GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Linkages between Development and Spread of Extremism
Source: IE
Context: The efficacy of the Maoist movement needs to be gauged in terms of their declining social base, not on the basis of how many violent incidents occur.
| Maoist movement in India | ||
| Current approach | Expected outcome | Issues |
| Use of Force | The use of force (including specially-trained forces such as the Greyhounds) has led to a decline in Maoist presence and the use of more force will end its remaining influence. | The use of more force only helped the Maoists recruit from the local tribal population.
The Maoist movement moved from the leadership of outsiders (mostly from Telangana) to that of local tribals.
Such internal changes led to local support for the movement from tribals in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. |
| Development | Welfare and development as part of the “strategy” to calm down and make the Maoists irrelevant. | The D Bandyopadhyay Committee (2006) stated that land alienation and poverty among STs and Dalits, and lack of access to basic forest resources contributed to the growth of Naxalism.
The state’s model of development has resulted in the displacement of tribals → leading to the peaceful Pathalgarhi movement in Jharkhand |
What led to the failure of the above approaches:
- Declining Maoist presence/violence could well be a political strategy of the Maoists to go silent/underground and wait for lapses on the part of the security forces.
- Eminent Domain doctrine, argues that all resources belong to the nation and can be extracted in the “national interest”.
- Development is seen as a zero-sum game by either side leads.
- A single conception of development to address the various, occasionally incompatible demands of oppressed groups.
- The securitisation paradigm is also insufficient to comprehend social exclusion.
Conclusion:
- Both Ambedkar and Gandhi were of the view that social exclusion and caste cannot be addressed through violence.
- To end the social exclusion of tribals there is the need to understand that development is a multi-faceted process.
Insta Links: LWE
Mains Links:
- The persisting drives of the government for the development of large industries in backward areas have resulted in isolating the tribal population and the farmers who face multiple displacements with Malkangiri and naxalbari foci, discuss the corrective strategies needed to win the left-wing extremism (LWE) doctrine affected citizens back into the mainstream of social and economic growth. (UPSC 2015)
