Over the years the terms Naxalism and Maoism have been indiscriminately interchanged and people do not seem to know the difference between the two movements. This confusion has a great deal to do with the fact that in India, Naxalism and Maoism are inherently the same thing. Although their ideologies do differ and their moment of inception is different, they have, over time, fused into a single movement.

Maoism

Maoism is a political theory developed around the 1950's and 60's. It is derived from the teachings of revolutionary Chinese leader Mao Zedong. It is often considered as an anti-revisionist form of Marxism-Leninism, and was widely applied as the political and military guiding ideology of the Communist Party of China and as a theory guiding revolutionary movements around the world.

Holding that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun", Maoist thought emphasises the revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the ruling classes and the state structure. Mao called this the People's War: Mobilising large parts of rural population to revolt against established institutions by engaging in guerrilla warfare.

In India, Maoism is represented through the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Much like traditional Maoist thought, the CPI (M) aims to overthrow the Indian government through peoples' war. It was founded through the merger of Communist Part of India (ML) and the Maoist Communist Centre India (MCCI). CPI (M) does not believe in power through parliamentary process, they believe in an armed over throw of the government and are therefore condemned by the Central government.

So what is the difference?

In short, there isn't much difference. Both movements believe the government should be overthrown, both believe the use of violence is necessary and both have used violence to exert their power.

The only real difference, is that one is born of a movement in a remote village in India, whereas the other is derived from academic thought of a great leader in China. Both want to over throw imperialist power structures and believe western influence in the form of free markets and capitalism should not exist in India. They fight for the poor, the landless and the under represented. However, the manner with which they do so has termed them terrorists and unlawful.

Former PM Manmoham Singh stated that Naxalites are the most serious internal threat to India's national security. There is no official number, but many sources claim there are over 40,000 rebels in India. The number of victims of Maoist insurgencies are also hard to pinpoint, however, government data shows nearly 8,000 people have died at their hands between 2001 and 2012. Maoists are currently most prominent in Eastern India, states like West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh are the most affected.

In short, the easiest way to understand Maoism and Naxalism is this - All Naxalites are Maoists, however, all Maoists are not Naxalites.

Source: thelondonpost.net