The Maoists in India—Tribals Under Siege

Is the 21st century Che Guevara fighting in the forest belt of central India? In Tribals Under Siege, Nirmalangshu Mukherji delves into one of the most intractable but under-reported struggles in the global south – the battle between the Indian state and Maoist groups who control large swathes of the countryside.

Mukherji explains the devastating impact on India's tribal population of both neo-liberalism and armed aggression by the State, and the armed struggle launched by the Maoists. Unlike many accounts he takes an honest and unflinching look at the Maoists' interventions, sometimes criticizing their actions as well as the contradictions and fallacies made by Maoist theoreticians.

Tribals Under Siege goes beyond analyzing the Maoists purely in terms of security or military considerations. It focuses on the Maoists own political philosophy and looks critically at weather their political project can help to deliver real justice and liberation for India's rural poor.

Nirmalangshu Mukherji is Professor of Philosophy at Delhi University. He studies the structure of language as it relates to general properties of human mind, and he also writes on justice and human rights. His publications include The Primacy of Grammar (MIT Press 2010) and December 13: Terror over Democracy (Bibliophile SouthAsia 2005).