SUMMARY
The Communist Party of India – Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has carried out one-sided violence in the context of the intrastate conflict it is waging against the Government of India. The group views the armed struggle as a fight against an oppressive and imperialist state whose foundations must be crushed in order to clear the path to the establishment of a “people’s government”. In this context the group has used violence not only against security forces and police, but also against parts of the civilian establishment that it deems to be hostile towards the movement.
All of the one-sided violence carried out by the group cannot be placed in targeting categories, but several patterns are possible to discern. Firstly, CPI-Maoist is known to target civilians it believes to be police informers or government “collaborators”. This category ranges from former cadres that have surrendered to the government, to people accused of assisting the police in counterinsurgency activities.
Secondly, the group targets low-level “representatives” of the government, killing people such as village elders, members of anti-communist groups, relatives of representatives, and people that in general are thought to be supportive of the government and not the Maoists. A prominent sub-category has been the targeting of civilians affiliated with the Salwa Judum (Peace March) organization, an organized anti-Naxalite movement with government support.
Thirdly, the group targets and kills activists and supporters of rivaling political parties. Candidates, activists, and election workers are routinely murdered in the CPI-Maoist's campaign against the Indian parliamentary system. Congress Party, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Communist Party of India–Marxist activists have all been targeted.
Victims in the abovementioned categories are usually branded as being ‘class traitors’ and enemies of the struggle, which (according to CPI-Maoist) warrants that they be targeted.
CPI-Maoist has used a wide variety of tactics when targeting civilians. Large-scale raids with hundreds of rebels against villages, kidnappings, and executions, the planting of land mines and summary executions have all been used to target and kill civilians. Large-scale massacres as well as targeted assassinations have both taken place.
In terms of geography the CPI-Maoist's one-sided violence is spread over a relatively large area, but mainly found in those states of India where the group is trying to expand its area of influence. The worst affected areas are the states of Bihar, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Orissa. A lower level of activity has also been registered in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh states.
CPI-Maoist first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2005, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. Its two main constituent parts, the MCC (Maoist Communist Centre) and the PWG (People’s War Group) have been recorded as one-sided actors before 2005. On 12 September 2005 approximately 200 cadres surrounded and attacked a village in the Bhelwaghati area in Jharkand state, killing some 15 civilians they accused of aiding and abetting the government’s counterinsurgency. These deaths pushed the cumulative toll above the 25 civilian deaths threshold.
