Guerrilla war zones in South

M P Prashanth

KOZHIKODE: The CPI (Maoist), an organisation banned by the Centre recently, has decided to set up new ‘guerrilla zones’ in South India with areas coming under Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.The Maoists have drawn up a detailed plan to convert the area into a special zonal committee along the lines of the Dandakaranya and Andhra-Orissa Border (AOB) guerrilla zones within two years.The move is seen as a part of the Maoists’ strategy to open new war fronts in the wake of reports that the Centre is getting ready for an all out offensive on the Naxalite strongholds like Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists want to divert the attention of the security forces by creating new hotspots of violence in other parts of the country.Wayanad and some parts in Kannur district; Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Kodagu in Karnataka and the areas in Tamil Nadu bordering Kerala and Karnataka will come under the proposed zone. The Western Ghats has been a strategic point for the Maoists for a long time. The documents of the CPI(ML) (People’s War), which later merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI) to become the CPI (Maoist), reveal that the decision to create a guerrilla zone in these areas had been pending for a long time.

The Maoist movement in Kerala has a low profile compared to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where the guerrillas often engage the security forces. But the merger of Wayanad with the Malnad area in Karnataka will change the tone and tenor of the movement in Kerala.Maoists in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu formed ‘dalams’ or armed squads years ago. Karnataka has four divisional committees – Bangalore, Malnad, Shimoga and South Karnataka.Tunga-Bhadra and Karavelli- Orai are the two area committees under the Malnad divisional committee. Besides, there are four dalams under the committee – Tunga dalam, Bhadra dalam, Karavelli dalam and Orai dalam.Salem and Dharmapuri are the two divisional committees of the CPI (Maoist) in Tamil Nadu.D Kuppu Raj alias Ramesh alias Jogesh, a central committee member from Andhra Pradesh, is the coordinator of the party activities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The character of the movement will undergo significant changes when the Maoists move on from the ‘organisation stage’ to the ‘guerrilla stage’. If the Maoists’ plan is put into practice, squads of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA)- the armed squad of the ultras – will be formed in Kerala too.The Dandakaranya and AOB Special Zones of the Maoists are in the process of getting transformed from the guerrilla stage to the ‘mobile war’ stage. While the rebels resort to the ‘hit and run’ method in the guerrilla stage, they will be in a position to call the shots in the mobile war stage. But the Maoists suffered a huge set back in the North Telengana guerrilla zone in Andhra when they were forced to retreat by the police.