In maoist land: A story of deprivation and victimisation

It was half past eight in the morning when we landed at Laxmipur, a small town in the Koraput district of south Odisha. Laxmipur is about 22 km from Narayanpatna, home to one of India's fierce tribal movements led by the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh (CMAS).

On the way we passed two Border Security Force (BSF) camps–one at Palur between Laxmipur and Narayanpatna, and the other at Podapadar, the striking ground of the CMAS in 2009. Our guide, Anil Subudhi, a local journalist told us that the BSF personnel stationed at Podapadar would verify our identity and purpose of visit. They might even deny us entry into the forest, which was considered the seat of the conflict between the tribal and non-tribal communities, between the armed forces of the state and left-wing extremists.

Maoist hostage crisis in India: government indifference makes Maoists give up on mediation

Mediation has been successful at bringing down levels of violence and bringing popular welfare and social justice demands onto the political agenda. These gains are  under threat as the government fails to take the process seriously.
Banned since 2009 as a terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) armed cadres now have a presence in more than half of India’s 29 States. Maoists have adopted the tactics of abduction of civil servants and lawmakers since the 1980s. In the last 15 months, Maoists have made three abductions in Odisha and one in Chhattisgarh. However, while the earlier abductions were aimed at a prisoner swap, the recent abductions have raised the possibility of establishing peace by minimising violence and establishing dialogue.