Opinion - News Analysis   

Changing tack to stay in the fray

K. Srinivas Reddy

THE NAXALITE leadership in Andhra Pradesh has ushered in strategic and tactical changes in the functioning of its cadre. It has shifted its local guerrilla squads (LGSs) deep into the forest and brought in three-member teams of armed cadres to function in the plains and the semi-forest areas. Two or more LGSs have been clubbed together with members of special guerrilla squads (SGS). These teams are to move together in platoon formations, mostly in the forests. Two- or three-member squads have been introduced to take up organisational activity in their place.

The one-plus-two (OPT) formations, as the Maoists call them, are practically invisible. Their members wear plain clothes and carry easily concealed small weapons. Cadres hailing from one district are `posted' to some other district to avoid detection.

The new strategy contrasts sharply with the movement of cadres in other naxal-affected States where LGSs continue to function. These squads consist of four to five armed cadres each. They are the most functional units as they are responsible for the organisational and military activities in the plains and in semi-forest areas.

The obvious reason for bringing about the change was that the LGS members were increasingly becoming easy police targets, since they were easily identifiable by their olive fatigues and weapons. While the forest terrain offered them protection, they were literally sitting ducks in the plains and the semi-forest areas.

In Andhra Pradesh, the police gunned down 145 naxalites this year in counter-extremist operations. Of these, 111 naxals belonged to the CPI (Maoist). Most of the killings took place in the plains or on the fringes of forest tracts, apparently when the naxalite teams were on the move. In Guntur recently, minutes after some naxalites shot dead a villager branding him an informant, a police team rushed to the spot and gunned down two of them.

With the police mounting pressure, LGSs were forced to accord top priority to self-defence while relegating "organisational responsibilities of uniting people on local issues" to the background. Maoists believe this lack of political activity led to a situation in which people became passive spectators.

Recruitment issues

An offshoot of the overemphasis on military activity is that the Maoists are unable to make fresh recruitments. Though the party appears to be satisfied with the level of recruitment, it is clear that it no longer attracts students and workers. Recruits from these segments are considered crucial because they can be moulded to become extremely able leaders. Students in Andhra Pradesh are now engrossed in pursuing careers. Similar is the case with workers. The all-powerful Singareni Karmika Samakhya (Sikasa), a labour union of coal miners floated by the erstwhile People's War, is no longer functional. Inflow into the naxalite fold is now mainly from among women and the peasantry.

Such a situation in North Telangana districts (which inspired the Nepal Maoist leaders) has caused extreme consternation to the naxalite leadership and forced it to bring about radical changes in its strategies and tactics. The central regional bureau (CRB), which provides a line of direction to the naxalite movement in Andhra Pradesh, is believed to have effected these changes.

The sudden disappearance of LGSs from the plains and the semi-forest areas baffled the police counter-assault teams, which work with the singular focus of tracking down naxalites. Before they could realise that a change had been effected, Maoists killed 166 people including 18 policemen this year.

The police believe that the grouping of the LGSs will embolden the naxalites to plan and execute bigger attacks on the security forces. There is an apprehension among the police in Andhra Pradesh that the Maoists could plan attacks similar to the strike in Jehanabad, using the combined strength of the LGSs, which are now moving together.

In addition, what is causing alarm is the increased trans-border movement of naxalites. Police suspect that the Maoists in Andhra Pradesh will try to mount attacks with the assistance of the cadres in neighbouring States.

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