particularly in the twin districts of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. Apart from various claims made by politicians, perhaps the most significant claim was made by the Union Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh during his maiden visit to the area in September,2012 when the union minister, while expressing serious concern over the growth of LWE in upper Assam, stated that of the 86 Gaon Panchayats in Tinsukia district, 60 have already come under some sort of influence of Maoists, while in adjacent Dibrugarh district of the 94 GPs, 43 are under the influence of the Maoists. The minister also stated that in order to ensure that the Maoists are not able to further consolidate their presence in the two districts, the Centre is considering a proposal to declare the twin districts Maoist hit districts. Ramesh also stated that in order to expedite developmental activities in the region the Centre has also decided to provide some relaxation in criteria for implementation of centrally sponsored projects like the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yogjna (PMGSY). According to the norms of PMGSY, it is mandatory to have a population of 500 plus for construction of 1 km road under the scheme. However, since the population pattern in the area and North East as a whole is sparse, the Centre had decided that the population figure be brought down to 250 as a special consideration for the region.

One more important politician in the region who has been seen oft repeating the case of the spread of LWE in the region is Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. The Assam Chief Minister had many a times spoken up in public that LWE is spreading fast in upper Assam and the tea gardens, primarily those which are not doing well have become breeding grounds for expansion of the LWE network. Gogoi’s submission can be understood to be what he has received as feedback from his bureaucrats and senior intelligence and police officials of the State. Since Gogoi also holds the home portfolio, it is obvious that he too will be concerned about another outfit raising its head when the vexed ULFA problem is far from settled. Supplementing, Gogoi’s observations, a significant tea tribe leader of upper Assam Etuwa Munda, who is also the MLA from Tingkhong legislative assembly constituency in Dibrugarh district also held a total lack of concern from the successive Governments in New Delhi and Dispur responsible for underdevelopment across the tea belt in Assam. Even though he is a Congress MLA, Munda openly criticized some of the Congress ministers and Government departments for their neglect towards implementation of Government schemes in the tea gardens and its adjoining areas. He also attributed the reason for the growth of LWE in upper Assam to the apathetic attitude of the ruling Congress party.

After these observations and with the addition of admissions being made by senior officials of security forces and intelligence officials from time to time, one has to believe that there is some sort of Maoist’s related activity going on in upper Assam. Formation of platforms like the Upper Assam Leading Committee, Communist Party of India (Maoist), and reports of extortion notes being served to people and a few armed activities by the Maoists had further bolstered the claim of the State Government of a rapid expansion of the LWE network in upper Assam. Daredevil acts like snatching of weapons from on duty policemen at Rajgarh in Dibrugarh district by sprinkling chilli powder into the eyes of the policemen and overpowering of forest guards and snatching their weapons from Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Tinsukia district in the recent past have been two major armed activities of the Maoists in upper Assam. On the contrary, the gunning down of four Maoist cadres including the local area commander by the police in Sadiya sub division in Tinsukia district on the 9th of May, 2012 and the subsequent unearthing of a consignment of arms from Sadiya itself had been the two major jolts for the Maoists in upper Assam. The seized arms include rocket launchers, which is only a pointer that like in the other Naxal hit States, Maoists would have used these rocket launchers to target either convoys of security forces or important people in the Government in future.

“These are dangerous trends. People will have to understand, that Maoists activities are not like those of ULFA’s. Maoists prefer to lie low and mostly are associated with the people; they prepare their ground network very strongly before the start of armed action. The Sadiya episode had been a major setback for them and this is why, military wise they have gone on the back foot and have now solely focused on strengthening their political front,” Jayanto Narayan Choudhury, Assam Director General of Police said before this correspondent. “They (Maoists) are trying for mass mobilization now after the setback. They are trying to plant their ideology in the villages where there is no development or very little development. Moreover, there are some organisations which have links with Maoists and are working at their behest,” the DGP said.  The DGP also said that there are some reports that the Maoists are having some arrangement for military training of their cadre with the Naga militant outfit – the NSCN (IM) and that the matter is being properly investigated. Moreover, in Assam, outfits like Assam Students Youth Organisation (ASYO) and the Akhil Gogoi led Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS) have been under the scanner of the Government for being allegedly ‘pro-Maoist’ in their ideology.

With the addition of admissions being made by senior officials of security forces and intelligence officials from time to time, one has to believe that there is some sort of Maoist’s related activity going on in upper Assam.

Aditya Bora, a former functionary of ASYO, has been identified as the main person behind the expansion of LWE in upper Assam. Infact, Bora, an original resident of Rajgarh area in Dibrugarh district was arrested by the security forces from a Naxal hideout in Orissa along with two of his associates. However, Bora went into hiding once again as soon as he was granted bail and is now listed as the topmost Maoist cadre in upper Assam. The Assam Government, taking heed of the seriousness of the problem, has decided to go ahead with a dual policy of offering ‘an iron fist with a velvet globe’. On one side it has decided to go for rapid and large scale development in the Maoist belt and on the other hand, the State Government has decided to launch special and pinpoint operations with help from the specifically trained elite Combat Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA) force, which is specially trained to take on the LWE. The force is raised by the Centre from the CRPF and at present one battalion strength of the COBRA force has been sanctioned to deal with the growth of LWE in Assam and the North East region. The Tarun Gogoi led Government had also formed a three member anti Maoist Task Force of the Assam Police to formulate effective strategies to deal with the growth of LWE. The Task Force had also held interactions with atleast 15 families of Maoist cadres during a meeting organised at the Superintendent of Police (SP) office in Tinsukia. “The main objective of the meeting was to collect more and more inputs on the root cause of why these youth have leaned towards left wing extremism which is completely new to the State. We have been able to collect a lot of inputs from the discussions with the families which will help us in formulating strategies to tackle the ever emerging problem of red terror in the State,” an official present in the meeting said on condition of strict anonymity.

Among the family members whom the members of the anti Maoists Task Force met was the family of top Maoist leader Aditya Bora who hails from Rajgarh area in Dibrugarh district. Although, most of the families expressed their ignorance as to why their wards have left them and taken the path of terror, some of them said that since there was no development in their area their children had fallen prey to Maoist elements.”Frustration for not being able to achieve anything for several years despite having talent, deprivation due to corruption in the Government and other public and private offices, total lack of developmental activities in the interior areas have come up as some of the reasons cited by the families for the growth of left wing extremism in the region,” the official added.

An in depth analytical study carried out by this correspondent after visiting some of the Maoist affected areas and after holding interactions with family members of those who have left their homes to join LWE only corroborated some of the facts which the Government and its agencies are revealing. In fact, the situation is grimmer than the Government can imagine. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the Government to ensure that its welfare schemes reach the beneficiaries and developmental activities are carried out in letter and spirit, otherwise, the Government will only have itself to blame if the situation spins out of control in the future.

Ripunjoy Das