Posted: 16 Feb 2010 09:46 PM PST
The barbaric attack on the security personnel by Maoists in West Bengal has brought to the fore the discussion on the threat of Left-wing extremists to the democracy in India. Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh referring to Maoists in particular, has described the Leftist extremist movements, the gravest threat to India's internal security[a]. These militant movements are seen to be the single biggest threat to both the democracy and human rights in India. It should be noted that other leaders of the country including Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajapayee, Leader of Opposition L K Advani and RSS Sarasanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat have been constantly warning the Government of the designs of Left-wing extremists in India. In a welcome change in the Government’s approach, the Home Minister P Chidambaram has targeted the hypocrisy of the sympathizers of the Left-wing extremists who otherwise make all the noises about human rights violations but maintain a deafening silence when innocent civilians are massacred by Left-wing extremists. This article provides a brief on the phenomena of Left-wing Fascists movement in India.
An Introduction Left-wing Fascist groups in India are a set of groups based on Left ideology that have shown militant tendencies and have been part of violent incidents of massacres and sabotage in India. These groups have been characterized by their authoritarianism, intolerance and terrorism[1].
The groups can be categorized based on those who have chosen to remain outside the democratic process and have led the armed rebellions and those who although have not actively proclaimed violent methods but have been involved in acts of violent suppressions and other human rights violations such as in Nandigram. Many of the former have been listed as the Anti-revisionist left parties of the world[2] and include Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Maoists Incidents of violence by the Leftist groups have often been labeled as "Red terror" or "Red terrorism"[3]. The Left-wing extremist groups have also been compared with the [[Taliban]] with respect to their violent means[4], guerilla ideology, anti democratic movements[5] and kangaroo justice.
Violent Means Most Leftist groups in India have proclaimed that violent struggles form the core to their ideology[6]. Prominent among them are the Maoists, who have claimed responsibility for the killings of numerous civilians and security personnel.
Figures computed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and presented before the Parliament indicate that 4067 civilians had been killed between 2000-07 by the Leftist Extremist violence in India.
The victims include unarmed civilians, tribal[7] women, children[8], senior citizens[9], security personnel and democratically elected representatives.
Year Victims of Left terror
2000 550
2001 564
2002 482
2003 513
2004 566
2005 677
2006 678
2007 37
(to 31 January 2007)
(to 31 January 2007)
Source: computed from Ministry of Home affairs (MHA) annual reports (various years), and statement by the union minister for home affairs, Shivraj Patil, in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) on 6 March 2007.
Disruption of Democracy Maoists have been known for boycotting elections and also unleashing violence to disrupt elections in many parts across India. They have also attacked civilians who have defied the boycott calls given by them [10].
The Maoists have claimed responsibility for killings of prominent political leaders in Central and Southern India, most of them democratically elected. Prominent among the killings are tribal leaders Sunil Mahato[11] in Jharkhand Anup Marandi[12] . They have also routinely been involved in massacre of civilians and policemen[13]
The Asian Center for Human Rights in its report on the Maoists has reported crimes such as kidnapping and extortion by the Maoists. The Left-wing extremists are also known to use "Kangaroo Justice" trials and order the killing of captured politicians and their comrades who surrender to the security personnel[14].
Marxists While the Maoist groups have chosen to remain outside the democratic setup in their attempts to overthrow it, there are many other groups who have transformed into political parties and contested elections. But they too have been part of perpetrators of massacres of innocent civilians and comrades of other Leftist groups. Prominent among them are the Marxists constituted by CPI(M)
Nandigram Massacre The Nandigram controversy started when the Marxist led Government of West Bengal decided that the Salim Group of Indonesia would set up a chemical hub under the SEZ policy at Nandigram, a rural area in the district of Purba Medinipur. The villagers and farmers whose land was to be acquired for the project resisted these attempts by the West Bengal Government. A massive attack with thousands of policeman and ruling party workers was launched by the Marxist Government to clear off the resistance. Police shooting killed 14 and injured at least 70, which included women and children. This "state sponsored" attack on the "unarmed civilians" came in for criticism as being "Fascist"[15].
Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the then Governor of West Bengal and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, criticized the state government over its handling of the Nandigram incident, speaking of the incident as "cold horror" in a press statement[16]
After the incident, the Government and the administration were allegedly seen openly supporting the "private army" of the ruling party and the cadre of CPI(M), in leading atrocities on the people who resisted the land acquisition. The ruling party workers are also alleged to have taken the help of local criminals mostly involved in dacoity cases for their "operation". The Times of India reported "criminals were given money in advance and given a free-hand to bring whatever they could from the empty homes once the operation is complete. Sources said one such group that has returned to Onda came with motorcycles" looted from the resisting villagers.[17]
Criticism also has come in from their own colleagues when Dr. Ashok Mitra, long time Finance Minister of the Government of West Bengal (and a veteran CPI(M) leader) criticized the government and his party stating that till death he will remain guilty to his conscience if he keeps mum on the happenings in Nandigram. He stated that the CPI(M) leadership was “blind of hubris and the party has turned into a wide open field of flatterers and court jesters dominated by 'anti-socials'”[18]
The Intellectual support for the violence The divisions in the Left-wing with respect to the violence have been reflected in the intellectual circle too. Left intellectuals around the world have been known for their selective criticisms of the violence by different Leftist groups. Some have been seen openly justifying one or other form of violence.
In an article coauthored by Vijay Parshad, the George and Martha Kellner Chair of South Asian History and Director of International Studies at Trinity College, he puts the blame of the incidents squarely on the opposition parties and also calls the protest by the peasants, an agitation derived from the "neo-rural rich"[19]
A letter authored by Naom Chomsky, Vijay Parshad and other Marxist scholars from various Universities in the US, addressed to "Our Friends in Bengal" , at the peak of Nandigram violence read “We hear from people on both sides of this chasm, and we are trying to make some sense of the events and the dynamics. Obviously, our distance prevents us from saying anything definitive. We continue to trust that the people of Bengal will not allow their differences on some issues to tear apart the important experiments in the state (land reforms, local self-government)”.[20]
Ironically, it never bothered to condemn the massacre and also ended up creating a huge rift between the left factions. The letter was seen by many rival Left factions as a justification of the violence and support to the Neo-liberalism propounded by Buddadeb Bhattacharya. Naom Chomsky among others was criticized for his hypocrisy of not condemning the violence and for siding with its perpetrators. It was also seen by many as an attempt to admonish those who had taken to streets protesting the Left front Government over the Nandigram massacare[21].
A strong response was issued by Mahashweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Sumit Sarkar, Uma Chakravarty, Swapan Chakravorty and other Leftists activists based in India belonging to the rival group of Leftists, mostly the sympathizers of Marxists. They felt that Chomsky et al, given "their distance from events in India," had fallen prey "to a CPM public relations coup". After criticism of the letter, one of the signatories of the letter, Susan George, withdrew her signature from the letter [22], splitting wide open the divisions within the Left intellectuals.
But ironically, many Leftist academicians and activists who have been critical about the violence in Nandigram have supported the militant movements of the Maoists and other Leftist groups.
Arundhati Roy, a Leftist intellectual and activist, who has been critical about democracy in India, while admitting that the Maoists have been guilty of "unspeakable atrocities", views the militant movements as leading a protest with popular support and that they are fighting injustice of the Government. She says "''I have no doubt that the Maoists can be agents of terror and coercion too. I have no doubt they have committed unspeakable atrocities. I have no doubt they cannot lay claim to undisputed support from local people — but who can? Still, no guerrilla army can survive without local support. That's a logistical impossibility."[24]
The author of this white paper can be reached for feedback and comments on paramavaibhavam@gmail.com
References [1] India's Naxalites: A spectre haunting India, http://www.economist.com/
[2] Leftist Parties of the World: Anti-Revisionists http://www.broadleft.org/
[3] Red Terror: Six cops killed in Landmine blast in Jharkhand http://timesofindia.
[4] M.S.N. Menon : Maoists deserve Taliban fate http://www.businessweek.com/
[5] Manjeet Kripalani : India's Communists and the Nuclear Deal http://www.tribuneindia.com/
[6] Left-wing Extremist group: Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)
[7] Massacre of the innocent [http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/
[8] Maoists Kill Eight in Jharkhand http://www.thaindian.com/
[9] Naxals kill senior citizen in Gadchiroli http://news.indiainfo.com/
[10] Ehtasham Khan, In Chatra, democracy wails under Naxalism http://in.rediff.com/election/
[11] JMM MP Mahato shot dead by naxals http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/
[12] Naxal attack kills Marandi's son http://www.ndtv.com/
[13] Maoists claim responsibility for Chhattisgarh massacre http://www.rediff.com/news/
[14] The Naxal conflict in India: Killings down, armament up http://www.achrweb.org/Review/
[15] Maoists own responsibility for attack on Buddhadeb http:\\www.ibnlive.in.com/
[16] Sense of cold horror: Governor http://www.screenindia.com/
[17] How CPM recaptured Nandigram http://timesofindia.
[18] You are not what you were - Ashok Mitra http://sanhati.com/articles/
[19] Sudhanva Deshpande and Vijay Parshad, Communism in Bengal, The Political Economy of a Crisis, [http://www.counterpunch.org/
[20] Chomsky and other intellectuals on Nandigram, http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/
[21] The hypocrisy of Chomsky over Nandigram, http://indiainteracts.com/
[22] The Left is Right http://www.tehelka.com/story_
[23] It's outright war and both sides are choosing their weapons, Arundhati Roy in conversation with Shoma Chaudhury http://www.tehelka.com/story_
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