A Lost Cause: On Gadchiroli Encounter and Maoists

with him 26 rebels killed in police operation in Gadchiroli On Saturday, the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) suffered another setback in its “prolonged armed struggle” against the Indian state. Gadchiroli, a largely forested and tribal-dominated district, is one of the poorest districts in Maharashtra and the Maoists have sought to expand their presence from neighboring Chhattisgarh. The district has witnessed major encounters, most recently in April 2018 involving the death of 40 Maoists in two separate operations and A landmine blast claiming 15 police personnel and a driver in May 2019. Gadchiroli is one of the few districts “severely affected” by Left Wing Extremism. The Maoists have refused to back down from their pursuit of armed conflict, despite suffering significant losses to their leadership in military operations or due to physical infirmities and shrinking spheres of influence. In the cycle of violence, he has managed his attacks against security forces, but such attacks have not helped him to increase his presence or increase his support base. Conflict has fallen into a pattern – violence breeds violence as rebels and security forces continually lose fighters, but equally troubling, it also affects poor Aboriginal people whose lives are prolonged. Gets caught in the shootout.

The inability of the Maoists, not only to expand but also to establish themselves, to some extent, has been attributed to the Indian state apparatus, its security establishment and its work through development plans, reducing the support of the Maoists among the poorest of the poor. is credited for. and marginalized sections, especially in remote areas. At the same time, it is also a reflection of the inconsistency of the Indian Maoists’ program which is based on imitating the Chinese revolution of the last century, and its quick pursuit of armed struggle as a means to achieve their goals. Neither India is very close to what it was in China in the 1920s, nor are the farmers—whose support is seen by the Maoists as crucial to their project—attracted to the Maoist program or reliance on guerrilla conflict. The Maoists’ refusal to accept the diverse industrial base in the country, the rejection of liberal democratic means in the Indian state and the poor’s faith in a strong electoral system have blinded them to pursuing a futile cause. Yet, despite the futility, the Maoists retain the ability to strike in isolated skirmishes. Maharashtra should not rest on its success in militarily reducing the Maoist menace in Gadchiroli. It should work relentlessly to gain the support of the tribals in the region and to keep their faith in the liberal democratic institutions of the state.