The Centre on Wednesday said several Maoist frontal organisations and their sympathisers had been supporting the Maruti Suzuki workers’ agitation and had even organised demonstrations aimed at influencing labour unions and workers in Delhi and its adjoining industrial belts.
“A number of ‘front organisations’ of the banned CPI-Maoist as well as organisations sympathetic to the outfit like Mehnatkash Mazdoor Morcha, Democratic Students Union, People’s Democratic Front of India and Committee for Release of Political Prisoners have organised demonstrations/agitations supporting the cause of the workers of the Maruti factory. Their objective is essentially to exploit the situation to gain a foothold among the working class in the National Capital region (NCR),” Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
The Minister, however, said there was no intelligence input to suggest that the violence in the Maruti factory was instigated by Naxals. Notably, the brutal killing of a Maruti Suzuki top executive and the attack on other managers by agitating workers at its Manesar plant prompted the Ministry of Home Affairs to ask the Haryana police and intelligence agencies to probe into the possibility of Maoists’ hand in the entire agitation.
“The Maoists have a plan of action which integrates their activities into a pan-India framework. However, till now, they have failed to make any significant headway in the urban areas of India primarily on account of the revulsion of the urban population towards mindless violence and atrocities perpetrated by the Maoists in their strongholds in central India,” Mr. Singh added.
New strategies
Meanwhile, in reply to another question, the Minister said Maoists had adopted new strategies, which include using women and children as human-shields during exchange of fire with security forces. They were “using terrorist tactics like kidnappings to get their cadres released and are attempting to link-up with northeast insurgent outfits for supply of arms and ammunition,” he noted.
Naxals are increasingly using area weapons such as mortars, Molotov cocktails through country-made launchers, and better communication equipment smuggled from abroad. They are also deploying small “action-teams” for select assassinations and jan militia members for IED-based warfare, raising funds by encouraging opium/ganja cultivation, resorting to brutality like beheading while killing police informers and “class-enemies,” Mr. Singh added.
