The Archives

Black Economy, Economic Effects, Environment, Naxalite
Enabling Extortion
04.29.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

I have long argued that the fundamental focus of the Naxals has evolved from a goal of some sort of glorious revolution whereupon cadres march into Delhi, and have instead focused on eroding state governance via underpinning a bazaar of violence, smuggling, and decentralized development. In short, they’ve enabled other people to undertake ‘black economy‘ [...]

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Indicators
Mainstream Naxal Movie
04.29.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

Mani Ratnam, one of my my favorite directors (Dil Se did an amazing job tackling Kashmiri terrorism dynamics), is tackling Naxalism in his upcoming Raavan (a retelling of the epic Ramayan and Naxal leader Kobad Ghandy’s life story). Comes out June 18. Bookmark It

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Indicators, Infrastructure Systems
Indicator: Electricity Waste
04.28.10 | Permalink | Comment?

A full one third of India’s electricity is wasted due to inefficiencies in the grid and illegal tapping.(Private source.) Bookmark It

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Indicators, Railways
Indicator: Railway Systems Disruption 2009
04.27.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

“We have lost Rs 500 crore because of Naxal bandhs and obstructions,” she said adding incidents of attacks by Naxals nearly doubled to 58 in 2009 from 30 in the previous year. 56 incidents were reported in 2007, she said. Click here for more on railway systems disruption. Bookmark It

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Book
Welcome New Readers!
04.27.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Quick introduction for new readers. This weblog is based on the research I conducted in India in 2007. On the left side, you can read my longer articles, which are supplemented by a couple hundred posts on this blog. My work here has been gaining traction in the press and government, military, corporate circles, slowly [...]

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Governance, Naxalite
Land Rights: An Enforcement Problem
04.21.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Barun Mitra has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, claiming that giving land/land rights to the adivasis will result in a loss of credibility and thus support on the part of the Naxals. Unfortunately, this does not address the core problem – the ability to govern in any sense in the areas where [...]

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Book, Resiliency
Gram Swaraj
04.20.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Tushar Gandhi eloquently takes India’s current development strategy India has been a independent democracy for more than sixty years and in that period, successive governments have successfully created two very different nations, a minority one in its developed, parasitic, affluent urban areas and the other deprived, undeveloped, poverty stricken and criminally exploited in its villages, [...]

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Indicators
Indicators: Incident and Casualty Statistics
04.10.10 | Permalink | 2 Comments

For what it’s worth, here are some numbers. SECURITY INCIDENTS: CASUALTIES: Bookmark It

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Security Establishment
Indian COIN
04.09.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Colonel Anil Athale, a retired infantry officer, outlines a plan to take down the Naxals. If adopted, this will be extremely messy, and will likely not garner the results Athale is looking for. He outlines: Project force to deter Naxal activism. Decapitation by elite units. Massive deployment of Army troops. Continue displacement to cleanse the [...]

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Naxalite, Retaliation, Security Establishment
Terrain Dominance
04.06.10 | Permalink | 7 Comments

Highly publicized attack on CRPF forces. According to one of only eight survivors from an 80 man unit: It was a mistake to have some jawans take the anti-landmine vehicle. “That vehicle was in front. We were walking behind it. Suddenly there was a blast and the vehicle went up in the air. All the [...]

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