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DC special: Maoist gunshots in Malabar

While maoist threat is very real, Kerala hasn’t been able to make a dent in the growing movement.

Kozhikode: Are Malabar’s jungles safe haven for rest and recuperation for Maoists, who find it too hot up north, having to face strafing by IAF copters? Are Kerala cops sitting ducks as Maoists await the final push?

The specially constituted Thunderbolts have not got anywhere near a Maoist though the Leftwing extremist cadre have been sighted in the recent past. In October, suspected Maoists set ablaze an earthmover at Vilangad on the Kozhikode suburbs and left, without a clue, after distributing Maoist literature.

Many thought and even now think Kerala is not tame turf for armed band. Chinese radio called the armed rebellion in the Bengali village of Naxalbary (June 28, 1967) as the ‘Spring Thunder’. Decades passed and leaders like Charu Majumdar, who led the rebellion, are dead. But rumblings haunt the distant Kerala.

Maoists fire at forest officials, none hurt

Recently the Home Ministry put out an alert that Maoist elements had crossed over to Kerala. Thunderbolt commandos have been on the trail since February but in vain.

First sightings were reported in Kannavam forest near Iritty in Kannur and later in Wayanad, Kannur and Malappuram. In November, three incidents were reported- two in Wayanad and one from Nilambur in Malappuram.

At Karinkanni tribal village in Wayanad, an armed Maoist group distributed pamphlets in August. A top police official told DC that though Maoist cadre were spotted in the border jungle zones, cops failed to nab them as they crisscrossed the border. “We have no other go but continue with the raids”, he said.

Intelligence agencies had warned of Maoist attempts to form a ‘red corridor’ in the three south Indian states, linking the larger red corridor starting from Pasupati in Nepal leading to Andhra Pradesh.

Though no major Maoist activities were reported from TN in recent past, intensive extremist activities were reported from Karnataka and jungles close to Wayanad. Security agencies had alerted the state that Maoist elements in the south have been focusing on a tri-junction, the common jungle zone where Kerala, Karnataka and TN share border.

Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Muthumalai tiger reserve in Nilgiri and Bandipur National Park in Karnataka constitute the tri-junction. But activist Civic Chandran told DC that “there is no space for armed Maoists in the state. The hue and cry over the Maoist hunt is aimed at extracting the Centre’s anti-terror funds, which are unaudited and unaccountable”.

Porattom leader MN Ravunni said that even if Maoists were on the hills, the situation was not alarming. “What is the real enemy of the state, the clergy-criminal nexus that unleashed violence against the state machinery or Maoists who claim to fight for transforming society?” he asked, referring to the violent campaign in the state over the Gadgil-Kasturirangan report.

Former Naxal leader K Ajitha told DC that it was easy for the Government to brand human rights activists as Maoists and slap the Maoist tag on all resistance movements.

Commentator K Venu said the police was being foolish in taking out what looked like a route march in the jungle to nab Maoists. “By the time policemen reach the spot, Maoists would have fled. I believe it is all a charade, meant for TV channels”, he said.

Next: Our comrades are determined, says Maoist report

Our comrades are determined, says Maoist report

K.P. Sethunath | DC

Kozhikode: “Our comrades are putting determined and tireless efforts facing some of the toughest conditions that our movement had ever faced in new areas of extension in the strategic tri-junction area between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala”, says a 13-page report released by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on September 1, 2013, marking the ninth anniversary of the formation of the outfit.

The claim in the report is the first official admission by the banned CPI (Maoist), described as the “biggest internal threat” facing the country by none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, about the determined effort by the leftwing extremists to gain a foothold in the Western Ghats.

The claim is endorsed by the latest alert of the union home ministry warning the state government in Kerala about the efforts by the Maoists trying to spread its wings in the region. The CPI (Maoist) document also mentioned that “the state has unleashed severe repressive measures in Malnad and in the tri-junction to nip our movement extension in the bud”.

The Naxal movement in the state, starting with an attack on police stations at Thalasserry and Pulpally on November 1968, had undergone several changes in the past 45 years with most of the front line leaders of the rebellion abandoning the dream of the armed revolution.

Even the state intelligence, monitoring left wing extremist was low priority compared with the focus on what they described as the spread of extremism influenced by pan-Islamic ideas.
But the concern about Maoists making inroads into the state became a real challenge for the security establishment following recurring reports about the spotting of armed squads of suspected Maoists in parts of Malabar during the past seven months.

That Maoists are making an effort to spread to new areas of operation is a known fact. The need for new areas of operations has become an imperative for the banned outfit following the intensification of the security operations against them in their traditional strongholds of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and areas in Maharashtra.

The Maoist document also talks about the need for newer areas of expansion to counter the onslaught in other places. “We should bring changes in our work methods to avoid losses in the backdrop of carpet security. We should not get trapped in the offensive of the enemy and try to move away from that area. From there we should identify the weak position of the enemy and try to inflict damage as far as possible”.

Despite the rhetoric, all is not well with Maoists as is endorsed by the list of woes facing the movement mentioned in the document. The inability to protect top leaders from encounter deaths or arrest, failure to make inroads into the urban areas, bureaucratic mentality of leaders, influence of postmodern ideas and poor political understanding amongst the cadres are some of the main weakness pointed out in the document.

( Source : dc )
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