To earn their daily bread, how the urban naxals have spread
New Delhi, Oct 9: The elimination of naxalites has increased, the geographical spread has decreased and the surrenders have shot up. There is ample data on hand to suggest that the naxalite movement is gradually seeing its last days.
The issue is being sorted out largely in the jungles, but then the propaganda in the cities is there in your face. This is largely to do with the fact that the urban movement has been witnessing a steady rise over the years, even though the movement in the jungles has been facing setbacks.
The urban naxal corridor:
Intelligence Bureau officials have identified the Surat-Pune industrial corridor, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Kolkata to be the epic-centre of the urban naxal problem. Several organisations have come up in these areas, through which desperate attempts are on to bridge the movement between the urban and rural areas.
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It is these organisations, which are putting the propaganda right out there and this has become a major problem, the Intelligence Bureau says. In addition to this several regional bureaus and sub-committees have been formed to either put out the propaganda or bridge the rural-urban gap.
The MHA says that in recent times there has been an escalation of this problem in the states of Gujarat and Punjab as well. There has been a steady rise in the urban movement and more states are being chosen to set up committees. It is clear that these persons want the propaganda machinery to work full time as the movement is seeing a steady collapse in the rural areas, an Intelligence Bureau official informed OneIndia.
The desperation:
With the naxal movement being largely subdued in the rural belts, these are desperate times for them. There are two main issues and they are the number of recruitments is down and so is the funding.
In the urban areas, naxalites have been operating largely through NGOs. However since the squeeze on NGO funding, the coffers are gradually drying up. This has led the rise in setting up committees in more states in a bid to boost recruitments and also spruce up the funding, IB officials also explain.
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In
the
various
states
where
these
persons
are
setting
up
shop,
they
have
not
found
to
be
working
independently.
They
first
get
in
touch
with
persons
with
a
like-minded
ideology
and
then
seek
their
help
in
setting
up
shop.
Currently
this
menace
is
on
in
nearly
18
states
in
the
country,
the
IB
says.
This
is
a
very
dangerous
precedent
says
the
IB.
In
both
cases
of
terrorism
and
naxalism
it
has
been
noticed
that
it
is
the
ideology
that
has
been
more
dangerous.
Hence
it
is
of
utmost
importance
that
the
spread
of
the
urban
movement
is
curtailed
at
its
earliest,
the
officer
also
said.
Down, but not out:
Statistics that OneIndia has clearly suggest that there has been a decline. However it would be too early to write them off as yet as their friends in the city are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the movement is kept alive and revived in a big way.
Home Ministry data available with OneIndia suggests that in the past two years, between 2016 and 2018, the number of naxalites arrested is 4,123. Security officials say that the high number of arrests are due to better coordination and concrete intelligence.
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Take for instance the year 2016, the number of naxalites arrested stood at 1,840, while in 2017, it was 1,888. The number of naxalites arrested in 2018 until March stood at 395.
Incidents of violence reduced by 36.6% from 6,524 to 4,136. Left Wing Extremism related deaths also decreased by 55.5% from 2,428 to 1,081.
The
naxalites
however
witnessed
severe
casualties.
The
elimination
of
naxalites
have
increased
by
14.6
per
cent
fro
445
to
510,
while
the
surrenders
increased
by
143%
from
1,387
to
3,373.
Data
prepared
by
the
South
Asia
Terrorism
Portal
(SAT)
suggested
that
the
number
districts
from
where
fatalities
were
reported
declined
from
42
in
2016
to
40
in
2017.
Civilian fatalities were reported from 33 Districts in 2017, as against 35 in 2016. Similarly, SF fatalities were reported from 12 Districts in 2017, as against 18 in 2016. The overall spread of Naxalite violence recorded a decline through 2017, with the number of Naxalism-affected Districts dropping from 104 in 13 States in 2016, to 100 districts in 12 States in 2017, the SATP data suggests.
Elimination of LWE cadres increased by 14.6% from 445 to 510. Surrenders by LWE cadres increased by 143% from 1387 to 3,373. Security officials say that the mounting pressure is what is leading to such a large number of surrenders.