Jain Community Protests
Naxalism is a far-left violent movement that aims to overthrow India's government through a violent and guerilla movement.
Jain Community Protests
- Naxalism is a far-left violent movement that aims to overthrow India's government through a violent and guerilla movement.
- Although it decreased over time, it is still prevalent in many parts of India.
- The term's origin can be traced to a village named "Naxalbari" in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
- Peasants revolted against landlords in Naxalbari village of West Bengal, and it went out of control; subsequently, the police opened fire and began this violent movement.
- Naxalism or Maoism claims to base its ideology on two important people, Marx and Engles and Mao Zedong.
- Most of the leftist movements derive their ideology from Marx and Engles.
- According to Marx and Engles, all social structures and State's structure in a capitalist society are quite exploitative and need to be replaced.
- As per Naxals, the current Indian State is based on a similar capitalistic setup and needs to be replaced. Additionally, they believe that only a revolution can replace this setup.
- Mao Zedong, on the other hand, gave the concept of guerilla war. A war which is not democratic but rather violent, like surrounding the cities, political transformation through mass involvement and, finally, overthrowing the State through these measures.
Reasons for the spread of Naxalism in India-
- The inability of the government to cater to the needs and demands of the people, especially the tribal people, created fertile ground for this ideology and engulfed a major region of our country.
- the 5th schedule of the constitution provides for special governance mechanisms for scheduled areas. It also provides for a special advisory council in the states and some special powers given to the governor in the interest of the people of these scheduled areas. This provision was created to protect the tribals in these selected states. Nevertheless, there is prevalent nepotism in the tribal advisory council, which is being constituted, and it is not a true representative of the tribals in the State.
- Forest rights- most of the tribals in our country reside in forested regions and depend on such forests for their livelihood and daily needs.
Since the time of the Britishers, the monopolization of forests started in the form of various acts. With the coming up of the forest act, the rights of these forest dwellers were severely affected, and the same continued till 2006 until the Forest Right Act of 2006 was legislated.
- Existing flaws in the forest act of 2006- firstly, there are minimum community rights. Secondly, there is too much insistence on evidence as every tribal has to prove through evidence that they traditionally live in this forest. Only then will their rights be recognized. Advancing of such evidence is not practicable by these tribal people since time immemorial. They have been living outside the modern system we created, which results in the delay or lack of recognition of these forest dwellers.
- Atrocities committed on scheduled caste and scheduled tribes. Although the Prevention of atrocities against schedule caste and schedule tribes Act 1989 is there, the problem has already taken a bad shape. Also, the act's implementation lies in the hands of police officials who harbour caste biases.
- Severe need for more development in these regions despite being mineral-rich.
- Not so successful land reform- land reforms, though carried out on a wide scale, were successful only in a few states like Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal.
- The degree of unemployment and required qualification is quite low among these groups leading to growing Naxalism.
Government initiatives-
- Ban on CPI (Maoist): It is a major left-wing extremist organization responsible for most incidents of violence. It has also been included in the schedule of terrorist organizations under the UAPA.
- The government is taking measures to strengthen the intelligence mechanism. This includes intelligence sharing through
- multi-agency centre at the centre
- the state multi-agency centre at the state level,
- Joint command and control centre at Gaya and jagdalpur.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs keeps conducting Interstate meetings with bureaucrats, police office officials and the chief minister for better inter-state cooperation.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs continues to support counter Improvised Explosive Devices(IED) capacity-building efforts of state police forces to enable them to identify such IEDs and diffuse them timely; hence MHA is conducting regular training programs.
- MHA has created a Specialized Indian Reserve Battalion(SIRB)- the states affected by left-wing extremism have been sanctioned with such a battalion to strengthen security. Such battalions are also helping the youth to provide gainful employment.
- Other schemes run by the Ministry of Home Affairs-
- Fortified police station scheme- funds are sanctioned for such police stations by MHA.
- Civic Action Programme- financial grants are provided to undertake various welfare activities in LWE-affected areas.
- Improving connectivity- lack of connectivity is the method used by Naxals. They first disconnect the local population from the mainland and carry out mind-washing activities.
- E.g. installation of mobile tower
- Road connectivity project for Left-wing extremism.
- Various schemes rolled out by the government for skill development-
- Education- new Kendriya Vidyalaya and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are being opened in left-wing affected areas.
- Forest Right Acts (2006).- The act has acknowledged the rights of forest dwellers and the scheduled tribes living in the forest areas.
- Greyhounds:
- Operation Green Hunt:t was started in 2010, and massive deployment of security forces was done in the Naxal-affected areas. From 223 districts that were affected due to Naxalism in 2010, the number has come down to 90 in nine years.
- Operations by CAPF- CRPF launched various in three states, i.e. Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, namely-
- Operation Octopus- joint operation by CAPF and Jharkhand Jaguar in the heavily mined 'Burha Pahar' hilly range in the Garhwa district of Jharkhand
- Operation Double Bull- launched in the jungles of Bulbul area in the Lohardaga district of Jharkhand and its adjoining areas.
- Operation Thunderstorm- conducted in Jharkhand.
- Operation Chakarbandha was carried out in the Chakarbandha forest and hilly area falling under Madanpur, located on the district's border with the Gaya(Bihar).
- SAMADHAN doctrine is the one-stop solution for the left-wing extremism problem. It encompasses the entire government strategy, from short-term to long-term policy formulated at different levels.
- National Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy, 2007- the main function of this act is to reduce the displacement of people of the left-wing affected areas and to provide a good alternative for the dispersal of people. The policy had been made for people whose land had been acquired by the government for industrial growth and development. Under this policy, in exchange for land, an employment opportunity shall be provided to at least one family member, along with vocational training and a housing facility.
- ROSHNI- an initiative under Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhaya Grameen Kaushal Yojana. or training and placement of rural poor youth from 27 LWE-affected districts in 9 States
Reforms needed to curb Naxalism-
- Socio-economic development - when a national budget is made, a part of it should be allocated for developing such poor and affected left-wing areas. Allocation can be made for progression in education, health, safety etc.
- The government's service delivery should also be improved by making them more expeditious.
- Military, though, is a major instrument to curb the problem of Naxalism. It should not be the only means to curb Naxalism.
- Multilateral dialogue- should be initiated by the government with these groups. The Naxalite groups have taken advantage of the severed connection and lack of proper communication between such a group of people and the government. By constantly touching these groups, the Naxalites can not do their brainwashing.