Editorial 1: The Wrong Remedy
Context:
Recently at least ten police personnel and a driver were killed in an IED blast carried out by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district.
Key Terminologies
- Left-Wing Extremism (LWE): These are the left-wing groups that try to bring revolution and establish egalitarian social order, through violent means. They are against democratic institutions and use violence to subvert the democratic processes at ground level due to perceived injustices.
- Naxalism: The term ‘Naxal’ comes from the village Naxalbari in West Bengal where the Naxalbari uprising of 1967 occurred. People who are engaged in the insurgency are called Naxals or Naxalite. The movement itself is referred to as Naxalism. These are a group of far-left radical communists supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology believing in use of violence and terrorism as a means of achieving its goals.
- Socialism: A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
- Communism: A political theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs. It aims to create revolution of the proletariat(workers) against the bourgeoisie(capitalists).
- Marxism-Leninism: Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology that was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed in Russia by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union. It aims at creation of a one-party state led by a communist party, as a means to develop socialism and then communism.
- Maoism: Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Republic of China. Mao had revolutionized and “proletarianized” the peasantry.
- IED: Improvised Explosive Device or IED is a bomb fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy or incapacitate personnel or vehicles.
Red Corridor: The area affected by Naxalite-Maoist insurgency.
Status of Naxalism in India
Overall affected districts: The number of most affected districts, accounting for 90% of the violent incidents, had reduced from 35 in 2015 to 25 in 2021.
- These districts are mostly in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh.
- Simultaneously, the area under influence of Maoists has also reduced significantly.
- In the last 5 years (2018-22), Chhattisgarh has accounted for more than 1/3rd of all Maoist-related violence and had a share of 70%-90% of total deaths due to same.
- According to the government, Maoist violence in the country has gone down by 77% since 2010. As per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) the number of resultant deaths (security forces + civilians) has come down by 90% from the all-time high of 1,005 in 2010 to 98 in 2022.
Major reasons behind the Naxal movement:
- Poor development and infrastructure-poor access to services like health, education, sanitation and high levels of food insecurity in remote rural and tribal hinterlands
- Cultural alienation of the tribals due to displacement and humiliation in the name of development caused by land alienation and forced acquisition.
- Poverty, ignorance and exploitation by outsiders for mineral wealth and forests in tribal areas had caused discontent and dissent among the tribals.
- Marginalization instead of mainstreaming-The tribals have been largely unrepresented in mainstream politics and their traditional political institutions were neglected.
Steps Taken by the Government:
Developmental:
- Recently in 2015 a new strategy of SAMADHAN was launched to tackle Naxalism:
- S: smart leadership
- A: aggressive strategy
- M: motivation and training
- A: actionable intelligence
- D: dashboard-based KPIs (key performance indicators) and KRAs (key result areas)
- H-harnessing technology
- A-action plan for each theatre
- N- no access to financing.
- Additional Central Assistance (ACA) for the LWE affected districts (earlier known as Integrated Action Plan): for providing public infrastructure and services in the LWE affected areas
- Road Requirement Plan (RRP) aims at improvement of road connectivity in most LWE affected districts
- Civic Action Programme: The scheme aims to build bridges between the local population and the security forces.
- Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) on priority, which categorically assigns rights over minor forest produce to the Gram Sabhas.
- Forest Rights Act, 2006: The Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest dwellers (Recognition of forest Rights) Act 2006 or the Forest Rights Act recognizes the rights of the scheduled tribes and forest dwellers.
- ROSHNI scheme under, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana for training and placement of rural poor youth from LWE affected areas
- Naxal Surrender-cum-Rehabilitation Programme: The programme provides for vocational training and incentives for surrender of weapons.
Security:
- Anti- Naxal Operations like Steeplechase in 1971, Green-Hunt in 2009, etc.
- Special Forces: Greyhound commando force in Andhra Pradesh and Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh to tackle LWE.
- Unified Command: In 2010, it was established for inter-state coordination (in intelligence gathering, information sharing and police responses) between Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
Conclusion:
Naxals are Indian citizens who have raised arms against the state due to perceived injustices, police excesses, underdevelopment, exploitation and land & cultural alienation. This perception has to be fought with high developmental expenditures and targeted rehabilitation and comprehensive strategy of pacifying the developmental demands of the people. Strong political will is necessary to end the menace once and for all.
Editorial 2: Ocean’s Twenty
Context: India became the Chair of the G20 Summit in 2023 and G20's First Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) Meeting was recently held at Bengaluru.
About Group of 20 (G20):
- The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
- The G20 operates without a permanent secretariat or staff.
- Composition: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.
- Guest invitees include, amongst others, Spain, the United Nations, the World Bank, the African Union and ASEAN.
- The G20 also invites non-member countries, including Bangladesh, Singapore, Spain and Nigeria, besides international organizations such as the United Nations, World Health Organization, the World Bank and the IMF.
Working:
The G20 Presidency steers the G20 agenda for one year and hosts the Summit. The G20 consists of two parallel tracks: the Finance Track and the Sherpa Track.
- Finance Track: led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
- Sherpa Track: It is coordinated by the Sherpas of member countries, who are personal emissaries of the Leaders.
Significance:
- The G20 is composed of most of the world's largest economies finance ministries, including both industrialised and developing nations;
- It accounts for around 80% of gross world product (GWP), 75% of international trade, two-thirds of the global population, and 60% of the world's land area.
- The G20 countries account for almost 75% of global carbon emissions. In 2015, new issues were added to the G20 agenda: migration, digitisation, employment, healthcare, the economic empowerment of women and development aid.
G20 Initiatives:
- The Global Solutions Initiative: provides an intellectual backbone for the Group of Twenty (G20) through its support of the Think20 (T20) process each year. This intellectual backbone builds bridges between the policy recommendations of successive G20 Presidencies, between researchers and policymakers, between researchers and private sector implementers and between successive generations of thought leaders.
- G20 Global Land Initiative 2020: or Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats. The ambition of this Global Initiative is to prevent, halt and reverse land degradation and reduce degraded land by 50 per cent by 2040.
- Global Infrastructure Hub 2014 (GI Hub): It is a not-for-profit organisation, formed by the G20, that advances the delivery of sustainable, resilient, and inclusive infrastructure.
- During and after the 2008 global financial crisis, the G20's coordinated efforts helped tamp down panic and restore economic growth.
Foundation:
The G20 was founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises.
Status of India at the G20:
India’s Presidency at G20 has been an outstanding effort and seeks to bring following contributions:
- One Earth One Family One Future i.e. Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam is this year’s G20 theme.
- Highlight key global challenges: like climate change, terrorism and global pandemics.
- Voice of Global South: especially the poor countries in Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), whose voice often goes unheard.
- Facilitate dialogue: among the most powerful countries — on mitigating risks posed by weapons of mass destruction and enhancing global security.
- Promote new paradigm: of human-centric globalisation and sustainable and environment-friendly lifestyles, based on India’s tradition of ‘trusteeship’ towards nature.
Significance of India:
- India is among the most significant countries of G20 having the following: second-most populous country, having one sixth of humanity, the seventh-largest country by land area in the form of a subcontinent, and the most populous democracy in the world.
- India is a rapidly developing country having an unbroken civilizational heritage.
- India also holds almost four biodiversity hotspots and is a mega diverse country in terms of demography.
- India is a responsible nuclear state and has a high military expenditure.
Conclusion
G20 can be a vital platform for India to show its global leadership potential and bring about concrete strategies to address global challenges though building consensus and taking initiatives. In the changed global order, India can utilize G20 as a global fora to bring about essential reforms in the international financial and security institutions.