The course of Naxalism

After an experiment with a ceasefire and abrogated talks, the ban on the Communist Party of India-Maoists was re-imposed by the government of Andhra Pradesh on 17 August. This followed the killing two days earlier of provincial lawmaker C Narsi Reddy, a septuagenarian leader of the ruling Congress party, and eight others in Narayanpet in Mehboobnagar district. The attackers arrived on motorcycles and showered bullets at a public function, killing also the town's municipal commissioner and the Reddy's son, among others. The ban was said to have had the concurrence of the central government, even though its spokesman in Delhi described the matter of law and order as a 'state subject' under the Indian Constitution. Some might have welcomed this reference to the Constitution, however opportunistically it might have been used. But the fact is that the Centre has been closely coordinating anti-Naxalite operations throughout the country, and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patti had assured all support to related measures taken by the Andhra Chief Minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy.

The Hyderabad government's ban order under the AP Public Security Act of 1992 listed seven mass organisations of workers, peasants, youth, students and writers associated with the Maoist party. They include the Radical Youth League (RYL), the Radical Students Union (RSU), the All India Revolutionary Students Federation (AIRSF), the Rythu Coolie Sangham (agricultural workers' organisation), the Singareni Karmika Sangham (a powerful trade union in the collieries), the Viplava Karmika Sangham (another trade union), and the Revolutionary Writers Association popularly known by its Telugu acronym Virasam. More than the ban on the parent party, it is the outlawing of the mass programmes of these affiliate organisations which will have serious repercussions on the ground. These groups have widespread membership, with regular programmes and publications.