Political

Extremism and
Insurgency in
India

Types of Affiliations

Left Wing Politics

In

politics, the Left, the left-wing, and

leftists are people who generally support
social change to create a more
egalitarian society. They usually involve a
concern for those in society who are
disadvantaged relative to others and an
assumption that there are unjustified
inequalities that should be reduced or
abolished.

 The

spectrum of left-wing politics ranges

from centre-left to far left (or ultra-left).
The term centre left describes a position
within the political mainstream. The terms
far left and ultra-left refer to positions that
are more radical. The centre-left includes
social democrats, social liberals,
progressives and also some democratic
socialists and greens

Right Wing politics

Stanford University economist Thomas Sowell argues that

the Right is made up of many different elements that have
almost nothing to do with each other besides opposition to
the Left: "Perhaps the most fundamental difference
between the left and the right is that only the former has
even a rough definition. What is called "the right" are simply
the various and disparate opponents of the left. These
opponents of the left may share no particular principle,
much less a common agenda, and they can range from
free-market libertarians to advocates of monarchy,
theocracy, military dictatorship or innumerable other
principles, systems and agendas.

Insurgency in India

India has had its share of insurgencies. In all,

an estimated 30 armed insurgency
movements are sweeping across the country,
reflecting an acute sense of alienation on the
part of the people involved. Broadly, these
can be divided into movements for political
rights e.g. Assam, Kashmir and Khalistan
(Punjab), movements for social and
economic justice e.g. Maoist (Naxalite) and
north-eastern states, and religious grounds
e.g. Laddakh. These causes overlap at times.

 Wikipedia

lists 16 belligerent groups and

68 major organization as terrorist groups in
India, which include: nine in the northeast
(Seven Sisters), four in centre & the east
(including Maoist/Naxalites), seventeen in
the west (Sikh separatist groups), and
thirty eight in the northwest (Kashmir).

Reasons for Civil Unrest

Political

Causes
Caste Based Social Discrimination
Economic Disparity
Hindutva The Hindu Political Philosophy
Steeped in Prejudice

Insurgency Movements
Naxalites

or Maoists
The Seven Sisters
Khalistan Movement of the Sikhs
Kashmir
Tamil Nadu

Naxalism

Inspired by the Nepalese Maoist forest dwellers

who took over and ruled their forests, the lowest of
Indian forest dwellers of Naxalbari (West Bengal)
the adivasis, launched their own Maoist
movement and took control of their forests too.
When huge mineral deposits were discovered in
some of the forested areas, the authorities
decided to relocate the adivasis in 1967. They
refused. Having no other title, they did not want to
give up what they held and this set in motion a
cycle of resistance and reprisals, including rapes
and murders by the powerful vested interests.

 These

Maoists now inhabit an area known

as the Red Corridor that stretches from
West Bengal to Karnataka state in the
southwest. They are active across 83
districts in 9 states - They also threaten to
extend operations in major urban centers,
including New Delhi. Indian intelligence
reports say that insurgents include 20,000
armed men and 50,000 regular or fulltime
organizers and mobilizers.

The Seven Sisters

These states accuse New Delhi of apathy
towards their issues. Illiteracy, poverty and
lack of economic opportunities have fueled
the natives demand for autonomy and
independence. There also exist territorial
disputes among states and tensions
between natives and immigrants from other
states which the governments have not
attended to, accentuating the problems.

 Assam

Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Arunachal

Pradhesh

Tamil Nadu

In the wake of their defeat by the Sri Lankan

military in the Jaffna peninsula, the Tamil LTTE
freedom fighters took refuge in the adjoining
Tamil Nadu state of India, where on account
of common ethnicity, religion, language and
culture they mixed easily and enjoyed mass
support for their cause. Overtime LTTE
regrouped and recruited volunteers from
amongst the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and
the local population and began to amass
weapons and explosives.

 Tamils

are inspired by the Maoist/Naxalite

movement but their secessionist
organizations have been shut down after
being labeled as terrorists.
Coimatore Bombings in 1998 ,46 persons 35 men, 10 women and one child - were
killed and over 200 injured in 13 bomb
attacks in 11 places

Kashmir

Because of its location, Kashmir could choose

to join either India or Pakistan. Maharaja Hari
Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was Hindu while
most of his subjects were Muslim. Unable to
decide which nation Kashmir should join, Hari
Singh chose to remain neutral.
But his hopes of remaining independent were
dashed in October 1947, as Pakistan sent in
Muslim tribesmen who were knocking at the
gates of the capital Srinagar.

 India

had to fight the first of its wars

against Pakistan and Kashmir was ceded
to India.
Attempts at reconciliation have been
numerous with gestures such as talks and
transport links being resumed.

Conclusion

As of 2006, at least 232 of the countrys 608

districts were afflicted, at differing intensities,
by various insurgent and terrorist movements
In a changing world, as the poor of India
become more and more aware of the
affluence of the relative few who reap the
benefits from the countrys development
boom, the rich-poor division assumes greater
significance and cannot not be ignored.