The Maoist Insurgency in India

Between Crime and Revolution

Author(s): Prem Mahadevan
Journal Title: Small Wars & Insurgencies
Reviewed:  
Volume: 23
Issue: 2
Pages: 203-220
Publisher(s): Routledge
Publication Year: 2012

Since 2004, the Indian government has described the country's Maoist insurgency as a grave threat to domestic security. A study of the sustaining dynamics behind Maoist violence suggests that the rebels are growing operationally stronger due to profits derived from organized crime. Having built up a parasitic economy that operates within the boundaries of nominal state control, they are proceeding to undermine that same control. In effect, the Maoists have assumed characteristics of a Mafia group. With India's economic growth having surged in recent years, their ability to finance aggressive operations and consolidate their subversive infrastructure has increased correspondingly.

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