Terrorism in India: The “New” Face of War?

Terrorism in India: The “New” Face of War?

In class we recently discussed how war today has a different meaning and representation than war previously did. In many of the articles we read, there was idea that war today does not focus around gaining territories and fighting between states but rather that war today is focused around terrorism and non-state actors. The idea that terrorism today is different than terrorism previously is also a common example in how war has changed. But what happens when a non-state actor uses terrorism in their own nation to try and gain control of territories? Does this represent our “new face of war” or is it even considered war at all for that matter. This is exactly what is happening in India right now with the Communist Party of India. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) or CPI (Maoist) is the perfect example of how a non-state actor is causing terrorism with in their country. The goal behind this terrorism? Simply to take control over the government in specific regions and gain territories.

The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is an extremist-left political party in India whose goal is to overthrow the government of India through violent means. There are actually three different types of Communist parties in India: The Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Although all three have similar goals and values they are still extremely different in their methods of achieving these goals. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is the most violent of all three groups and is actually considered a terrorist organization in India. The group was officially founded in 2004 and is now often referred to as Naxalites.

The Naxalites strongly believe in the “annihilation of class enemies and in extreme violence as means to secure organizational goals.” The group claims to be fighting for the rights of tribes in the forest belt region around central India where there have been many human right violations of tribal people due to government agencies; this is what their main platform runs on although they seem to be very contradicting. Their plans of “reform” are mostly carried out in the tribal-dominated areas in Chhhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Orissa. The Naxalities have basically taken over these territories to a point where the real Indian government cannot gain control and the Naxalities are in charge. The Naxalites have been involved in several cases of violence including blowing up schools and railway tracks, and keeping these tribal areas in their control to prevent modern development so they can carry out their goal of keeping the tribal area an uneducated rural region.

The Naxalities leading approach to carry out their political parties views and goals is by intimidating the people to consolidate control. There are roughly between 10,000 and 20,000 members of this party and at least 50,000 active supporters. In order to carry out their policies, the Naxalites abduct and kill “class enemies” which include government officials and police officers; they tax local villagers, extort businesses and regulate the movement of aid and goods in the tribal regions. To keep the party growing and strong they even force every family in some of their tribal regions to “supply one family member” to the party. The group’s strategy to gain political power is focused on using armed struggle such as guerilla warfare.

Since the start of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2004 it has been reported that over 2,000 have been killed and even more injured. Some of their attacks are small and kill just a few people at a time while others involve huge attacks on whole regions. A few of their attack descriptions include:

· “Maoists conduct kidnappings in the Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. This follows violent incidents in the same region in 2004, when 50 policemen and about 300 villagers were killed in the Dantewada district and over 50,000 villagers were forced into relief camps to escape the Maoists.” (August 2005)

· “Maoists attack a relief camp in the Dantewada district, killing 29, and kidnapping several villagers.” (July 2006)

· “300 to 350 CPI (Maoist) cadres attack a police base camp in the rebel stronghold of Dantewada, in Chhattisgarh state. Fifty-four persons, including fifteen personnel of the Chhattishgarh Armed Forces, are killed” (March 2007)

· “A landmine hits a police van in Malkangiri district, killing 21 policemen.” (July 2008)

· “Twelve villagers are killed and nine injured in indiscriminate firing by Maoists in Jamui district of Bihar. “(February 2010)

· “At least 145 people are killed after a train derails in an apparent Maoist attack in West Bengal.” (May 2010)

· “Maoists kill six cops in Chhattisgarh.” (October 2011)

These are just a few of the many attacks caused by this group. It is interesting to see that the attacks do not stop; they do not have periods of time in between them but are rather consistent. The attacks do not only attack a specific group; they go after not only police and government officials but civilians as well. The attacks also do not have consistency in attacking at large or small rates but are instead random and unpredictable.

When we see terrorist attacks such as these to such extremes and the reasons behind why they are happening can we really say that war has changed? To me these attacks sound like something that should be happening more than 100 years ago not today in the 21^st century. We have said that terrorism from the past does not look like terrorism today but in acts such as these it looks as if we are still living in the past. With war having such a loose definition we must certainly wonder are these acts of terrorism by non-state actors really war? As of now these conflicts certainly aren’t declared as “war” in India although they seem to meet the criteria of the term war. And if these acts of terrorism aren’t officially declared as war now, to what extent of violence and force needs to be carried out so that it is considered war?

Works Cited

Communist Party of India (CPI). Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .

Communist Party of India (Marxist). Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .

"Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) - Left Wing Extremism(Naxalite), India, South Asia Terrorism Portal." Terrorism|South Asia Terrorism Portal. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .

"Maoists Kill Six Cops in Chhattisgarh." NDTV.com: India, Business, Bollywood, Cricket, Video and Breaking News. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .

Web. 23 Oct. 2011. .