Communist rebels gain strength in rural India

JAGDALPUR, India — All over the countryside in central India, red monuments topped with hammer and sickle symbols announce that this is Maoist land. And these days, nobody could forget it.

A string of recent attacks by communist rebels points to the comeback of an extreme leftist movement inspired by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong and long seen as outdated. In response, the Indian government has announced plans to deploy more than 70,000 paramilitary and police forces, in a spring offensive that activists criticize as too little, too late.

The communists are tapping into a deep dissatisfaction over the widening gap between rich and poor, particularly in the rural areas where most people live. As breakneck development pushes parts of India far ahead of others, the richest states now have incomes five times higher than the poorest states, according to the World Bank.

“There is frustration and since there is frustration and poverty, many people join the Maoists,” said tea house owner Alok Sood, sitting cross-legged on a wooden bench as customers drank sweet tea and coffee.

Sood, a 36-year-old father of two, broke down in tears as he remembered a market attack by the rebels that forced him to close his former store last year. He spent months struggling to eke out a living selling firecrackers and doing odd jobs before a local politician helped him open his roadside cafe.

Communist rebels have ambushed police, destroyed schools and abducted government officials. They blew up a key train track in Jharkand state on Nov. 19. In October, they commandeered a New Delhi-bound express train in West Bengal for several hours and ambushed a police patrol elsewhere, killing at least 17 troops.

Source:
Communist rebels gain strength in rural India
google.com