by A.W. Berry

Created on: January 31, 2008

Leaders of India's Indian National Congress party (INC) have made statements an insurgency named the Naxalite movement is both a high national security threat and should be dealt with using Government forces and State sponsored militias. To date 100's of Indian police officers have gone missing or are documented as murdered by the Naxalites who are attempting to seize control of Indian villages using terrorist tactics, illegal use of force and other highly questionable methods.

THE INSURGENCY:

Throughout the districts and states of Eastern and Central India, Maoist-Communist inspired rebels known as Naxalites train, recruit, indoctrinate and spread their beliefs among poor locals and villagers. The Naxalites utilize violence, theft, and military control to achieve their objectives and target some of India's poorest regions. This insurgency was originally founded in the late 1960's in the Eastern Indian state of West Bengal and has since spread to many more of India's Eastern states in addition to central states despite a forceful Government crack down on the insurgents during the early years of its existence. Some known information about the Naxalites is provided below.

*The Naxalite movement began in a city named Naxalbari within the Indian State of West Bengal
*The Founders of the Naxalist movement are named Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal
*10,000-20,000 Naxalite Insurgents are believed to operate within India
*Recently, ties to the Napalese Maoist movement have been identified
*Approximately 40% of Naxalites are Women
*The Naxalite movement is one of several Indian extremist terror organizations
*Naxalites claim political legitimacy through connection with the Indian Maoist Communist Party
*100's-1000's of deaths are attributed to Naxalite violence annually

THE PROBLEM:

Since it's founding in the late 1960's, the Naxalite movement has only grown in size and taken hold of the minds and geography of more and more Indians. Social and cultural factors are believed by many to be at the root of the movement. Specifically, variables such as poverty, dissidence and profound frustration with the economic divide between India's elite and economically comfortable classes and those at the very bottom of the wealth spectrum are identified as being causal.

The Naxalite movement makes use of tactics and strategies that are vicious, illegal, misguided, and politically unsanctioned by the Indian Government. Government police and armed militias are frequently attacked, kidnapped and/or

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