PEACE WITH THE MAOISTS

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Context

The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, recently announced that the State government are ready for peace talks with the Maoists provided they laid down arms and expressed their faith in the Constitution of India.

Concerns raised by Maoist

Demand to create a conducive atmosphere in which to hold peace talks.
The Maoist criticized the State government for not implementing the Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 or PESA in Chhattisgarh.
Demand for the lifting of the ban on their party, the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) and people’s organisations.
The government should adhere to the Constitution and end the illegal murders in the name of encounters, tortures and arrests.
The withdrawal of security forces from the Maoist camps.
Also, the release of jailed Maoist leaders to participate in the talks.

Origin of Naxalism in India

The term “Naxalites” comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal where a section of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) led by Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, and Jangal Santhal initiated a violent uprising in 1967.
Chinese communist ideologue and leader Mao Zedong provided ideological leadership for the Naxalbari movement, advocating that Indian peasants and lower class tribals overthrow the government and upper classes by force.
The objective of their fight was a redistribution of land to working peasants, which was controlled by landlords for generations.

Cause of Naxalism

Massive displacement of tribal population in the naxalism-affected states due to development projects, mining operations and other reasons.
Absence of strong technical intelligence to fight with Naxalites.
Even after the police take hold of a region, the administration fails to provide essential services to the people of that region.
State governments considered Naxalism as the central government’s issue and thus are not taking any initiatives to fight it.

Government initiatives

Operation Green Hunt in 2010 in 223 districts that were affected by Naxalism.
The government even started the ‘Relief and Rehabilitation Policy’ for bringing Naxalites into the mainstream.
Aspirational Districts Programme launched in 2018, aims to rapidly transform the districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.