance; of the authority, and its falling short of a revolution or civil war. If the rebellion succeeds, it becomes a revolution meaning that the insurgency is overfrom an opposition to authority, it becomes the authority itselfI the %aoists in ,epal being a very good recent example. There are two types of insurgencies. The first is the classical or communism' inspired insurgency. They want to establish Hdictatorship of the proletariat; through violent means. *or a long time, they were the only type of insurgencythus we had insurgencies in %alaya, 5lgeria, )uba, 4olivia, etc. The second is non'communism'inspired insurgency. This is a recent phenomenon. *or the 5mericans and the 89'supported government in 5fghanistan, the Taliban are insurgents because these non'state actors are trying to overthrow the state'actor by violent means.

,on'communism'inspired insurgencies often arise on account of some contradiction in the process of nation'building. 5 nation becomes strong and stable only if the three primeval factors of race, language and religion are common. %ost of the insurgent groups in which the members belong to people of a race, language or religion, which is different from the mainstream race, language or religion in the country, seek secession from the parent nation. /ashmiri troublemakers, for example, are a different race, have a different language and in terms of religion, are closer to :akistan. ,aturally, they want secession from India. :recisely for this reason, the northeast also wants secession. DEFINITION OF TERRORISM The 89 -epartment of -efense has defined terrorism as" #The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fearI intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.( 5 8nited ,ations 9ecurity )ouncil report described terrorism as any act Jintended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non'combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organi>ation to do or abstain from doing any act.J DEFINITION OF EXTREMISM AND MILITANCY +xtremism means intolerance towards all views other than one;s own or advocating severe measures instead of moderate measures. In the political context, it is a vague term which means taking a political idea to its limit, regardless of the so'called Hunfortunate; repercussions, impracticalities, arguments and feelings to the contrary. It can be stretched to mean the adoption of means to political ends which disregard the accepted standards of conduct. In the context of naxals, we often use the term 1$+, that is, left wing extremism. This phrase was coined because the leftist philosophy is now very much acceptable in India. 5fter all, they are recogni>ed political parties. They have become acceptable because they have reposed their faith in the Indian )onstitution and the parliamentary form of democracy. The naxals were originally a part of the ):I B%C. ,axalism had its immediate origins in the debates within the Indian communist movement of the ?@F!s about the Hcorrect; strategic line to be taken in order to establish communism in India;s peculiar circumstances. The mainstream communist parties had &oined electoral politics. This did not go down well with those who dreamt of capturing power through a revolution to establish the Hdictatorship of the proletariat;. . The )ommunist

:arty had come to power in $est 4engal for the first time in ?@F7. $hen this happened, a section of the )ommunist :arty of IndiaK%arxist B):IK%C broke ranks and opted for a radical alternative. They re&ected participation in electoral politics, and opted for a non'conciliatory attack on the landed classes. The leftist government called it #left adventurism(I )haru %a&umdar and company retaliated by calling the government;s stance as #betrayal of %arxist ideology(. )haru %a&umdar defined the ob&ective of the new movement as Lsei>ure of power through an agrarian revolutionL. The ob&ective was the elimination of the feudal order in the Indian countryside to free the poor from the clutches of the oppressive landlords and replace the old order with an alternative one that would implement land reforms. 2e thought that elimination of the landlords would empower the peasants to such an extent that they would be able to take on the stateLs police force which came to help the landlords. Thus they would gradually set up Lliberated >onesL in different parts of the country that would eventually coalesce into a territorial unit under naxal hegemony a la Genan of )hinaM 2e actually hoped that the revolution would take its own course and would go on expanding from village to village like a nuclear chain reaction because poor, oppressed and exploited peasants were to be found everywhere. 8nfortunately for him, this was not to happen. 9ome people call the naxals left wing extremists because they profess an extreme version of the communist Bthat is leftistC philosophy. 5 parallel is found elsewhere also. *or example, the Taliban or the $ahabis are called radical Islam, fundamentalist Islam or extremist Islam. They are called so because they profess an extreme version of Islam which is not tolerant. Thus an extremist is someone who interprets some older or accepted philosophy and claims that only his interpretation is the correct one. 5s I said in the beginning, the first requirement of extremism is intolerance. 2e would denounce all others. The second requirement of extremism is that he is not very fastidious or punctilious about the means employed. In other words, he would not mind extreme measures like use of violence etc. also in support of his point of view. 2ow much violence he approves of or does not approve of, is a matter of his choice. 8se of the words militant and militancy is both bad +nglish an bad political science. 5ccording to the =xford +nglish dictionary, a militant is simply an aggressive person who takes active part in a straggle or cause, or who is combative by nature. The connotation of the term, in its correct usage, is not at all repulsivecertainly it does not hint at anything illegal, repugnant or anti'

national. *or example, we speak of the )hurch militantit simply means the )hurch on the earth in its Brather enthusiasticC struggle against evil. -epending on which newspaper or TN channel is popular, the words used by them become popular. In the context of /ashmir, most papers use the word militant. $hy are they not terroristsE -on;t they commit acts of terrorismE In the northeast, the media uses the word Hunderground;. They keep on exploding bombs in markets but the media does not call them terrorists. $e are not obliged to go by their wisdom or lack of it. To regard militancy or extremism as milder forms of insurgencies or terrorism, or to use these words to describe someone for whom the government does not want to use the words insurgent or terrorist as he is being wooed or engaged in Htalks; is ignorance nevertheless. CONNECTION BETWEEN INSURGENCY AND TERRORISM Terrorism is a toolI insurgency is a process that may or may not use that tool. Terrorism might also have its origin in issues or grievances that lead to insurgencies but they are not essential. Terrorism could be resorted to for very limited ob&ectives too. It is a simple but effective tool for limited ob&ectives. *or example, the purpose of the hi&acking of I)'A?< was to secure the release of %aulana %asood 5>har, a &ailed terrorist. $hen the Indian %u&ahideen exploded serial bombs in 5hmedabad, they had sent an email to media housesin the email they said that it was revenge for the .u&arat riots. Insurgencies have to have loftier ob&ectives. Terrorism has no such pretensions. Insurgencies seek to involve the people at largethey have to mobili>e masses. Terrorists are not obliged to mobili>e any massesit can work with very few members. $hen the 4lack 9eptember terrorist organi>ation was started, it was originally a very small group. The $estern perception of terrorism has actually kept on changing according to their convenience. In the ?@7!s, :aul $ilkinson, for example, had defined terrorism as a form of insurgent warfare conducted either by individuals or small groups, which involved the use of systematic, arbitrary and amoral violence in order to achieve both long'and short'term political aims. In a bipolar world, when they spoke of guerrilla warfare, they had essentially communism inspired insurgencies in their mind. @D?? changed all their perceptions in a moment because there were no insurgencies to contend with.

Insurgents may or may not employ terrorism as a tool in their efforts. In the classical progression of communist insurgency, terrorism is the second stage. The four stages in the classical progression of communism'inspired insurgency are" organi>ation or subversive stageI terrorism stageI guerrilla warfare stageI and mobile warfare stage. In practice, insurgencies may often be obliged to fall back to the terrorism stage whenever the government response becomes effective or when they fail to mobili>e enough people. The same organi>ation may employ insurrectional as well as terrorist activities simultaneously. *or example, if the naxals organi>e a rally in 4astar against the entry of multi'national mining companies in the tribal areas and exhort them to strive for a 3ed 3evolution, they are indulging in insurgent activity because they are mobili>ing people. 4ut the very next day, they could kidnap and kill the :ro&ect %anager of a mining company. Then they are indulging in terrorism. If Narvara 3ao, a known naxal ideologue and poet, writes an article in which he argues that killing of Hclass enemies; or police informers by the naxals is &ustified, he is being an extremist because he is advocating extreme views. 2e has not committed any offence himself but he is supporting their views. THE CONCEPT OF CLEAR0 HOLD AND DEVELOP This is the official strategy of the government regarding naxals. *irst, clear. That is, to clear the area of naxals. $hyE 4ecause unless you clear the naxals and ensure that it is the writ of the government and not their writ which will run in the area, nothing can be done. 5 former 2ome 9ecretary . / :illai admitted the following Byou don;t have to cite him by name but you must knowC" :eople do not obey the law and in many of the areas because of the lack of administration. It is the officers at the lower level who are all powerful in the absence of the district collector or superior officers who never visit. It is the village officer or the forest officer or the sub' inspector in the police stations etc., who have authority. 5nd the %aoists what they have really done is to show that this authority is really a paper tiger. They tell the villagers in an isolated area that they could go and catch hold of the village officer, catch hold of the forest guard, catch hold of the station house officer, tie him to a tree and tell the villagers, look this guy has been troubling you, he is &ust another human being and you can beat him up. 2e is &ust as much as flesh and blood as any of us. Take a gun, shoot him and once you have shot him, you reali>e in one sense that the myth of administrative power or the aura of state power which is there, disappears and you are able to get what they say the authority of the 9tate in many of these areas. That is what has happened through violent attacks on the police, the field level functionaries etc. They say

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they are ineffective which is why when they attack a police station, the message they are trying to tell is, look if the police canLt protect themselves, where are they going to protect you. They go after police informers.( Th(s +$!ari%# is %!+!ssar2 ,!+a(s! (%$!ss 2o( +$!ar0 a%2 s!m,$a%+! oa&mi%is ra io% +a%%o !)is 3 A% i4%a)a$ o'!ra io%s ar! a$$ a,o( +$!ari%#3 Yo( +a% a$so &!s+ri,! i as r!s ori%# $a1 a%& or&!r3 A- !r +$!ari%# 2o( +a%%o $!a/! h! '$a+! 5(s $i6! ha 3 Th! %a)a$s 1i$$ +om! ,a+63 H!%+! 2o( ha/! o ho$& i 3 Ho$&i%# is #!%!ra$$2 ,2 s r!%# h!%i%# h! 'o$i+! s a io%s a%& !s a,$ishi%# h! +am's o'arami$i ar2 -or+!s3 Th!% +om!s h! hir& s !' o- &!/!$o'm!% 1hi+h is s!$-4!)'$a%a or23 Th! #o/!r%m!% has a6!% ma%2 i%i ia i/!s i% his r!#ar&3 Th!s! i%+$(&! h! IAP4I% !#ra !& A+ io% P$a%0 Sara%&a A+ io% P$a% ! +3