Naxalite explosion

The People's War Group targets industries in Andhra Pradesh in an apparent change of strategy, and the Central Government responds with a nationwide ban on it.

NAXALITES of the People's War Group (PWG) struck in a big way again in Andhra Pradesh recently, targeting this time industrial establishments owned by corporate houses and political leaders' families. They blew up several factories in the last week of November, causing panic among industrial circles. Industries were not on the hit list of these extremists until this point.

The government's response to the attacks was quick. A nation-wide ban was clamped on the PWG under the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO), clubbing it with other terrorist organisations. Banned along with the PWG is its close associate, the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) of Bihar. With these two organisations included, as many as 25 terrorist groups stand proscribed under POTO.

Left-wing extremism has been the bane of Andhra Pradesh for over three decades. The State government and naxalites are engaged in a seemingly endless war. At times the police have seemed to gain the upper hand by inflicting severe blows on naxalite cadres. But, the extremists have retaliated at regular intervals, leaving the police in a state of shock.

The Chandrababu Naidu government claims to have scored in the last five years significant victories over the PWG, the most powerful extremist organisation that operates in the State. More than 1,000 PWG activists and sympathisers had surrendered to the police recently. Important cadre,including three members of the Central Committee (the decision-making body of the PWG), were liquidated. The presence of the group in north Telangana, which has been its haven several years, has dwindled.

But there is no let-up in the violence by the PWG. It continues to draw support and sustenance from new sources and strike at specific targets, causing extensive loss to public property and eliminating public figures, including elected representatives.

The latest offensive came in the form of a series of blasts on November 29 and 30, which destroyed a milk factory owned by N.Chandrababu Naidu's family in Chittoor district, a granite unit of Union Minister of State for Defence U.V. Krishnam Raju at Chegunta, and a coffee powder factory of the Tatas at Toopran (both in Medak district). The attacks were carried out to mark the first anniversary of the formation of the People's Guerrilla Army (PGA) on December 2, 2000, which was a significant move by the PWG to regroup itself and shore up the morale of its ranks.

The formation of the PGA was followed by the exposure of PWG representatives to an international seminar organised by the Workers Party of Belgium (WPB) in Brussels. They received support from other Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties - of Brazil, Chad, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines and Senegal. The Maoist uprising in Nepal too came as a shot in the arm for the PWG. Informed sources say that the PWG is operating on a plan to open a "revolutionary corridor between Nepal and north Telengana (Nepal to Dandakaranya), passing through Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The targeting of industries will scare away prospective investors and upset the government's plans to create an industry-friendly atmosphere in the State.

The PWG has remained already banned in Andhra Pradesh since 1992 (barring a brief period when N.T. Rama Rao was the Chief Minister in 1995). But the nation-wide ban assumes significance as its operations outside Andhra Pradesh will now come under the close scrutiny of the law-enforcing agencies.

According to police estimates, the strength of the outlawed organisation in the State does not exceed 1,000 members, armed with more than 800 guns, ranging from Chinese-made Kalashnikovs to crude single-shot guns known as tapanchas.

Arms smuggling and raids on the police are the main sources of weapons for the organisation. There have been reports of the PWG having links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the supply of arms, but intelligence sources do not confirm them.

Despite the State Government ban, the PWG became well-entrenched by the mid-1990s so much so that the morale of the police, by their own admission, was at its lowest by 1997. Police sources confirm that in 1997 the strength of PWG rose to over 1,800 armed members (consisting of 83 dalams and a special squad). But by the late 1990s, the police managed to gain the upper hand as the naxalite group's strength in terms of cadre and weapons dwindled to 47 and 45 per cent respectively.

The two-pronged strategy of the government paid dividends. On the one hand, the police dealt a deadly blow to the PWG network by liquidating top cadres, including three central committee members - Nalla Adi Reddy, Seelam Naresh and Santosh Reddy. A phase of surrenders unfolded with scores of PWG cadres, including women activists, giving up the militant path.

While the mass surrender by PWG cadres caused a setback to the movement, recruitment to the PWG went on. PWG leaders turned their attention to the tribal people of the forest areas on the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border, as the movement of youth from the villages and the universities dwindled. Moreover, the tribal people are known for their physical endurance and ability to learn military tactics fast.

The government reached out to the people in every nook and corner of the State through such activities as building roads, health centres and schools, organising self-help groups such as Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) and addressing the problems of the people with the help of programmes such as Janmabhoomi. The void in the villages was filled and the presence of the government enhanced significantly. These visible changes curtailed the operations of PWG activists as logistics and material support were hard to come by.

Forced onto the backfoot, the PWG extended its activities to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, with the contiguous forest area facilitating it. As there was no ban on the organisation in these States, PWG activists quietly slipped into safe havens in these States after committing acts in Andhra Pradesh. The increased pressure and presence of the police, perhaps, partly explains the tactical withdrawal of underground dalams from the plains of north Telengana districts in recent years.

The PWG organised a 20-day camp (People's War Congress) in Dandakaranya in February this year, which is believed to have been attended by Communist leaders from Turkey, the Philippines and Nepal.

The People's War Congress caused the formation of the Andhra Pradesh Orissa Border Special Zone Committee (consisting of four districts of Andhra Pradesh and five districts of Orissa) and the Central Military Commission, and attempts to form base areas of Dandakaranya and the contiguous forest areas of the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border. The creation of special action teams to hit single specified targets was part of the new strategy.

The police perceive the increased emphasis of the PWG on militarisation as a sign of "weakness" of the extremist movement. Police officials argue that people's participation, which is the core element of any revolutionary movement, has dwindled as the naxalite leaders are concentrating on augmenting their memberships strength rather than on enlisting people's support.

The roots of the PWG in Andhra Pradesh are deeper than those of similar extremist movements such as the MCC. The PWG, which ironically swears by the tactics and strategies employed by Mao Zedong during the Great March, holds sway over 15 districts in the State. It formed two primary level guerilla zones, one consisting of five districts of north Telengana and the other comprising the northern coastal districts of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram, the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, and Malkangiri, Ganjam, Gajapathi, Koraput and Raigarh districts of Orissa.

The guerilla zones and base areas, according to the PWG strategy, denote advanced stages of a revolutionary movement. A guerilla zone is an area where the organisation and the "reactionary" state are equally placed and fighting for control. Base area formation would technically mean a later stage when revolutionaries win the battle with the state and take control of the governance of the area.