IN A surprising turnaround, India’s federal home minister yesterday declared he was ready for “serious negotiations” with Maoist insurgents who have a formidable presence across nearly one-third of the country.
“They are not terrorists attacking India from outside. They are rebels who have raised serious issues like lack of development, especially in tribal areas. We are prepared to discuss alternative structures of governance with them,” P Chidambaram said in New Delhi.
The minister’s conciliatory tone came just a month after his grand announcement that a specially trained and equipped 75,000-strong paramilitary force was being readied for a massive offensive against the rebels, who dominate some 223 of India’s 600-odd administrative districts in 20 of its 28 provinces.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh has reiterated that the Maoists, who run parallel administrations in their areas of influence, were the “biggest internal security challenge ever”. He admitted there had been a “systematic failure” in providing tribal people with a stake in India’s modern economy, a shortcoming that was fomenting discontent and making them vulnerable to Maoist influence. The rebels claim to be fighting to empower India’s depressed tribal and low-caste peoples and millions of others who remain dispossessed 62 years after independence from colonial rule.
Many such peoples lived in regions rich in mineral wealth which the Maoists claim were being handed to overseas corporations by corrupt state administrations for exploitation, with no benefit for locals. With about 20,000 active cadres backed by tens of thousands of “overground” faceless supporters, the Maoists also operate in areas rife with unemployment, corruption and inefficient governance.
Through a meticulously organised campaign of violence and intimidation, and of attacking but never holding territory, the Maoists have replaced local governance by levying taxes, running schools and settling disputes in kangaroo courts.
Between January and August 2009, there were over 1,400 Maoist-related violent incidents in which over 600 civilians and scores of police and paramilitary personnel died.
“We know that they will not lay down arms. So we are not asking them to lay down arms,” Mr Chidambaram said. He added that the constitution could be amended to “facilitate the cause of development” in tribal areas where the rebels operate.
Maoist leader Koteswara Rao, however, accused him of “double talk”. “He is offering peace and talks but he is sending federal forces everywhere we are operating. He cannot take us for a ride,” Mr Rao said, dismissing Mr Chidambaram’s peace offer.
Security analysts said the home minister’s peace proposition stems largely from the inherent realisation that little can be achieved merely by deploying security forces against Maoists, as the movement was widely supported. Good administration, not force, was needed to neutralise the rebels’ cause.
Federal Intelligence Bureau officials said the rebels’ aim was to either “control” 40 per cent of India by 2020, or to ensure the state’s presence over this area was minimal or sufficiently subverted to work in their favour.
“The Maoists are storm troopers of the political parties,” said retired Lieut Gen Vijay Kapoor, a security analyst. This makes it difficult if not impossible to deal effectively with them, he added.
