People Centric- Maoist Alternate Development Model – a Myth

The Economist in an article aptly titled ‘A specter haunting India’-way back in 2006, had highlighted this Ideological stratagem of Maoists to penetrate and entrench themselves among the Tribal lands and India’s countryside.

The government blames the Maoists for blocking development, such as road-building. But the Maoists tell people that roads are intended simply to help the state plunder the forests and take wealth out, not bring it in. Many believe them. The Maoists profit from what Mr Sahni calls “asymmetric expectations”: people expect the state to provide for them, and it is failing; any good coming from the Maoists—social work, land redistribution, a price rise for local produce—brings disproportionate gratitude.

The Institute of conflict management in Delhi has stated that the Maoists paradoxically- like the American corporate they decry, conduct detailed socio-economic surveys – before starting operations in a target area, helping to identify grievances they can exploit.

Economist points out how even then, the early enthusiasts of this Maoist alternate development  myth  got disillusioned-Himanshu Kumar, who runs aid projects in the district, says he used to respect the Naxalites as working “for the betterment of the masses”. But he now found “people supporting them out of fear of their guns, or to gain power to loot others.”

Wikipedia confirms this- There is a correlation between areas with extensive coal resources and impact of the insurgency. Naxalites conduct detailed socio-economic surveys before starting operations in a target area.

Their aim obviously is something else

Mr Ueike talks boldly of expanding Naxalite influence into new areas: Kashmir, the north-east, and India’s cities. The spread of Naxalism is causing justifiable alarm. Just as Mao Zedong mounted the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing in 1949 to tell the Chinese people they had stood up, Mr Ueike dreams of seeing the red flag fly over the Red Fort in Delhi in his lifetime.

The Red Mafia

The principal funding for the Maoists comes from abductions, extortion and looting. They also set up unofficial administrations to collect taxes in rural areas where official government appears absent.

Another major source of funding for Maoists comes from poppy cultivation reported from the Ghagra area of Gumla district in Jharkhand and in parts of Gumla, Kishanganj and Purnia districts in Bihar. Security forces claim that opium fields are screened and hidden behind peripheral maize cultivation. The Naxals are also believed to be patronizing hemp cultivation to fund their activities as reported from Debagarh district in Orissa.

A detailed refutation of Activists enabling the Red mafia forestlands and Indian countryside can be read in Scrib.com.
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