Although India had a weak communist party during the 1950's the Maoist movement came about during the Sino-Soviet split. It passed through Tibet from China then to Nepal and into India during the mid sixties; almost coinciding with Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, where the correct ideology of communism, came from Mao's little red book not the soviet.

The Maoist, or the new Communist Party was formed in a small village named Naxalbani, in West Bengal; its members consisted of the rural poor from the central and eastern areas of India's provinces. The group was called Naxalites at first, but throughout the decades many cadres of Maoist came about using different names to identify themselves, until the 1980's when The Peoples War Group (PWG) joined with other cadres to become a larger association.

"Revolutionary change through the barrel of a gun", such was the motto for the Maoist. Their ideals ran on the line of violent overthrow or assassination. From the beginning they wanted to, and tried to kill who they considered to be class enemies; such as landlords, university teachers, police officers and politicians. Their goal was to bring about a communist state in the provinces where they had considerable control, namely: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa.

Many of the people who joined these groups in the beginning were poor, illiterate, and from rural provinces where government entitlements were nonexistent or quite small. They felt that the government had little interest in them, because, their voices weren't heard and they were underrepresented. But because of the violent nature of the Maoist, police paramilitary forces had to be called out to eradicate them, using deadly force. This caused them to go underground. Their violent uprisings quelled by government forces led to changes in their revolutionary principles and also a loss of many rural supporters. Their members went from mostly the rural poor to many criminal elements. To fund their activities they had to extort money from various individuals.

Today the government of India considers: The Maoist, The Peoples War Group, or other factions of the communist party, as terrorist groups. And in the recent past they have tried to lure away the rural poor by offering land and basic necessity through their province ministers; furthermore, they have also tried offering loans to anyone wanting to start a business.

The question of "what would be the most effective way for the Indian gov't to respond to the Maoist insurgency?" is being answered in their present actions, such as; dialog with the leaders of each rebel groups, the offer of amnesty and a new way of life for those who want to leave and most important taking an interest in the rural community, such as health centers, proper sewage and housing, even educating the young as well as the aged.

Helping the poor to a better way of life, by giving them access to basic necessities keeps them from falling into the hands of rebel insurgencies, whose members or leaders give rhetorical answers, to questions that really doesn't solve the immediate or even future needs of the urban poor.

Learn more about this author, Carole Haynes.
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