Social Exclusion of Ethnic Groups and Extremist Violence: A Study in Junglemahal, West Bengal

Abstract

Ethnic groups living across theso-called red corridor in India mostly belong to the tribal category. These tribal groups can be distinguished from others by bio-social attributes like extreme poverty and malnutrition, lack of healthcare facilities, marriage at early age and its resultant effects, and a high rate of illiteracy. Since the pre-colonial era, these ethnic groups have been experiencing politicoeconomic exclusion from mainstream Indian social system. The development inputs of various schemes initiated by the Indian nation-state hardly reach the tribal people in the region. The parliamentary representatives from such region are usually chosen from among the ‘outsiders’ or from the insiders who can easily be controlled by the ‘outsiders’. As a result, the needs and aspirations of the ethnic groups living in the red corridor are practically ignored. This results in their alienation and exclusion from the Indian politico-economic system. Under such a situation, these people become vulnerable to violent extremist activities that are directed against sovereignty of the state. The present paper demonstrates how Maoist activists and other subversive forces are exploiting the situation of social exclusion to their advantage and have fairly been successful in undermining internal security of the country. I argue that the greater the extent of social exclusion of the ethnic groups living in a region, the higher is the degree of their chance of engaging with extremist activities. It also appears that the stronger the ethnic elements of the engaging ethnic groups more will be the possibility of their detachment from the subversive activities as found in the Junglemahal area of West Bengal.