http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LE07Df03.html
May 7, 2010 India's Maoists show who rules By Indrajit Basu KOLKATA - The place: somewhere in the Lohardagga district surrounded by the dense Latehar forests in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The time: about 11 in the morning. The congregation: a group of 100 people huddled around a banyan tree intently listening to three gun-totting "judges" sitting on a raised platform and delivering their verdict. This might be a typical scene at a local court witnessed in hundreds of villages in India every day. However, these "judges", most of their faces covered by cloth, are neither elected village chiefs nor government representatives. They are members of the Maoists who, as they do in hundreds of other villages under their control, are performing administrative duties, on this occasion in an area with a population of about 500 poor, lower-caste people. As controversy rages over how India should combat Maoism, which has emerged as the country's greatest internal security threat, private security agencies say that Maoists are consistently gathering political strength and are establishing their own parallel administration in the regions under their control. What's more, even if the Maoists have never run in an election and do not enjoy formal power, they have established their strongholds over vast stretches of forest lands occupied by mostly tribal and poor people who are trodden down by the archaic caste system of the country. "The Maoists take advantages of all those who are disgusted and distressed over the government machinery, and run their own parallel government called janata sarkar, which means people's government," said S M Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer of Mumbai-based Mitkat Risk Advisory Services, which claims to be one of India's foremost, privately owned strategic think-tanks. "The Maoists have no formal rulebook, nor laws. Yet they enjoy the faith, confidence and trust of people. Their administration methods are often on the wrong side of the law. They rule verbally, but their decisions are instant and are never disobeyed," he said. According to Mitkat, Maoists have demonstrated their presence in more than 200 (out of 630) districts across 12 Indian states (a contiguous "red corridor" from Nepal to northern fringes of Tamil Nadu and Orissa). Their span of influence includes 16 districts in Bihar, three in West Bengal, almost all the districts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and a few districts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Seized documents, said Mitkat, show that they run parallel administration in nearly 44 districts, with the aim to overthrow the Indian state through armed resurrection. "They are remarkably organized," said Kumar, with a military-like hierarchy that has leaders at the national, regional and local levels. This structure has designated people at every level who are responsible for operational efficiency and maintaining books. There also exists a force of women who have not only vowed to serve the organization for life, but some have also pledged their children to serve the organization after them. As in any formal administration, the "cadres" are paid salaries that range from US$6 to $72 per month, and most importantly like a government, the Maoist administration has a regular revenue source. Mitkat estimates that the Maoist "empire" generates annual revenue of $330 million - that is a larger amount than the state of Chhattisgarh spends on its police force. The sources of funding include extortion, drug peddling, looting, ransom and robbery, as well as somewhat more legal routes such as extracting commissions from all deals, which they call "taxes". "In the region where the Maoist writ runs, every sack of potatoes, every truck consignment, every business and land deal has a price," said Kumar. "They even charge a cut from the salaries of the police and government officials that fight them." Huge collections (for example, money looted from banks) are handed over to the designated central committee functionary. Sometimes, part of the money is sent to the central committee and the balance is used to buy arms, ammunition, and so forth In addition, "these earnings" are used to buy dry rations and medicines for the rebels. "The problem is that, even if not fully, the Maoists have at least succeeded in filling the vacuum the state administration has created in the red corridor by failing to deliver social and economic justice to millions of people there," said an officer of the local intelligence agency research and analysis wing. Due to the sensitivity of his job, the officer requested anonymity. Maoists often get "financial aid from sympathizers" in countries like Nepal, Myanmar and even China. "The quantum of such aids though is yet to be estimated," he said. Sandeep Sudan, regional head of the Mahindra Special Services Group (MSSG), which claims to be a leading corporate security risk consulting firm, said: "Maoists are undoubtedly a matter of serious concern for internal security issues in India, but another equally significant aspect of their growing political influence is its impact of on the economy of India." According to MSSG, the movement not only targets Indian government establishments but also adversely affects corporate India's investment and business plans. All Maoist violence is carried out in the mineral rich region of India where limestone, iron ore, coal, magnesium and bauxite are abundantly present. A recent MSSG survey found that as much as US$80 billion (the group's estimate, though this figure is hard to corroborate), including foreign investments, are stuck because of Maoist violence. "All the Maoist-effected states account for 85% of the mineral resources base of the country," said Sudan. "Besides this, 85% of the coal supplied to 55% of the power generated in the country comes from the Maoist-controlled areas; they have a vested interest in ensuring that economic development does not take place in the areas they rule." Sudan cites as examples ArcelorMittal's $9 billion steel projects in Jharkhand and Orissa, and the $32 billion steel projects of South Korea's Posco in Jharkhand that are stuck due to Maoist violence. Other significant investments stuck for similar reasons are JSW Ltd's $7 billion steel project in Salboni, West Bengal; Essar Group's 4-million tonne per year beneficiation (a process of extracting ore) plant at Bailadilla (Chhattisgarh); and scores of smaller projects of big industrial houses like India's Tata, Salim Group of Indonesia, and projects of the state-owned aluminum company, Nalco. "The deteriorating internal security situation in these mineral rich states has not only shaken the confidence of the local investors, but have also been a challenge for attracting foreign direct investments," said Sudan. "Maoists are no friends of the tribals or the down-trodden," said Kumar of Mitkat. "And they take advantage of the poverty of the people to sustain themselves." Experts say that while India needs to take a mix of initiatives to tackle Maoism, from force to clever political diplomacy, the business sectors in India also need to ensure inclusive growth for the locals living in the Maoist command regions. "Maoism is a socio-economic problem and not a law and order issue. While it requires a political and administrative solutions, equally important are good governance and transparency," said Sudan. (All quotes above are exclusive to Asia Times Online.) Indrajit Basu is a correspondent for Asia Times Online based in Kolkata. (Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
