Naxal terrorism
Is Naxalite movement or Maoism the greatest threat to Indian democracy? Is India getting more and more vulnerable to the same specter? These questions are reverberating in almost each social echelon of India and more than a few incidents, of late, do confirm that the battle is going to be tough for India increasingly. There is no doubt the movement that had its initiation in the obscure Naxalbari village of the Indian state of West Bengal, through a number of experiments, has become an all-India phenomenon and has been spreading its tentacles by leaps and bounds.
Is it justified to apply the term Naxal terror? Well, the word terror has an assortment of connotations and it doesn’t remain related to violence all the time. In accordance with Indian government’s reports in 2009, Naxalites were active all over (no less than) 220 districts in twenty states of India. This does account for almost 40*percent of India's geographical area. And the influence has been growing steadily. It is a reality that benefits of economic progression in India are not being tasted by the rural India. On the other hand, economic liberalization is leading to polarization and the differences between urban India and rural “Bharat” is getting more and more acute.
The Naxalites or Left-wing guerillas are leaving no stone unturned to take advantage of this mounting disparity. Naxal movement, which is riding again on annihilation strategy, is on the rise and this is strengthening the saga of Naxal terror. On the word of Indian intelligence agencies, Naxalites, at the moment, are heavily concentrating in an area called the "Red Corridor", where they control 92,000 square kilometers.
On the word of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's premier external intelligence agency, 20,000 armed cadre Naxalites have been operating as well as 50,000 regular cadres. What is most striking, Naxalites are finding a major support base among urban students. This is expanding the saga of Naxal terror more and more.