According to the rules of India’s caste system, Untouchables (Dalits) are forbidden to wear shoes, carry umbrellas, ride bicycles, or hold their heads up in the street. Their very presence is considered corrupting; a Brahmin touched by an Untouchable’s shadow must purify himself. Caste discrimination has been illegal in India since Independence; President Shri K. R. Narayanan comes from what Gandhi called the “People of God” and what the Indian government now calls the “Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.” Nevertheless, deep inequalities still exist in Indian society, and Dalits are regularly harassed, beaten, sexually abused, and murdered by the police and by higher castes who enjoy government protection. About two-thirds of India’s Dalits are illiterate; over half work as landless agricultural laborers. Many Dalits have converted from Hinduism (unsurprisingly), only to discover that shedding one’s caste is not so simple. Caste distinctions persist even among Christians, Moslems, Buddhists and Jains, as converts separate into “high caste” and “low caste” congregations. Even India’s various communist parties are controlled largely by educated Brahmins.

The Naxalbari Maoists, in contrast, actively seek out the Dalits and landless laborers. They greet each other with handshakes – an incredibly powerful gesture to a person taught since birth that his touch will befoul a holy person – and call each other “Comrade.” The Naxalites also provide some defense against corrupt police and against rampaging private militias funded by rich landlords. Alas, they also have no use for parliamentary elections and indeed advise (some say force) people in their “guerrilla zones” to abstain from voting in India’s elections.

Marx considered religion the opiate of the masses; the Naxalites are more pragmatic. They have frequently cooperated with Moslem leaders in regions under their control, and it is even alleged by some that they receive support from Pakistan’s ISI, the intelligence service which funded the Taliban. Joint Moslem/Maoist operations could prove to be enormously costly to the Indian government, which is already fighting separatist movements in several of its provinces. Already there is considerable commerce (including trade in weapons) between the Nepali and Indian Maoists. Should the Maoists seize power in Nepal, this support would only increase. Combined with Pakistani and Chinese support for Islamic terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, this could throw India into a full-blown civil war.

Mao believed the revolution would require protracted war in the countryside; the Naxalites have been fighting for over thirty years now. They continue to be a threat in large parts of India, despite regular proclamations from the Indian government that Naxalite membership is declining. The two major Naxalite political parties – the Maoist Communist Centre and the People’s War Group – have a history of animosity, squabbling, and interparty violence. Should they put aside their differences and unite, they will become an even greater threat than they are at present.