Revolution Interrupted: Why the Maoists Are Falling and the Grievances Remain

In the last two days, at least thirteen Maoists — including two Central Committee members of the banned CPI (Maoist) organisation — have been killed in alleged encounters in Andhra Pradesh. Coming months before the deadline set by Union Home Minister Amit Shah to “eliminate” the Maoists, the government and security forces are touting the operation as a major step toward a “Maoist-free India.” Neutralising the revolutionary left in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — long regarded as the heartland of the movement, even before Naxalbari — is being projected as a significant victory in the Indian state’s all-out war on Maoists, first formally articulated during the UPA regime in 2006.

Killing of Madvi Hidma, a severe setback for  Maoists

On Wednesday, November 19, the police claimed that seven Maoists were killed in an encounter in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Sitarama Raju district. Senior police officers said that among those killed was CPI (Maoist) Central Committee member and in-charge of the Andhra–Odisha Border (AOB) committee, Metturi Joga Rao alias Tech Shankar. Three women were also among the dead, according to the police.

A day earlier, on November 18, six Maoists were killed in a police raid and the ensuing ‘encounter,’ including Central Committee member and South Bastar Battalion Commandant Madvi Hidma. Several media reports had suggested that the Union Home Minister had directed security forces to “neutralise” Hidma by the end of this month. Police sources quoted in these reports described Hidma as the mastermind behind several of the Maoists’ most lethal attacks in the past decade.

More than 30 Maoists have been taken into custody, the majority of them belonging to Andhra Pradesh.

Hidma’s killing has dealt a severe blow to the guerrilla group, as he was believed to be the mastermind behind several major ambushes, including the 2010 attack in Dantewada in which 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed — one of the deadliest strikes on Indian security forces. According to the police, he was also involved in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack that killed 27 people, including senior Congress leaders, and played a key role in the 2021 Sukma ambush that left 22 paramilitary personnel dead.

Hidma was perhaps the only tribal leader in the Maoist organisation to have risen to its highest decision-making body.

Targeting the biggest internal  security threat

 The recent crackdown on Maoist formations across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh — and the killing of leaders ranging from the general secretary to multiple Central Committee members — marks one of the most severe setbacks the extreme left movement has faced in its history. Many observers now argue that the Maoist movement, described by former prime minister Manmohan Singh as India’s “biggest internal security threat,” may be entering its final phase.

Though various human rights activists have cast doubts on the police version of encounter killings, everybody agrees that the guerrilla movement’s wherewithal to resist the continuous military onslaught unleashed against them is minimal.

Telangana in Andhra Pradesh is synonymous not just with the Naxalite or Maoist movement in India. During the initial days after independence, poor agricultural workers, under the aegis of the Indian Communist Party, waged a bloody war against the landlords and Nizam and liberated hundreds of villages, before being suppressed by the Indian forces. And then after a group split from the CPI(M), alleging ‘revisionism, the groups like Peoples War Group (PWG) made great strides into rural and urban areas of the undivided Andhra Pradesh.  From the 1970s, the leaders from Andhra Pradesh dominated various radical left groups in the country.  PWG under Kondapalli Seetharamaiah was the most prominent of the various groups that flourished in Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas. Kondappally formed various civil associations, including the Radical Students Union, Jana Natya Mandali, etc., which helped them spread their influence among students, writers, and cultural figures. In 2004, the Maoist Communist Centre and People's War Group merged to form the CPI (Maoist).

Once a Mass Movement, Now in Retreat

“Naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh has made a great influence among the rural masses, in the 80s and 1990s at least”, says Prof. M. Kodandaram, a human rights activist and former Member of Legislative Council. “The biggest achievement of the Naxalite movement has been that, due to its political activity, the hegemony of the landlords came to an end. They were able to inculcate political consciousness among the rural poor. Two factors contributed to their downfall: one was state repression, the other, the political line pursued could not resonate with the changing attitudes of the masses,” he adds.

The Modi government has fixed a deadline to free India from the Maoist presence. The operation Kagar and the extensive combing operation in Andhra Pradesh are part of keeping this timeline.

“A sovereign state has an absolute monopoly over the use of violence within its territory. Hence, the state’s action against those who attempt to overthrow it is, at least theoretically, legitimised,” says Ajay Gudavarthy of JNU, who has edited a volume on Revolutionary Violence and Democracy. But the fundamental question, he argues, will persist: What will happen to the tribals? Will they continue to be displaced for mining and resource extraction?

“It is a paradox,” Gudavarthy notes, “that even as income inequality and economic distress have become more acute, the Maoist movement is suffering its harshest setbacks.” He argues that the core reason is the movement’s ideological rigidity and inability to adapt. He explains, “But despite all this, when there is a neoliberal consensus across the political spectrum — from the BJP to the mainstream Left — everyone pursues the same economic policies. Thus, the underlying issues remain unresolved, even if the state succeeds in defeating the Maoists."

Though there is consensus among those Outlook spoke to that no revolutionary movement can survive unless it resonates with the aspirations of the present day, some disagree on the reasons for this disconnect. Murali Kanamampalli, a Maoist ideologue who was previously arrested in Maharashtra, says it is his understanding that the Maoist movement did attempt to grasp changing circumstances across different regions and devise strategies accordingly. “But the repression unleashed was so brutal that no activity of any kind was allowed to thrive. Though the setback is severe, it is preposterous to say this is the end of the road for revolutionary politics in the country,” he says.

Some observers also question why the Maoists are not treated on par with other insurgent groups in the Northeast and elsewhere, particularly after they expressed a willingness to engage in talks. On this point, Prof. C. Kaseem of Osmania University, a member of the Revolutionary Writers Association, says the government should have shown greater responsibility and accepted the offer of peace talks. He adds, “It is another matter that the Maoists could not have survived without updating their strategies and programmes — they look obsolete in the present times.”

The Naxalite–Maoist movement is one of the longest-surviving insurgencies in the world. Redundant methods and outdated programmes may have hastened its decline. The larger issue is whether the state will work to resolve the deep socio-economic problems that fuelled the movement.