Opinion Message to Maoists, from one of their own: Violence doesn’t work

On Wednesday, Modiyam Vella, commander of Company No 2 of the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army, was killed along with 12 others in an encounter with security forces in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh. Vella had been part of several attacks, including one in 2022 in which 22 security personnel lost their lives. His death marks another blow to Left-Wing Extremism, which is waning under pressure from governments and security forces, at the Centre and in affected states. But it is not through kinetic action alone that the logic of violence has become anathema in the erstwhile “red corridor”. As what was once the “gravest internal security threat” recedes, it is important to look at the broader factors that have led to this success.

In his first interview since he surrendered in October, Mallojula Venugopal Rao (alias Sonu), politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and one of the chief ideologues of the movement, told this newspaper, “Our party underestimated the power of the Indian state. We rejected the legal opportunities to unite the broad masses.” That “power” is multifaceted. From the beginning of the Naxal movement over five decades ago to its peak in the early 2000s, when over 200 districts were considered LWE-affected, the capacities of the Indian state and its role among the most disadvantaged have grown. The number is now down to 11, with only three districts “severely affected”, according to the Home Ministry. Part of the reason for this success is economic — targeted welfare schemes, a rights-based architecture with programmes like MGNREGA, jobs, etc. There is also growing capacity in law and order, with police posts in forested regions across central India and the Deccan. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is the deepening of democracy and the potential of the system to address the needs of the most vulnerable that provides long-term insurance against violent insurgencies.

Advertisement

At the heart of LWE is a tragedy of the marginalised and the disaffected led astray, which Sonu articulated: “This experiment has not succeeded anywhere in the country… They (remaining Maoists) are… are not learning from those sacrifices.” The government, through security operations and surrender and rehabilitation policies, has shattered the pipe dream of a violent revolution. By continuing to deepen democracy and inclusive development, it can tackle what little is left of the problem.