National Security Conversations

Dr. Happymon Jacob speaks with Niranjan Sahoo [Author of two books: Politics of Power Sector Reforms in India, Pentagon Press, 2007 and Reservation Policy and its Implementation across Domains in India: An Analytical Review, Academic Foundation, 2009] about Maoist Insurgency in India with reference to his recently published paper titled “Half a Century of India’s Maoist Insurgency: An Appraisal of State Response.” Mr. Sahoo provides a historical overview of the Naxalite movement and speaks about major course of events that posited it as the “single-biggest threat” to Indian State by the mid-2000s. He speaks about the Indian state’s counterinsurgency approach. Mr. Sahoo also addresses controversies regarding state-sponsored vigilante group Salwa-Judum (or Purification Hunt) and debate surrounding the so called “Urban Naxals".