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Almost 80% of work on closure of the current phase of Maoist movement in Central India is over now. Security forces should be credited with most of the work. They got help from locals.

As we know there were three major phases of Maoist movement in India. The first one started before independence mainly in Telangana against the Nizam, then rulers of Hyderabad state. It ended when Communist Party of India decided to follow the parliamentary path in 1951 though primary work of ending the movement was done by the army after capturing Hyderabad.

The movement was there in Bengal where they called it Tebhaga movement. It was before Mao’s victory in China so they did not call them Maoists then. The Government of India officially still calls the problem Left Wing Extremism. The second phase started in 1967 in Naxalbari in Bengal when some came out of the Communist Party of India ( Marxist) and called them Marxist-Leninist. That phase was over by 1972 when their charismatic leader Charu Mazumdar died in police custody.

The third and the longest phase started in 1980 and continues. Like in any medical operation most of the work is done by scalpel but the role of anaesthesia and painkiller is equally important. If we want the patient to recover, so is the role of cleanliness and care. Similarly this is reconstruction time in Dandakaranya forest where Lord Ram of Ramayana visited for his Vanavas of fourteen years. Maoists from Andhra are here from more than forty!

Thousands have died in the last 43 years from both sides. Around 15 years ago one top Maoist leader told me that though they have not kept any records, they must have killed around 10-12 thousand people after calling them “informers”. Similarly security forces have killed thousands by calling them Maoists. State has a rehabilitation policy for people killed by Maoists but one police officer told me “around 70% victims are not registered because they never came to a police station to register”.

Hundreds were killed by Salwa Judum, a state sponsored militia. Many fled to Andhra Pradesh (now also Telangana) after Salwa Judum. This is also time to do a survey of these displaced adivasis and formulate a rehabilitation policy as has been done for displaced Kashmiris and in the North East. States have created some rehabilitation policies for the displaced inside the same state but they are poorly implemented.

There was an election in Colombia in 2010. The man who won that election, President Santos, had promised to support an effort to register all the victims of the Maoist problem there. They passed a Victims Law to help victims who eventually put pressure on both sides to come to the negotiating table. President Santos later won the Nobel peace prize in 2016 after signing a peace deal with the Maoists there. The Government of the Philippines is also restarting peace dialogue with the Maoists in the new year.

Return of displaced tribals to their original land, mostly still under control of Maoists, can be one of the subjects of possible talks in India. States can also use existing laws like the 3.1.m clause of Forest Rights Act to rehabilitate displaced tribals. Special laws like Victims law in Colombia can be formulated to enable victims to register.

Abujhmad in Bastar is a 4000 square km area still under control of Maoists which also happens to be their capital. Similarly Abujhmadia tribals can be helped by Habitat rights under Forest Rights Act. Recognition of habitat rights will enable Abujhmadias to decide about Abujhmad which they are currently fighting for with guns with Maoists.

While passing the judgement on abrogation of article 370, the Supreme Court has recently advised on formation of Truth and reconciliation commission in Kashmir. It’s time for a Truth and reconciliation commission in Dandakaranya forest too.”This does not compensate for the loss of a loved one” as the Victims law in Colombia said in its preamble still it can be a start for reconstruction work in Central India.

For the solution of Maoist problem Indira Gandhi had commissioned a special Bastar Development Plan in 1984. Maoists are running a peaceful United Front campaign in the entire Dandakaranya forest demanding implementation of pro-tribal laws from the Indian constitution. Congress who lost most seats in Bastar in recently held elections never looked at the plan but maybe others can.

The Bastar Development plan talks of simple things like investing in agriculture so tribals can grow second crops. It talks about starting forest based small industries. These are like caregiving for the patient called Bastar and giving compensation to all victims can be a painkiller.

Working with Maoists in their peaceful United Front experiment brought peace in Nepal. Implementation of pro-tribal laws from the Indian constitution in letter and spirit in forests of Central India as Maoist fronts  are demanding can also give the Nobel peace prize to Narendra Modi.

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