Maoist rebels threaten to derail Indian elections

[jimmy olsen]

I hadn't realized how serious this rebellion had grown.

Maoist rebels threaten to derail Indian elections
A growing insurgency by Maoist rebels in India is threatening to derail the country's parliamentary elections with a series of co-ordinated attacks.

by Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Last Updated: 3:22PM BST 22 Apr 200

They have unleashed a campaign of terror in four states in the south and east of the country where they have threatened election officials, security personnel and voters who defy their call for a poll boycott.

The campaign intensified yesterday when 250 rebels, known locally as 'Naxalites' hijacked a train and held 500 passengers hostage for four hours before releasing them unharmed.

The raid highlighted a deadly war which has gone largely unnoticed beyond India, and demonstrated the growing reach of a Maoist insurgency which now affects a quarter Indian districts.

It followed an earlier strike on a government office in Jharkhand where rebels blew up a conference centre. In another incident, eight trucks were torched and a driver killed as Jharkhand prepared for India's second round of voting tomorrow (thu).

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Maoist 'Naxalite' insurgency is India's biggest internal security threat – more threatening than Islamic militants who have killed several hundred in spectacular attacks on Jaipur, Delhi and Mumbai.

The Maoists are now believed to pose a substantial threat in 150 of India's 600 districts stretching from Andhra Pradesh in the south, up into the poor eastern states Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. In those 150 districts, the state is regarded as "non-functioning".

Their attack yesterday (WEDS) was carried out by 250 rebels armed with guns and bows and errors, and highlighted their reach in India's remote regions. They boarded the train, held the driver at gunpoint and forced him drive it to Hegarah, in Jharkhand's Lahehar district.

It appeared to be part of a co-ordinated series of attacks and followed several strikes last week, on the first day of polling, where they killed 17 elite commandos and election officials.

An estimated 6,000 people have been killed by the insurgents since they launched their uprising in Naxalbari, West Bengal, in 1967 after a peasant was killed by a landlord's employees. Since then they have grown to a force estimated at 20,000 by India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing. They are believed to have a strong presence covering more than 60,000 square miles where they enjoy wide support for land reform and higher wages.

Last year, they killed more than 650 police officers, soldiers and civilians in a series of commando raids and bombings.

Government operations to tackle the threat have been controversial and unsuccessful to date. A state-sponsored vigilante force known as the Salwa Judum was established to arm and train villagers to resist the Maoists has led to more deaths in affected villages, while intelligence sources say the insurgency continues to grow.

The government recently announced a series of co-ordinated measures to tackle the Maoists across the affected states and in particular to block their traditional escape routes.

Saibal Gupta a leading commentator on the Maoists and secretary of the Asian Development Research Institute, said their campaign had been successful in persuading many Indians to boycott the election, but he did not believe it would affect the election outcome.

"They are extremely well-armed and they have a steady income in those areas where they enforcing the law. They receive money from contractors, and they collect almost with the legitimacy of the state in some areas.

"They're attacking the election to de-legitimise the Indian state structures. They want to sabotage the legitimacy India gets from elections. In many areas, where the state is not functioning, the Naxals are resolving local disputes, gaining their own legitimacy. Their social support is huge," he said.

[Valmy]

India is such a wonderfully bizarre country

I say death to all maoists.

[MadImmortalMan]

I bet they're well-funded by Chinese overlords.

[Neil]

I bet they're well-funded by Chinese overlords.

Of course.  Destabilizing India is one of China's main foreign policy goals.

[Syt]

Well, if they can topple the state of Nepal why not the slightly larger state of India? A civil war Maoists vs. Muslims could be fun; who would Languish side with?

[jimmy olsen]

Well, if they can topple the state of Nepal why not the slightly larger state of India? A civil war Maoists vs. Muslims could be fun; who would Languish side with?

Slightly?

Maoists.

[Neil]

Well, if they can topple the state of Nepal why not the slightly larger state of India? A civil war Maoists vs. Muslims could be fun; who would Languish side with?

Option 3)  Hindu nationalists.

[Jacob]

As far as I know the Naxalites have been around there for a long time.  Little connection with China at all as I understand it, it's all about local politics.

[Habbaku]

Option 3)  Hindu nationalists.

Neil is wise.  Trust in Neil.

[Sheilbh]

As far as I know the Naxalites have been around there for a long time.  Little connection with China at all as I understand it, it's all about local politics.

Yeah they've been around for about thirty years.  Their start in West Bengal was part of a general fight between the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), the Congress and the Naxalites.  But it's interesting that though they routinely do this at elections and they often threaten reprisals on people who vote, that India's so far as I know, the only country in the world were democratic participation has increase with every single election.

India's an incredible country.  It makes literally no sense.  By every standard it should have collapsed, and indeed there've been people in almost every decade predicting India will collapse and yet it keeps going.  It also stays democratic, except for a brief phase under Indira.  Despite its huge linguistic, cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, despite the yawning chasm between rich and poor, urban and rurual, India keeps going and keeps voting.  It's a hell of an achievement.

[Sheilbh]

Also little of this is new, in the late 60s the police found explosives enough for 3000 bombs in a Maoist hid-out.  In 2005 they orchaestrated a jailbreak of over 200 prisoners.

They do get some arms from Beijing but there's a good section on them in Ramachandra Guha's terrific 'India After Gandhi'.

[Razgovory]

Wow, Maoists.  A little behind the curve aren't they?  I agree that India is one of the strangest countries in the world.  It's this near constant chaos that I think will make it a great power well before the Chinese.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Indian Maoist Rebels.  I hate Indian Maoist Rebels.

[Razgovory]

Seriously, why would anyone want to be a Maoist today?  The Chinese aren't even Maoist.

[DontSayBanana]

The Maoists are now believed to pose a substantial threat in 150 of India's 600 districts stretching from Andhra Pradesh in the south, up into the poor eastern states Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. In those 150 districts, the state is regarded as "non-functioning".

This caught my attention, and makes me wonder how things are stacking up.

Either Mexico's closer to a civil war than we've been led to believe, or somebody's really been engaging in hyperbole when saying Mexico was our biggest failed state concern, compared with shaky government in a country that's nuclear-capable.