LINKAGE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF EXTREMISM

In India,  Socio-economic development among major states is….. not uniform. Economic disparities have created ……social tensions, urban unrest, rural upsurge and youth disenchantment.

Reasons for Extremism-

 Problems of …..Deprivation, Unemployment, Poverty, Hunger and Food shortage, lack of housing, overcrowding, and Degradation of basic amenities have given rise to anger , crime ,terrorism& extremism

Terrorism

Terrorism is not only a burning issue in India but it is often debated issue allover the world.

Terrorism means to use machinery of Terror, like w.m.d., explosives, land-mines, biological weapons, chemicals weapons, internet etc. against the state & civilians for sake of fulfillment of certain objectives or goals which may be realistic or unrealistic.

A Transnational Phenomena-

With Globalization of economy there is globalization of terrorism. The terrorism began in world from France during French revolution in 1789 & gradually it became a rule to gain power.

 After that it spread in number of parts of the world.

-In Srilanka it spreaded in form of LTTE,

- Israel it is in the form of Hamas & Al-Fattah(PLO),

-Ireland it is in the form of I.R.A., in

-Colombia it is in the form of R.A.F.C. (Revolutionary armed force of Columbia.)

Insurgency?

An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents.

In case of Indian scenario it can be seen as armed rebellion and violent protests against Indian Government or authority.

Insurgency is normally within country.

It represents deeper issues in society.

LINKAGES BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND LEFT WING EXTREMISM

Naxalism in India-

Peasant uprising of 1967 in a small village called Naxalbari in West Bengal has spread to the adjoining states, forming a Red Corridor of Terror and Violent attacks in the Eastern part of India.

In 1967,  a landless labour Bighal kisan was made owner of land, but when he went for possession for land he was physically beaten by landlords.

Bighal kisan  organized oppressed landless labour &  revenged from Landlords. Communist leader Charu Mazumdar & Kanu Sanyal supported & Naxalism began.

 Part of this spread of Naxal Movement is blamed on the mis-governance in this geographically difficult terrain, whereas rest is blamed on the opportunistic, violent ideological expanse of Naxals, getting support from the adjoining countries for their survival.

Today, the …..Maoist movement has spread to central and eastern India .

The movement has been characterized by factionalism through the last three decades. Even so, Maoist violence has been observed to have escalated since 2004 in different states in India and the intensity of Violence is increased since 2008 but in recent times it has been decreased.

Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)-

The landmark development towards this was merging of two large splinter groups

-People's War Group (PWG) and the

-Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC)

to form the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in 2004.

UAPA- Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

All forms of naxalite organisations have been declared as terrorist organizations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of India (1967).

According to the Government of India, now  83 districts across nine states are affected by Left Wing Extremism down from 180 districts in 2009.       

The geographical influence of left-wing extremism had contracted to 46 districts in the country in 2021 from 96 districts in 10 states in 2010 .(Ministery of Home affairs)                                      

Forest Protection Act of 1980-

Government enacted the Forest Protection Act of 1980. Although the legislation was an attempt to protect the country's natural resources from exploitation, by assigning forest officials extraordinary powers to regulate development and even habitation rights,

The law essentially outlawed the existence of many tribal villages that had been in place for centuries.

Areas with Naxalite activity in 2007 (left)  and in 2013 (right).

 As areas were delineated as reserve forests, traditional occupations of even gathering twigs were forbidden. People who earned their livelihood through access to forest resources in a sustainable manner suddenly found themselves outside the law.

Further, this Act did not distinguish between habitations that existed within the forests for generations;

The habitants suddenly found themselves to be encroachers on their own traditional land, leading to the tribal alienation in most parts of these areas.

The Odisha gap -The red corridor is contiguous from India's border with Nepal to the  northernmost fringes of Tamil Nadu. -There is  a significant gap consisting of coastal and some central areas in Odisha state, where Naxalite activity is low and indices of literacy and economic diversification are higher is known as Orissa Gap. - However, the non-coastal districts of Odisha, which fall in the red corridor have significantly lower indicators, and literacy throughout the region is well below the national average. - The BSF has announced that the "Naxalism is continuing its last breath in Odisha" and Odisha will be Naxal-free in 2026.

Scheduled Tribes & Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest Rights Act) 2006-FRA

Who can claim these Rights?

 Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and who depend on the forests or forest lands

Who has for at least three generations (75 years) prior to the 13th day of December, 2005 primarily resided in forests land .

The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the

-Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or

-Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to

-forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST)  and

-Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD ) Ex- : Dalits, Bahujans, Nomadic communities, and Pastoralist communities. 

The rights are coupled with sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.

Title rights

Right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares.

Use rights

The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.

Relief and development rights

Rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection

Forest management rights

It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

STRUCTURE OF NAXALISM

Naxalism in M.P.,Chattisgarh ,Orissa,West Bengal is tribal naxalism.

It’s main group is PWG(Peoples war Group) headed by by Konda pillai Sitarammaiya.

 It entered from Chhattisgarh into Southern M.P. Now it is spreaded in Balaghat, Mandla etc. There is following structure -

A) Central committee :- It is divided into 3 divisions-

(a) Urban division, (b) Rural division (c) Forest division.

B) Provincial Committee:-

C) District Committee:- The naxalite has two groups at district level-‘

(i)  Dalam :-

It is underground group, they are responsible for whole execution. There head is commander who has AK-47 or 56. There are some women in it. Apart from preparing food they also work for their entertainment. The dalam is trained in Gurrila  warfare. The members of dalam are known as Nakchare or Vanchare .

They organize the people’s court.

(ii) Sangam:-

Their external structure is known as sangam. The members of sangam live among people. They may be in the form of leader, journalist or may be in any other form. Members of sangam send information to dalam.