The Architecture of Counterinsurgency: Crafting a Blueprint for India’s Left-Wing Extremism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Jairus Banaji, ‘The ironies of Indian Maoism’, International Socialism 2 (128), Autumn 2010, at https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj2/2010/isj2–128/banaji.html (Accessed 22 June 2023).

2. ”Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) all its formations and front organizations”, at Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) all its formations and front organizations Terrorist Group, India (satp.org) (Accessed 26 June 2023).

3. ”Maoist Insurgency: Assessment- 2023”, at https://www.satp.org/terrorism-assessment/india-maoistinsurgency (Accessed 26 June 2023); “Frequently Asked Questions”, at https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/2023–04/FAQs_LWE_27042023.pdf (Accessed 26 June 2023).

4. Uddipan Mukherjee, ‘IEDs and the Maoist Insurgency’, MP-IDSA Comment, 7 May 2019, at https://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/ieds-and-maoist-insurgency-umukherjee −070,519 (Accessed 22 June 2023).

5. M. P. Nathanael, ‘Maoist Attack in Chhattisgarh: Security forces operating in left-wing-extremism affected areas must not lower the guard’, The Indian Express, 28 April 2023, at https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/maoist-attack-dantewada-chhattisgarh −8,579,624/ (Accessed 22 June 2023).

6. Mr Kantesh Mishra, an Indian Police Service officer of 2015 batch, was the Superintendent of Police of Aurangabad district in India’s eastern state of Bihar, from July 2021 to January 2023. The author visited Aurangabad district in October 2022 to obtain primary field data on LWE. The data and information put forth in this Essay pertaining to the district of Aurangabad is an outcome of the interview of Mr Mishra conducted by the author as well as his interaction with Mr Mishra since then.

7. D. Kilcullen, “Counterinsurgency: the state of a controversial art”, in Paul B. Rich and Isabelle Duyvesteyn (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, 2012, pp. 128–153.

8. D. Galula, “Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice”, 1964, at Galula David—Counterinsurgency Warfare.pdf (indianstrategicknowledgeonline.com) (Accessed 26 June 2023).

9. G. Packer, “Reading the McChrystal Report”, The New Yorker, 23 September 2009, at https://www.newyorker.com/news/george-packer/reading-the-mcchrystal-report, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

10. U. Mukherjee, “The McChrystal Report and India”, IPCS, Article 2978, 6 October 2009, at http://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo = 2978, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

11. D.W Yi, “Counterinsurgency Force Ratios: An Investigation into Military Logic”, School of Advanced Military Studies, US Army Command and General Staff College, 2018, at https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1071542.pdf, at (Accessed 26 June 2023).

12. S.K. Baruah, “Boxed inside Kashmir Valley with 1:30 security-civilian ratio”, Moneycontrol, 7 August 2019, at https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/boxed-inside-kashmir-valley-with-130-security-civilian-ratio−4,303,011html, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

13. D. Byman, “Talking with Insurgents: A Guide for the Perplexed”, The Washington Quarterly, April 2009, pp. 125–137.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. A.E. Stahl and W.F. Owen, “Targeted Killings Work”, Infinity Journal, (1), Winter 2010, pp. 10–13.

17. Ibid.

18. Jairus Banaji, no. 1.

19. U. Mukherjee, “No Need to Talk: Answering the Maoist Question”, Faultlines, 22, July 2018, pp. 41–62.

20. ”Government sets up teams to choke Naxal funding”, ET Bureau, 11 July 2018, at https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/govt-sets-up-teams-to-choke-naxal-funding/articleshow/64072449.cms?from=mdr, (Accessed 26 June, 2023).

21. ”Guidelines for surrender-cum-rehabilitation of naxalites in the naxal affected States”, MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs), 27 August 2009, at https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/surrrenderPolAendments070909_0.pdf, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

22. A. Hills, “Insurgency, counterinsurgency and policing”, in Paul B. Rich and Isabelle Duyvesteyn (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, 2012, pp. 98–108.

23. C.C. Fair and S. Ganguly, Policing Insurgencies, Cops as Counterinsurgents, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2014, p. 1.

24. S. M. D’Souza, “Countering the Naxalites: Is there a need to ‘bring in’ the Army?”, Journal of Defence Studies, 3 (3), July 2009, pp. 125–132.

25. K. Kumar, Police and Counterinsurgency: The Untold Story of Tripura’s COIN Campaign, Sage, New Delhi, 2016, p. 183.

26. A.S. Hashim, When Counterinsurgency Wins, Sri Lanka’s Defeat of the Tamil Tigers, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2013, pp. 185–189.

27. K. Kumar, no. 25, pp. 190–203.

28. ”Steady decline in casualties in Naxal attacks”, PIB, New Delhi, 17 July 2019, at https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID = 1579194, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

29. Vikash Sharma, “Maoists using drone to track movement of jawans, security forces”, Odisha TV, at https://odishatv.in/news/odisha/maoists-using-drone-to-track-movement-of-jawans-security-forces−206,710, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

30. A.S. Hashim, no. 26, p. 133.

31. ”Tribes Advisory Councils (TAC) have been constituted in all the ten states having Scheduled Areas”, PIB, 6 December 2021, at https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID = 1778540, (Accessed 26 June 2023).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Uddipan Mukherjee

Dr. Uddipan Mukherjee is an IOFS officer in the rank of Director to the Government of India. Presently, he is on deemed deputation at the Gun & Shell Factory, Kolkata, under AWEIL, Ministry of Defence.