UNIT

 

UNIT

11 COLONIALISM, CASTE

ORDER AND TRIBAL

MOVEMENTS

Structure

11.0 Objectives

Introduction

Colonialism and its Impact in the Cultural and Social Fields

Reformist Movements

11.3.1

Anti-Caste Movements: Some Details

Colonialism and its Impact on the Economy

Caste Order and Colonialism

11.5.1

Impact of British Judicial and Administrative Practices

11.5.2

Impact of Economic Changes

11.5.3

Anti-Caste Movements under the Influence of Liberal Philosophy

Tribal Movements

Let Us Sum Up

Some Useful Books

Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

11.0 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you should be able to:

explain the nature of the anti-caste movements that arose in the aftermath of

British Colonialism and

discuss the genesis and evolution of Tribal movements in colonial India.

11.1 INTRODUCTION

As you have read in Unit 1 of this course, the advent of British Colonialism

drastically and rapidly altered the social and economic structure of India

- and of

course, alongside, its politics! and administrative set up. In fact, the changes in

the polity and administration, namely, the Constitution of India as a single

politico-administrative entity, creation of a civil service, an army, a judiciary

etc., were necessary to effect wide-spread changes in the socio-economic

structure of the country. This was not an end in itself, since these changes were

introduced for facilitating the appropriation of surplus from the colony and its

repatriation to England.

11.2 COLONIALISM AND ITS IMPACT IN THE

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL EIELDS

The integration of Indian economy with the world capitalist system was followed

by changes in the social and cultural fields. Colonialism facilitated India's

contact with the momentous changes that the western world was undergoing and

introduced Indian intellectuals to the radical and liberal ideals of democracy,

popular sovereignty and rationalism. The industrial revolution, the

breath-taking advance of science and technology and the great ~volutionary

upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries in the west were transhMing the whole

I

face of the dorld

- it was never to be the same again. he profou@lmpact that

this along with the introduction of modern education had on the sec;tFns o f '

Indian middle classes led to intense questioning and critical qppraisal

gf the .s

backward and degrading socio-religious practices prevalent in Indian society.

I

- +

-

The mcio-cultural milieu of pre-colonial India was primarily shaped by the

family and kinship institutions which conditioned the mind with a religious and

caste identity. All the traditional practices were through these institutions;

passed on from generation to generation. Initially, modem education did not

touch more than the frills of Indian society. The lack of sufficient cultural

resources and ideological apparatus at the command of the colonial state

eventually led the British, in the person of Lord Macaulay, to direct their efforts

at producing a class from among the Indians who would be carriers of colotlial

culture and ideology

- Indians by the colour af their skin but British in their tastes

and thought.

However, whatever be the case, under this influence of modern ideas there

developed in India, a whole series of socio-religious reform movements.

'

Check Your Progress 1

Note;

 

 

i) Use the space given below for your answer.

ii) Check your answer with that given at the end of the unit.

I

1) What was the impact of British Coloniali'sm in social and cultural fields?

11.3

REFORMIST MOVEMENTS

The$e movements took the form of a 'struggle against the backward elements of

traditional culture', an important dimension of which was opposition to caste.

,

The movements like Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj advocated the

removal of caste distinction.

Following the reform movements of the early nineteenth century which were

explicitly influenced by liberal ideas, there were religious reform movements

like the Arya Samaj and Ramakrishna Mission. Though different in their

reli$ious messages and concepts, these movements too, had an anti-caste edge.

Arya Samaj drew its inspiration from Vedic Hinduism, rejected polytheism and

idolatory, and sought to give greater role to individuality. 'Swami Dayananda

Sarrswati, the architect of Arya Samaj accepted that all persons including

Shdras could read the Vedas. This was a remarkable innovation in traditional

Hinduism, where something like Shudras having access to scriptures

was

considered blasphemous. Dayanand Saraswati considered caste as having had a

useful function in the past. However, in his conception he introduced much

.

greater flexibility by asserting that birth should not be tlfe sole criterion. Guna

1

 

 

(character), Karma (action) and Swabhav (nature), according to. him must be

the criteria. He; therefore, denounced untouchability as being inhuman. The

'

Ramakrishna mission, on the other hand, preached Vedantic Hinduism and

'

advocated universal brotherhood. Initiated by a simple village Saint

Ramakrishna, this powerful revivalist movement in Bengal was subsequently

cartied forward by Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda did not want to discard

the caste system altogether, but attacked its ri&dity. He too wanted to transform

it from a system based solely on birth to one based on merit. He vigorously

. attacked the practice of untouchability.

11.3.1 Anti-Caste Movements: Some Details

One of the most important aspects of these reform movements was their

opposition to caste and its accompanying rigidity. The 6utspokenly anti-caste

mdvements led by Rarnaswami Naicker, Jyotiba Phule and Sri Narayana Guru

.

bear testimony to this. As you shall see later in this block, the chief inspiration

for Ambedkar's crusade came from the ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality

-

the slogans of the Western revolutions. The socially progressive stance of these

movements on questions of sati, dowry, widow remarriage, etc. along with

intense questioning of the rigidities of the caste system show that Western ideas

of liberalism had a powerful impact.

11.4 COLONIALISM AND ITS IMPACT ON THE

ECONOMY

Here we shall deal primarily with the impact on the agrarian economy. Among

the major changes introduced by the British in Indian economy, the far-reaching

changes in agriculture were probably the most important. These changes

introduced with a view to cornering the surplus in the form of land revenue and

to make Indian agriculture an appendage of the British economy, greatly

transformed the face of the countryside. It was precisely with this purpose that,

as you have read earlier, the colonial authorities introduced two major tenurial

and land revenue systems

- the Zamindari and Ryotwari systems, whereby the

position of peasant cultivators became quite precarious. They were forced to

pay very high rents and were made to pay illegal dues and cesses and often had to

perform forced labour.

High rates of revenue forced these peasant cultivators to take recourse to

borrowing money

- at equally high rates of interest - often forcing the peasant to

resort to distress sales. Floods and famines aggravated the situation and made

them more and more susceptible to the money-lenders grip, who in any case were

being helped by the Government. This increasing grip of the money-lenders over

the agrarian economy eventually enabled them to acquire the land of the

distressed peasants whose pauperization was becoming a growing feature of

rural life.

Side by side with the above, the British made conscious efforts to incorporate

the Indian agricultural and tribal economy into the ever-expanding market of

British colonialism. To this end, Indian agriculture was forced to cater to the

needs of British Capital. Therefore, there was massive forced production of cash

crops like cotton, indigo, sugar, tea and coffee. This spread of crops designed for

export to Indian and foreign markets was one of the main forces which created a

more homogeneous agrarian society in the early 19th century. Not only were

tribal people and nomads being settled and subordinated to the discipline of

producing an exportable surplus, but many of the gradations in status and

function between people of the settled agricultural tracts which had obtained

under indigenous rule were disappearing, giving way to simple distinctions of

wealth and landholding.

Among the changes that the whole gamut of British policies brought in the

ag;arian set-up was

a change in the social relationships too.

Slow penetration of capital and of consumption into the forests (i.e. following

integration of tribal economies into the market) was a very significant change.

The partnership between the Company and the money-lender

- trader which had

facilitated the subjugation of India now proceeded in the conquest of India's

internal frontiers. Monied 'settlers from the plains trickled into the central

Indian tribal zone establishing landlordism and indebtedness alien to the

domestic economy of the indigenous tribal systems. As late as the 18th century,

there still existed an extensive pastoral and nomadic economy which had

changed in a big way by mid-nineteenth century. Everywhere they (British)

sought to settle and'discipline groups such as the Gujars, Bhathis, Ranjar,

Rajputs and Mewatis who moved around, extracting protection rent. The

assessment of waste land and creation of more rigid property rights enforceable

by court order restricted the nomads' mobility. Many of the herdsmen carrier

people of the Deccan for instance, had already become subordinate

agricultural 'Castes' before

1870. The changes in the pastoral and agrarian

economy though they were a cause for much discontent and rebellions, as you

shall see later, however, affected changes in the caste structure too.

Check Your Progress

2

Nate: i) Use the space below for your answer.

ii) Check your answers with that given at the end of the unit.

1) Briefly discuss the impact of British rule on the Indian economy.

f-\

.....................................................................................

11.5 CASTE ORDER AND COLONIALISM

You must have read about the caste-system in Indian society in the course on

Indian Government and Politics. Also you must be aware of its main features,

its hierarchical and closed structure as also of the trends and mechanisms of

upward mobility between castes.

In this unit we shall introduce you to the impact of colonialism on the caste

order.

However, before we go on to see what changes colonialism brought in its wake,

let us briefly enumerate certain basic features of the caste system.

G.S. Ghurye, in his authoritative work on Caste has enumerated six such

features:

a) Segmental division of society, i.e., the "quasi-sovereignty of caste" and its

governing body, as a result of which members of a caste ceased to be

members of a community as a whole, insofar as such caste 4as a group with

a separate arrangement for meeting out justice to its members. Thus, it.

implied a situation where citizens owned moral allegiance to their caste

first, rather than to the community as a whole.

b) Hierarchy or rigid ordering of society from top to bottom on the basis of

ritual status and equally rigid definition of roles and functions that each

group must perform.

c) Restrictions in interdining and social intercourse according to the detailed

rules which prescribe what sort of food or drink can be accepted by a person

and from what castes.

d) Civil and religious disabilities and privileges of different sections: mainly

expressed through separated living and some castes not having access to

certain areas, streets, temples, practices like untouchability and

SO on.

e) Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation

f )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Endogamy or restriction of marriage

Colonialism affected the caste system mainly in two different ways. Firstly,

through the various judicial and administrative practices that the British

introduced. Secondly, indirectly through the influence of liberal ideas on

the

sections of Indian society who, thereafter took up cudgels to fight for social

reforms.

11.5.1 Impact of British Judicial

and Administrative Practkes

The judicial

and administrative practices introduced by the British based on the

principle of equality before law,

obviously made no distinction btPwegR castes.

Further, introduction by the British of a uniform criminal law "removed from

the purview of caste, many matters that used to be adjudicated by it earlier." No

longer were caste-governing bodies to decide on matters of assault, adultery,

rape and so on. Gradually, even in certain matters of civil law, like marriage and

divorce, the authority of caste started getting eroded.

The second aspect was the enactment of certain laws which practically eroded

the authority of castes in many respects though practically, often the impact was

marginal. Despite this, legislations like the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 or

the Castes Disabilities Removal Act of 1850 did have considerable impact on the

authority of caste. Regarding marriage, usually the British legal system tried to

adhere to the practices laid down by local customs.

British administration also took up the question of civil equality for lower castes.

The Govt. in Bombay Presidency, for example, issued a resolution in 1923

threatening to withhold grants to any .school/educational institution that refused

to admit students from lower castes. Also the practice of segregating students

from lower castes in classes was gradually abandoned and they were made to sit

with co-pupils from among the caste Hindus. The Madras Govt. in 1923

empowered Magistrates to punish offenders of lower castes and in 1925 through

a special legislation threw open all public roads and streets giving access to any

public office, well, tank or place of public resort to all classes of people including

the depressed. The Govt. of Madras Presidency was in fact, the first to introduce

protective discrimination in jobs for the lower castes, as early as in 1873.

11.5.2 Impact of Economic Changes

We have mentioned in the first section how the advent of British rule affected

the economy of India. You have seen how this changing economic structure led

to integration of certain nomadic people into the caste structure with the

expansion of agricultural activities. It also led to a change in the status of certain

caste groups within the caste hierarchy with land becoming a commodity that

could be sold to anyone who could pay for it, even a 'low caste' member,

provided an opportunity to many to acquire an economic status whereby they

could gradually strive for upward mobility. Availability of new economic

opportunities in port cities and capitals and access to new trading and

employment opportunities for the lower castes resulted in relative prosperity for

them. For instance, the improved communications brought about an

enlargement of market for oil and pressed oilseeds, from which Telis (Oilmen)

all over eastern India benefited. The Noniyas of eastern

UP, Kolis of Surat

coast and several other groups benefited from the new employment

opportunities resulting from railway, road and canal construction. In such cases,

according to M.N. Srinivas, the wealthier families or sections became possessed

of a desire to move up in caste hierarchy by acquiring the symbols and rituals of

higher castes, This upward mobility is known as 'Sanskritization'. The changes

from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy also brought in its wake

processes like westernization which involved a change in status based on

adoption of western values.

11.5.3 Anti-Caste Movements under the Influence of Liberal

Philosophy

The third major way in which the caste structure was affected was through

powerful anti-caste and social reform movements under the Arya Samaj in

Northern India, Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal, Jyotiba Phule in

Maharashtra, Sri Narayana Guru in Kerala, Ramaswami Naicker in Madras

and so on. The major themes taken up by these movements were reform in

regard to the position of women, equality for oppressed castes, general reform

in religion and rituals. So, for instance, social reformers had exerted enough

pressure for the enactment of the Special Marriage Act in 1872, that made

inter-caste marriage possible.

Questions of widow remarriage, Sati, women's education etc. were important

issues of struggle waged by the social reformers, particularly in Bengal.

The mobility of a few low castes had in Srinivas' words, a 'demonstration effect'

on all others in the region. The latter felt that they were no longer condemned to

a life of poverty and oppression. Provided they matle the effort, they could also

rise up the ladder. Perhaps this feeling significantly contributed to lending a

strength to the movement of lower and backward castes. What has come to be

known as the 'Backward Classes Movement' acquired a widespread character

and was particularly strong in Southern parts of India. These movements,

passed through two stages: in the first, the lower castes tried to acquire the

symbols and rituals of high status, while in the second aspirations moved

towards acquisition of political power, education and share in the new economic

opportunities.

The emergence of caste sabhas or associations gave organizational impetus to

the movement of backward castes. Initial activity of these sabhas were directed

at tryihg 'to reform caste customs and undertake welfare activities of the benefit

of their caste brethren, in the form of building hostels, houses on

a co-operative

basis, setting up colleges and hospitals, and provide scholarships.

An overview of the most important anti-caste movements mentioned above

suggests that, despite widely differing approaches and methods they had a

common stand, in that they were motivated by similar issues which became the

total point of reform. While the social reformers of Bengal explicitly challenged

the very basis of caste oppression by advocating nationalism, the Arya Samaj

and or the Ramakrishna Mission sought to modify the caste system by efforts in

the direc'ti~n of removal of untouchability. Phule and Naicker organized the

'lower castes7 to lead an assault on the upper caste domination in all spheres of

social life. However, it has been pointed out that such movements which

organized the lower castes against upper caste domination, in due course got

transformed into a movement of caste solidarity themselves.

Check

Your Progress 3

Note:

 

 

i) Use the space given below for your answer.

ii) Check your answer with that given at the end of the unit.

1) What were the two chief ways in which colonialism affected the caste system?

-

11.6

TRIBAL MOVEMENTS

The tribal movements in colonial India,

it must be understood, were born out of

deep dissatisfaction and often discontent against socio-economic policies of the

British Government, which adversely affected their lives. Whether it be the

question of encroachment of tribal lands by money-lenders backed by the Govt.,

the acquisition of tribal forest, high taxation or enhancement of rent, everyone

of these policies created among the tribes and nomadic communities extreme

distrust of the authorities and turned them against the rulers

- often against

outsiders (Sudsldikus) in general, since that was how the tribal mind perceived

the situation to be.

The situation was further worsened by the fact that famines in the latter half of

the 19th century forced the tribals into destitution. Dr. Verrier Elwin remarks

that the chief cause of the decline of tribal communities' '....was the loss of land

and forests" which according to him, "had the effect of enervating tribal

organism that it had no interior resistance against infection by a

score of other

evils

..." If we look back over the long series of tribal rebellions against authority

.in other parts of tribal India, we see that the majority of them arose over this one

point. Thus, the Kol insurrection of 1833 was caused by encroachment on tribal

land. The Tamar rebellions repeated seven times between

1789 and 1832 were

primarily due to the illegal deprivation of their rights in land, which the Hos,

Mundas and Oraons suffered. The Santhal Rebellion (1855) was primarily a

revolt against oppression of landlords, village money-lenders etc. The Birsa

Munda Revolt (1895-1901) too was directed against the 'outsider7-namely

landlords, traders and government officers. As evident, the movements were

spread over large part of the country.

A noteworthy feature of these tribal movements, separated in space and time

from one another, was that they occurred not in one or two pockets but were

spread out across the country and had at the root, common or similar issues.

Significant tribal movements took place in the beginning of the twentieth

century. Most important among these was in the present Andhra Pradesh,

I

where the tribals' forest agitation merged with Gandhi's non-cooperation

I

movement and subsequent to its withdrawal was carried further under the

1

leadership of Sitarama Raju. According to Prof. Summit Sarkar the spread of

I

1

the movement was far beyond Andhra. "On 10 July 1921, Reading reported to

I

the Secy. of State that 2,50,000 out of 4,00,000 acres of forest in Kumaon

Division of U.P. had been burnt down. Cavalry had to be sent to Muzaffarpur in

i

 

 

North Bihar in Dec. 1921 to tackle an agitation over grazing rights. From t Bengal, too, came reports of Santhals reasserting their lost forest rights in the

Jhargram region of Midnapur and widespread looting of woodlands in

I

 

 

Banskhali land Cox's Bazar areas of Chittagong."

A study of these innumerable tribal movements reveals interesting

characteristics which have parallels in similar agrarian movements elsewhere in

the world. Most of these have been characterized by what has been called a

negative consciousness by Ranajit Guha wherein, more than their own

consciousness as a class or social group, a consciousness based on an

t identification of the enemy has played a vital role.

Often enemies of the people have been identified as enemies of the faithful,

oppressed and disenfranchised and have been mingled with religious calls for

struggle against such enemies.

Teachings of Judaism, Christianity and Shia'ite Islam often had, as integral part of

their teachings the promise of a paradise on earth for a thousand years through

divine intervention. This has been variously described as Messianism,

Millenarianism or Mahdism. Such millenarian elements can be seen in the

different Mahdist movements in the Babism of mid 19th century Iran or in the

vision of

a Heavenly Kingdom in the Taiping Rebellion in China or in the many

variants of Brasilian Cultic protest movements.

Kathleen Gough, on the basis of a study of

77 agrarian revolts has roughly

1

classified them into five types in terms of their goals, ideology and methods of

I

organization: 1) Restorative rebellions to drive out the British and to restore

earlier rulers and social relations, 2) religious movements for the liberation of a

region or an ethnic group under a new form of govt., 3) what had been referred

to as 'Social banditry' by

E. J. Hobsbawm, 4) Terrorist vengeance, with ideas of

meeting out collective justice and

5) Mass insurrections for the redress of

particular grievances.

Though Eric Hobsbawm, Norman Cohn and Peter Worsely have suggested that

millenarian movements were rare or absent in India, as the widespread opinion

is that they stem from Indacocuristian influences, Gough holds a different

opinion. According to her, it is probably true in the 'strict sense of a belief in a

thousand year period in which the evil one will be chained, in a wider sense it is

not true. The belief and expectation that the present evil world will be

transformed by divine intervention and bliss shall reign on earth, has permeated

many a tribal movement in India. "Birsa Munda received teaching both from

Lutheran missionaries and Hindu ascetics but then reverted to his Munda

religion, bringing with him beliefs and images from both majdr faiths. He taught

the Mundas first that he was divinity

- appointed messenger come to deliver them

from foreign rule, and later that he was an incarnation of God himself. His

i

mission was to save the faithful from destruction in imminent flood, fire and

brimstone, by leading them to the top of a mountain. Beneath them, "all the

1

British, Hindus and Muslims would perish, after which a Munda Kingdom

would be ushered in."

Some of the;< movements subsequently got integrated with the natiqnal

.

movement. Particularly during the non:cooperation movement the 'forest

Satyagrahas' played an important role. Gradually, they also got imbued with

anti-imperialist ideology. Sumit Sarkar notes in the case of Sitarama Raju's

movement that certain striking new features were visible. Sitarama Raju was not

a local village muttadar unlike previous leaders but "a man without family or

interest, an outsider coming from a group which claimed KShatriya status and

often some proficiency in Telugu and Sanskrit scholarship..

. ."

Anti-imperialist ideology was still rudimentary. Raju's anti-imperialist feeling

were reflected, for instance i n his statement that he was unable to shoot

Europeans as they were always surrounded by Indians whom he did not want to

kill. This ideology was accompanied by primitive messianic elements. He had

been wandering among the tribals since 1915 as a Sanyasi claiming astrological

and qnedicinal powers and coming under Non-Cooperation influence in 1921.

"Raju hints he is bullet-proof" reported the Malkangiri Deputy Tehsildar, while

a rebel proclamation in April 1924 claimed that "God Sri Jagannadhaswami

would incarnate very shortly as kalkiavatar and appear before us."

Essentially all these tribal movements were the outcome of deep resentment and

discontent against the policies of British imperialists that affected them

adversely, as you have seen in the beginning of this unit.

-

Check Your Progress

4

Note:

 

 

i) Use the space given below for your answer.

ii) Check your answer with that given at the end of the unit.

1) Discuss the Tribal Movements that arose in Colonial India.

..................................................................................................

.................................................................................................

11.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, you mainly studied about the impact of British Colonialism in India

with particular reference to the Caste system and the varipus Tribal movements.

You were told how in the wake of colonial rule, certain forces and movements

were generated that helped loosen the rigidity of caste in our country. You also

read Ldbout the genesis and evolution of the several anti-colonial tribal

movements that arose during the period. It is hoped that this'unit shall provide

you with a useful insight into the various efforts being made for the

transformation of present day Indian society.

11.8 SOME USEFUL BOOKS

Ghurye,

G. S., Caste and Race in India, 5th ed., Popular Prakashan, Bombay,

1986

.

Sarkat, Sumit,

Critique of Colonial India.

Desai~, A. R.,

Peasant Struggles in India,Oxford University Press, Bombay,

1979

.

Desai, A. R.,

Social Background of Indian Nationalism, 5th ed., Popular

Prakashan, 1986.

11.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES

Check Yout Progress

1

See Section

 

 

11.2

Check Your Progress 2

See Section

 

 

11.4

Check Your Progress 3

See Section

 

 

11.5

Check Your Progress 4

See Section

 

 

11.6

http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/25793/1/Unit11.pdf

Naxalism: National Security Implications= o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

By 

Lt.Gen Eric A.Vas [Retd] 

 

                        The first recorded incident of left wing insurrection in free = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />India was in  Telengana.[1946-1951].  The movement was launched by peasants in their struggle on economic issues against forced labor, illegal exaction and unauthorised evictions.  The movement was directed by the Communists and soon developed into an uprising against the feudal rule of the Nizam.  More than 4000 lives were lost before the communists finally withdrew the struggle.  

                        Naxalbari 1967 

                        A revolt took place in three police stations in the Naxalbari area in 1967.  About 65 per cent of the population of those areas are Scheduled Castes and tribals.  When the land reform act was passed in 1955, jotedars started malafide transfer of land.  Tribals armed with bows and arrows forcibly occupied the land, lifted stocks of hoarded rice and killed an inspector of police.  Thereafter there were a number of similar incidents.   The leadership of the movement was by communist cadres The CPI[M] government of West Bengal ordered a major deployment of police forces and after several operations the movement was squashed.  This culminated in the formation of the Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist [CPI-ML].  About 30 people were killed in this uprising.  But the term Naxalite came to stay.  Naxallites are followers of Che Guevara.  They believe that once the masses are convinced that the social wrongs cannot be rectified by pacific action, it is possible to ignite the spark of revolution.  Their aim it to create condition where the authorities are forced to break the peace.  The resultant violence then gathers its own momentum. Naxalism had a far reaching impact on the entire agrarian scene in India. 

                        Tribals of the Srikakulam district of the eastern ghats are mainly involved in the organistion and collection of minor forest products.  The British had decreed that no land could be transferred from the tribal to a plainsman without a permit of the district collector.  After independence, traders took full advantage of advantage of inexperienced Indian administrators and the poverty of the tribals.  They gave them their daily requirements of tobacco, kerosene, salt and cloth on credit and also lent money for the purchase of seeds.   Ignoring the British decrees, they forced those who owed them money to part with their land which was then sold to plainsmen who squeezed the tribals, paid them low wages and made them give up two-thirds of the produce. 

                        In 1967 a clash occurred between a group of tribals going to a meeting of the Marxist Party and a group of landlords armed with guns.  Two tribals were killed.   The movement became violent.  There were a series of raids on houses of landlords and moneylenders, cash was looted and houses burnt down.  Charu Mazumdar, the CPI-ML leader who had inspired the Naxalbari operations, visited the area and gave a fillip to the movement.  From December 1968 to January 1969, 29 policemen were killed in action.    During 1969 the Naxalities committed 23 murders and 40 dacoities before the situation was brought under control. 

                        The West Bengal districts of Midnapur and Birbhum bordering Bihar and Orissa have a sizeable tribal population. The majority are landless labourers.  A few are cultivators.  From 1967 to 1971 the area saw well planned and organised Naxalite movements fostered by CPI-LM workers and a host of students from Calcutta University who identified themselves wholeheartedly with the tribals.  Groups armed with spears, bows and arrows attacked houses of landlords, killed some of them, looted cash and burnt all land deeds.  The Government deployed CRPF and state police and brought the area under control.  Almost 150 CPI-LM supporters were arrested and the movement died down. 

                        From 1968 to 1970 tribal violence erupted in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar.  This followed the usual pattern of blatant oppression of landlords and peasant reactions.  These uprisings caused ripples and spread to other districts of Bihar and into Uttar Pradesh [UP].  These movements were coordinated by CPI-ML leaders who believed that there would be a mass uprising and that they could build a Peoples Liberation Army from peasants who had revolted against the atrocities of landlords and moneylenders.   

                        A British girl, Mary Tyler, who was living in an adivisasi village, was rounded up during a police search operation.  She later wrote about her experience. "The Naxalite crime was the crime of all those who cannot remain unmoved and inactive in an India where a child crawls in the dust with a begging bowl, where a poor girl can be sold as a rich man's plaything, where an old woman must half starve herself in order to buy social acceptance from the powers that be in her village; where countless people die of sheer neglect, where many are hungry while food is hoarded for profit, where usurers and tricksters extort the fruits of labour from those who do the work, where the honest suffer, while the villainous prosper, where justice is the exception and injustice the rule and where the total physical and mental energy of millions of people is spent on the struggle for mere survival."  It is no wonder that the movement attracted idealistic students from major universities across India. They left their studies and went to live in forest villages and share the tribulations of the tribals. However the movement fizzled out when the Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF] and state police carried out well-planned raids and search operations. 

                        Peoples War Group 

                        In the 80s, the CPI-ML formed the Peoples War Group [PWG], which over the years grew into the most formidable Naxalite formation in the country.  The first actions undertaken by the PWG was in Telenga, Andhra Pradesh [AP], where long suffering tribals were still being economically and socially exploited by landlords, traders, money lenders and indifferent government bureaucrats.  The crux of the unrest was that in AP, as in many other states, the land ceiling act was not being imposed.  The PWG took the law into their hands and redistributed nearly half a million acres across AP.  In the process, the PWG fought a running battle with the Telugu Desam government.   When the Congress Party came into power in 1989, the government took a soft line with the Naxalites and released a number who were in detention.  The government however did nothing to control the exploitation of tribals.  The PWG began running peoples' courts and giving the general impression of a parallel government.  The Government was forced to adopt a hard line.  However, by now the PWG had acquired AK 47 rifles and began stepping up their violence.  They began attacking railway and electrical installations, police patrols and police stations.  Their influence spread to adjoining tribal areas in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh [MP], Bihar, Orrisa, Tamil Nadu [TN] and Karnataka.   

                        In 1992, the PWG was banned and central para-military forces and state police undertook coordinated operations against it.  The results were good. About 3500 Naxalities were arrested and 8500 surrendered.   The PWG lay low but in 1993 commenced operating in  tribal districts of MP and Maharashtra.  By now the Group had attained expertise in the making and detonation of improvised explosive devices [IED].  In 2001 the PWG announced that it would give sophisticated arms to its guerrillas and extend the war to as many other states as possible.  

                        It is evident that the Naxalites operate in the tribal belt and are welcomed by tribals because of the administration's indifference to the persistent criminal activities of landlords, money lenders, forest officials and traders.  There has been a response to this simple analysis in two states.  The CPI[M] in West Bengal carried out Operation Barga under which share croppers were registered and given permanent and inheritable rights on cultivation of their plots covering a total area of 11 lakhs acres.  Besides this, 1.37 lakh acres of ceiling surplus and benami lands were acquired by the state government and distributed among 25 lakh landless and marginal cultivators.  This saw the emergence of a new class loosely termed rural rich, which weakened the social and political power enjoyed by landlords in the countryside, and resulted in the disappearance of moneylenders and Naxalites.  In Kerala the upper classes were generally landlords.  They had tenant farmers on their land who deposited half the crop to their landlords.  The landlords and their progeny were educated and took up white collar jobs in the cities.  When the CPI[M] government was elected in the late 50s, it legislated land                                                                                                                                                                              &n bsp;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               &n bsp;                                                                                                                                                                                          

                        tenancy laws that transferred ownership of tenant holdings to those having a tenancy for 12 years.  At one stroke hundreds of landlords lost their holdings and tenant farmers got ownership rights of land they had tilled for long years.  This is one of the reasons why the Naxalite movement did not grow roots in Kerala.  It had no cause.  

                        When the Chief Ministers of Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, AP, Orrissa and Bihar ask how the Naxalite problem could be solved, they have to be told to impose the land ceiling.  Many would admit in private that this is impossible as the upper caste landlords would never allow the land ceiling act to be enforced.   Here then is the crux of the problem  

 

                        Solving the Naxalite problem 

                        The main reason for the upsurge of Naxalism is exploitation of tribal and poor scheduled castes.  Naxalites support the poor against exploitation by corrupt government official in collusion with landlords, contractors and moneylenders.  In Naxalite infected areas the first step is to enforce land ceiling laws.  This has to done despite the pressures of landlords, money lenders and influential castes.  The CRPF and state police which are now being used in operations against the Naxalites should be used to enforce the land ceiling, evict landlords for excessive holdings, and ensure that surplus lands are cultivated by the lower castes and tribals.  They should ensure that the crops grown by the new land holders are secure.   

                        In forest tracts, laws should be legislated that only forest dwelling tribals and scheduled casts should have access to forest lands.  Others should be prevented from entering the forests.  Cooperatives should be organised of tribals who can be trained to trade in forest produce.  Para military forces should be used to enforce these new laws and keep the moneylenders out.  They should guard the branches of the micro-credit banks that sanction loans to cooperatives. When this is done, the tribals and scheduled castes will know that the government is now with them and they will turn away form the CPI-M:L cadres and will befriend the police.  But it is romantic to believe that this will result in a cessation of hostilities and that the Naxalite movement will wither away.   

                        The PWG has become a well-armed force and will fight to try and retain power by targeting the para military forces and police.  States will find it difficult to deal with this problem.  Some states have attempted to mobilize the tribals and arm them against Naxalites. [The Salwa Judum organinsed in Chattisgarh is an example of this.] This has been criticized as a dangerous practice, which leads to high handedness.  Others condemn this move as a clever ploy by upper caste politicians and bureaucrats to avoid the main issue, which is land ceilings.  Whatever that be, it should be evident that if the CRPF find it difficult to deal with the PWG and are often overwhelmed by them, it would be unreasonable to expect that untrained armed tribal will fare better.  

                        Some suggest that the army should be given this task.  The army could no doubt deal with the PWG but thttp://inpad.org/res104.htmlhis a dangerous suggestion and not acceptable in a democracy.  It is not the army's role to deal with such internal problems. 

                       The Soli Sorabjee Committee on police reforms, which is drafting a model Police Act, has told the Supreme Court that it strongly recommends the creation of a federal agency to combat terrorism, arms and drug trafficking, money laundering and even organised crime.  As per the Constitution, "police" and "public order" are subjects in the State list of the Seventh Schedule.  The Sorabjee Panel has made a strong case for handing over such operations against such crimes to this newly created force.  "Such perilous activities cannot be left to be routinely dealt with as ordinary crime or law and order problems by state police who do not have knowledge of the inter-state and international dimension of the crimes in question.  There is need for a specialized national level agency, other than the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI], to be constituted by a statute of Parliament which can tackle these federal crimes.  The proposed agency should not be confused with existing CBI, which is essentially an investigative  agency.  The prevention and control of national-security crime does not fall within the CBI's charter of duties."                                                                       

                       Thus, the fight against Naxalism has to take place on two fronts: against Naxa;lites and against the causes of Naxalism.  The latter will prove to be the more difficult task. The Prime Minister is right when he said that the greatest security threat facing India is the Naxalite movement.  If the Government is serious about dealing with this threat, then the slogan for the coming decade should be ":get tough with the Naxalites but get tougher with the causes of Naxalism."

 

 

Communist Party of India (Maoist)

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Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Leader	Muppala Lakshmana Rao under nom de guerre "Ganapati"
Founded	September 21, 2004
Ideology	Maoism
Website
People's March

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is an underground Maoist political party in India. It was founded on September 21, 2004, through the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People's War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India. The merger was announced to the public on October 14 the same year. In the merger a provisional central committee was constituted, with PW leader Ganapati as General Secretary. The CPI (Maoist) are often referred to as Naxalites in reference to the Naxalbari insurrection by radical Maoists in West Bengal in 1967.

Contents [hide] 1 Ideology 2 Organization 3 Status 4 Front Organisations 5 Recent activities 6 Opposition to the Maoist 7 International connections 8 References

[edit] Ideology

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is conducting 'people's war', a strategical line developed by Mao Zedong during the phase of guerrilla warfare of the Communist Party of China. Currently it has effective control over some regions of Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh as well as presence in Bihar and the tribal-dominated areas in the borderlands of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa. The CPI(Maoist) aims to consolidate its power in this area and establish a Compact Revolutionary Zone from which to advance the people's war in other parts of India.

[edit] Organization

The military wings of the respective organisations, People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (military wing of MCCI) and People's Guerrilla Army (military wing of PW), were also merged. The name of the unified military organisation is People's Liberation Guerrilla Army. P.V. Ramana, of the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi estimates the Naxilities' current strength at 9,000 -10,000 armed fighters, with access to about 6,500 firearms.^[1] Other estimates by Indian intelligence officials and Maoist leaders suggest that the rebel ranks in India have swelled to 20,000, though the number is impossible to verify.^[2]

[edit] Status

Communism in India

Communist Party of India AITUC - AIKS - AIYF AISF - NFIW - BKMU

Communist Party of India (Marxist) CITU - AIKS - DYFI SFI - AIDWA - GMP

Naxalbari uprising Communist Party of India (M-L) Liberation - New Democracy Janashakti - PCC - 2nd CC Red Flag - Class Struggle Communist Party of India (Maoist)

Socialist Unity Centre of India AIUTUC - AIMSS AIDYO - AIDSO

A. K. Gopalan E. M. S. Namboodiripad B. T. Ranadive Charu Majumdar Jyoti Basu S. A. Dange Shibdas Ghosh T. Nagi Reddy

Tebhaga movement CCOMPOSA

Communism World Communist Movement

Communism Portal

The party is regarded by some as a "left-wing extremist entity" and a terrorist outfit and several of their members have been arrested by the Indian Government under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA)^[3][4]. The group is officially banned by the State Governments of Orissa^[5], Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, among others. The party has protested these bans.^[6] They are regarded as a serious security threat and the Indian government is taking countermeasures, pulling the affected states together to coordinate their response. It says it will combine improved policing with socio-economic measures to defuse grievances that fuel the Maoist cause.[5] In many states, private armies and vigilante groups, often government-sponsored, have sprung up to counter the Maoists. It is alleged that these private armies have also forcibly recruited villagers against the Maoists.[6] Special insurance provisions have been made by the Indian government for paramilitary forces stationed in regions affected by the militant Maoists.[7]

Organizations listed as terrorist groups by India
Northeastern India
National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) Naga National Council-Federal (NNCF) National Council of Nagaland-Khaplang United Liberation Front of Asom People's Liberation Army Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) Zomi Revolutionary Front
North India
Babbar Khalsa Bhindranwala Tigers Force of Khalistan Communist Party of India (Maoist) Dashmesh Regiment International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) Kamagata Maru Dal of Khalistan Khalistan Armed Force Khalistan Liberation Force Khalistan Commando Force Khalistan Liberation Army Khalistan Liberation Front Khalistan Liberation Organisation Khalistan National Army Khalistan Guerilla Force Khalistan Security Force Khalistan Zindabad Force Shaheed Khalsa Force
Kashmir
Lashkar-e-Toiba Jaish-e-Mohammed Hizbul Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Farzandan-e-Milat United Jihad Council Al-Qaeda Students Islamic Movement of India
Central India
People's war group Balbir militias Naxals Ranvir Sena
v • d • e

[edit] Front Organisations

The PWG also has a string of front organisations of students, youth, industrial workers, miners, farm hands, women, poets, writers and cultural artists. Some among these are listed below:

Andhra Pradesh

Rythu Coolie Sangham (Agricultural labourers association)

Singareni Karmika Samakhya (Singareni collieries workers federation)

Viplava Karmika Samakhya (Revolutionary workers federation)

Radical Students Union

Radical Youth League

All India Revolutionary Students Federation

Bihar

Lok Sangram Morcha (People’s Struggle Front)

Mazddor Kisam Mukti Morcha (Workers-Peasants Liberation Front)

Jan Mukti Parishad (People’s Liberation Council)

Mazdoor Kisan Ekta Morcha (Workers-Peasants Unity Front)

Bharat Navjawan Sabha (Indian Youth Association)

Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad (Workers-Peasants Struggle Council)

Shramik Sangram Manch (Workers Struggle Platform)

Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti (Women’s Liberation Struggle Association)

Sangharsha Jana Mukti Morcha (People’s Liberation Struggle Front)

Democratic Students Union

All India People’s Resistance Forum

Madhya Pradesh

Adivasi Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (Tribal Peasants-Workers Association)

Krantikari Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (Revolutionary Peasants-Workers Association)

Krantikari Balak Sangh (Revolutionary Children’s Association)

Gram Raksha Dal (Village Defence Force)

Gram Rajya Samiti (Village governance council)

[edit] Recent activities

• July 16, 2008: A landmine hit a police van in Malkangiri district, killing 21 policemen.^[7]

• June 29, 2008: CPI forces attacked a boat on the Chitrakonda reservoir in Orissa carrying members of an anti-Naxalite police force. The boat sunk, killing 33 policemen, while 28 survived.^[8][9]

• In November 2007 reports emerged that the anti-SEZ movement in Nandigram in West Bengal had been infiltrated by Naxalites since February; the reports quoted unnamed intelligence sources.^[10] Recently, police found weapons belonging to Maoists near Nandigram.

• On March 15, 2007 an attack happened in the rebel stronghold area of Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh state. Fifty-four persons, including 15 personnel of the Chhattishgarh Armed Force, were killed in an offensive by 300 to 350 CPI (Maoist) cadres on a police base camp in the Bastar region in the early hours of Thursday. The remaining victims were tribal youths of Salwa Judum, designated as Special Police Officers (SPOs) and roped in to combat the Maoists. Eleven person were injured. The attack, which lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, was spearheaded by the "State Military Commission (Maoist)", consisting of about 100 armed naxalites.^[11]

• On March 6, 2007 the CPI (Maoist) reportedly claimed responsibility for the Mahato assassination, but JMM members of the Jharkhand state cabinet, including the Chief Minister, subsequently announced that a state police investigation is under way into the authenticity of this claim. Police reportedly believe that political rivals of Mahato, including organized criminal groups, may have been behind the assassination.[8]

• On March 5, 2007 Maoist shot dead a local Congress leader (Prakash, a member of the local Mandal Praja Parishad (MPP)) in Andhra Pradesh while he was inspecting a road construction project in Mahabubnagar district.^[12]

• On March 4, 2007 Maoist shot dead a member of the parliament (Sunil Mahato) of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party from Jharkhand state.^[13]

• On December 2, 2006 the BBC reported that at least 14 Indian policemen had been killed by Maoists in a landmine ambush near the town of Bokaro, 80 miles from Ranchi, the capital of the State of Jharkhand.^[14]

• On October 18, 2006 women belonging to the Maoist guerrilla forces blasted four government buildings in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. On the day before, over a dozen armed cadres of the group, with support from male colleagues, blocked traffic on the Antagarh-Koylibera Road in the Kanker district, near the city of Raipur. They also detonated explosives inside four buildings, including two schools, in Kanker[9]. This incident occurred two days after a major leader of the party's operations in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, Kone Kedandam, surrendered to authorities in the town of Srikakulam.[10]

• On July 16, 2006 the Maoists attacked a relief camp in the Dantewada district where several villagers were kidnapped. The death toll was 29.^[15]

• On February 28, 2006 the Maoists attacked several anti-Maoist protesters in Erraboru village in Chhattisgarh using landmines, killing 25 people.^[16]

• On 13 November 2005 CPI (Maoist) fighters stunned authorities by attacking Jehanabad in Bihar, freeing 250 captured comrades and taking twenty imprisoned right wing paramilitaries captive, executing their leader. They also detonated several bombs in the town^[17]. A prison guard was also reported killed.

• In August 2005 Maoists kidnapped from the Dantewada district of the state of Chhattisgarh.This fiollows violent incidents in 2004 in the same region when 50 policemen and about 300 villagers were killed in the Dantewada district and over 50,000 villagers were staying in relief camps out of fear from Maoists.^[18]

• In February 2005 the CPI (Maoist) killed 7 policemen, a civilian and injured many more during a mass attack on a school building in Venkatammanahalli village, Pavgada, Tumkur, Karnataka.^[19][20] On August 17, 2005, the government of Andhra Pradesh outlawed the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and various mass organizations close to it, and began to arrest suspected members and sympathizers days afterwards. The arrested included former emissaries at the peace talks of 2004.

[edit] Opposition to the Maoist

In 2005, an anti-Maoist village defense movement was born, calling itself the Salwa Judum, or Peace Mission. The group has coaxed or hounded thousands of people out of their forest hamlets and into the squalid tent camps, where suspected Maoist sympathizers are detained. The camps are guarded by police officers, paramilitary forces and squads of local armed youths empowered with the title "special police officer." The Delhi-based Asian Center for Human Rights, in a report in March 2006, found children in the ranks of the Salwa Judum. The center also accuses the Maoists of recruiting child soldiers. It calls the conflict "the most serious challenge to human rights advocacy in India."^[21]

[edit] International connections

Maoism

Basic concepts[show]  Marxism-Leninism  Anti-Revisionism  Three Worlds Theory  Social-imperialism  Mass line  People's war  New Democracy

Prominent Maoists[show]  Mao Zedong  Prachanda  Bob Avakian  Zhang Chunqiao  José María Sison  Abimael Guzmán  Charu Majumdar  Jiang Qing  İbrahim Kaypakkaya  Pierre Mulele  Jean-Paul Sartre

International[show] Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations Revolutionary Internationalist Movement

Parties by country[show]  Afghanistan  Germany  India  Nepal  Peru  Philippines  Portugal

Related topics[show]  Communist Party of China  Cultural Revolution  Little Red Book  Naxalism

v • d • e

The CPI (Maoist) maintains dialogue with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) who control most of Nepal in the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA). [source needed]

[edit] References

1. ^ A spectre haunting India, the Economist Volume 380 Number 8491 August 19th-25th 2006
   
2. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/13/world/asia/13maoists.html?ei=5088&en=b397a84735c2f9cb&ex=1302580800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
   
3. ^ CPI_M,South Asia Terrorism Portal
   
4. ^ Article on CPI_M,MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
   
5. ^ Eastern Indian state bans communist rebel group,The China Post
   
6. ^ Maoists plan stir,The Hindu
   
7. ^ http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/21-Orissa-policemen-feared-killed-by-Maoists/336441/
   
8. ^ http://newsagency.thecheers.org/South-Asia/news_32290_MHA-spokesperson-on-Wednesdays-Naxal-incident-in-Orissa.html
   
9. ^ http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136863
   
10. ^ "Reports see Maoist Hand in Nandigram", Monideepa Bannerjie, New Delhi Television, November 8, 2007.
    
11. ^ Naxalites massacre policemen in Chhattisgarh
    
12. ^ [1]
    
13. ^ [2]^{[dead link]}
    
14. ^ 'Maoists' kill 14 Indian police',BBC
    
15. ^ 29 killed, 250 missing in Chattisgarh naxal attack,Hindustan Times
    
16. ^ [3],The Hindu
    
17. ^ Naxalites lay siege to Jehanabad, The Hindu
    
18. ^ [4],Hindustan Times
    
19. ^ 6 cops killed in Naxal attack,Deccan Herald
    
20. ^ Naxal attack Another cop succumbs,Deccan Herald
    
21. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/13/world/asia/13maoists.html?ei=5088&en=b397a84735c2f9cb&ex=1302580800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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