Rumblings in the Red Land

Bastar (Chhatisgarh): In September 2004 there were rumblings in the Red land.

The Maoist Communist Centre, an outfit operating in Bihar and Jharkhand, and the People’s War Group, active for decades in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, united to form the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M).

The alliance made the new outfit a powerful militia of 10,000-strong armed Maoists, called the People’s Guerilla Army (PGA).

CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team went to Dandakaranya forests of Central India, almost twice the size of Kerala, for a spot-check on the internal security challenge that the Maoists pose to the Indian State.

Along the way, the team witnessed the first signs of a Maoist attack, a truck blown up by a landmine.

The Maoists killed 27 tribals in this attack in Southern Chhattisgarh. The victims were members of the Salwa Judum, a government-sponsored anti-Maoist movement.

The remnants of bombed truck is a stark reminder of the Maoists' ruthlessnes and a clear message to those who dare to oppose them.

"Naxalites have clearly indicated through this incident that they are not bound by any rules. They do not follow their own ideology. They have nothing to do with humanity. They are frustrated and have moved beyond desperation. They are going insane," says Mahendra Karma, a Congress leader.

Even the police - Maoists' primary target - face the same deadly violence. "In one instance, a mine-proof vehicle was blown up by using RDX," Brig Bansi Kumar Ponwar, India’s leading jungle warfare specialist, told CNN-IBN as he showed the remnants of the car.

Brig Ponwar is now training Chhattisgarh's police commandos to fight the People’s Guerilla Army. He shared with CNN-IBN an intelligence assessment of the Maoists that the Chhattisgarh Government presented to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil sometime back.

"They are guided by Marxism, Leninism and Maoism. They use these tribals as a support base. For mass movement, they require population," Brig Ponwar explains.

"They go to remote areas and tell the population that their wretchedness and degradation is due to government policy. 'We will help you. We will give you land', they would say," he adds.

The modus operandi is far more elaborate. Brig Ponwar explains, "The Maoists would tell the people that there is no health centre, no schools functioning as per government policies. 'We will help you. We will form a new democracy. We will run the courts for you. You have any problems, you come to us. We will sort it out.' And they are doing so. They are even passing death sentences. They are helping the poor and giving them money from their funds, which they are collecting from across the country through extortion."

A 10,000-strong guerrilla army has established its presence in 170 districts across 15 states in the country and their objective is to overthrow elected governments. First by consolidating their rule in the rural areas and then, advancing to encircle the cities.

"This is what happened in Kathmandu. The same ideology applies here. This is what happens in various attacks that Naxalites carry out," narrates Brig Ponwar.

"Even in Jehanabad, they had done some kind of a decoy exercise of firing at certain other police locations so that people don't come to each other's rescue. They did the same thing at Geedam police station when it was attacked. And so did they do at Koraput in Orissa, where eight targets were attacked simultaneously," he adds.

The frequency and scale of Maoist violence is rising. The Union Home Ministry says the Maoists claimed 900 lives in 2005 as compared to 650 in 2004.

In 2003, the Maoists were operating in 55 districts across nine states. Two years later, their presence is felt in 160 districts across 15 states and as much as 27 per cent of the country is today infested by Maoists.

"The politburo of the Naxalites says by 2010, 33 per cent of India will be in their hands. They are working towards this. They are spreading this 'red carpet of terror' across the length and breadth of the country. It was going unnoticed for long. They are getting noticed only now, getting noticed for the violent actions that have taken place.”

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“Periodically, these have been at a vast scale. What happened to the 1000 people who came to Jehanabad? The 400 prisoners who were taken away? They just came like a cyclone and vanished like the ghost unheard of. How can this happen? What has led to this?" asks Brig Ponwar.

Over the years, the Maoists have established their control over a grand Red Corridor - what they call their Compact Revolutionary Zone.

"Basically, the Naxalites want to make a corridor kind of thing from Nepal to South to Sri Lanka, including Tamil Nadu. They want to make a corridor, and the dense forest here and the people who do not have faith in government organisation are the very factors conducive for them to spread their clout," explains Raj Kumar, SP of Sarguja.

The so-called 'Red Corridor' begins in Nepal and runs from Bihar and Jharkhand through West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra, right up to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

But it is in southern Chhattisgarh, where the Maoists have set up their first liberated zone, the Dandakaranya Liberated Zone.

This region is run by a parallel Maoist government, called the Janatana Sarkar. The government is guided by a man called Muppala Laxman Rao or Ganapati and his other guerilla comrades.

"It is mostly a propaganda. But the problem is social, political and economic. And then there is police problem. It has to be tackled on all fronts," says O P Rathore, the DGP of Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists have tapped the discontent of some of India’s most backward areas that are rich in forest and mineral resources.

"It is a coincidence that the resource-rich areas have the maximum forest and Adivasis. Adivasi regions have never had any effective political voice with regard to development. Secondly, politicians have never touched this problem because they never saw direct gains from addressing this issue," explains Congress leader Mahendra Karma.

So the Adivasis suffer, despite living in the most resource-rich parts of the country. And the Maoists exploit this to target the country's heavy industry and mining belt.

"This is not a state issue. It is a national issue. And we believe that in all the states where the movement has spread should create a pressure. The entire country's economy can be affected," observes Karma. "They are in areas where you have maximum resources, but they are not working for Adivasi development. In my opinion, they will hold the entire national economy to ransom in the future. That’s what I believe," he adds.

Karma blames it on the lack of political will to tackle the Maoist threat. MHA figures reveal that Delhi had earmarked Rs 2,500 crore two years ago to develop the areas under Maoist control, but on the ground nothing changed.

"Huge amounts of money have been spent in Bastar and Sarguja, but none of it has reached the tribals," claims Dr Vinayak Sen, a human rights activist with PUCL.

"Where the money has gone is only a matter of speculation, but we have investigated the situation on the ground. Chronic malnutrition is widespread in this area. Drinking water is not available to a large section of the population. Healthcare is non-existent. Educational services of any quality are totally non-existent. So where is all this money going?" he asks.

The 'Red corridor' that stretches all the way from Nepal down to Andhra Pradesh also happens to be the corridor of the most deprived in India. Sadly, this beautiful part of the country is also the most resource rich. And until and unless the fruits of development do not reach the Adivasis living in this region, it will be impossible to win the battle against the Maoists.

(With Vanaja in Bastar)