Why Maoist-hit Gumla of Jharkhand is thankful for demonetisation

GUMLA: On the highway lined with sal trees in the southern part of the Chota Nagpur plateau, five years ago, no vehicle would ply after 4pm. Passing through the most affected district in the “red corridor” of the state was risky business.

As the government expedited road-building projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Road Requirement Plan (RRP) in left-wing extremism (LWE) affected areas in Jharkhand, extortion from contractors and transporters working in road construction, bauxite mining and stone quarries became a major source of income for Maoists.

In one such case of extortion in 2013, Shahabuddin, a road construction contractor, was killed along with his friend by People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), an extension of CPI (Maoists).

PLFI left behind a pamphlet to claim responsibility for the killings in Kolibera in Simdega, but the jolt was felt as much in Gumla which has for years, borne the brunt of Maoist violence.

“Such incidents had caused such a scare that after 4pm, nobody would be seen driving through this highway. But along with aggressive counter-insurgency operations, demonetisation broke the back of Maoists in this region,” claims a driver who works with a Ranchi-based cab agency. Now that a majority of them have been wiped out, extortion has also stopped, he adds, arguing that this is why no one cribs about demonetisation in the area.

Radha, whose husband Sohan Kisan was killed by Maoists in Raidhi Parkhand in 2003, also claims that demonetisation cut off funds for Maoists. “We heard that they dumped their notes in the caves in the jungle because they couldn’t get it back to the villages and deposit it in banks. Their currency was of no use,” says Radha.

A grade IV employee at a local government office, Radha is raising her two children in Gumla town. Interestingly, soon after demonetisation, a huge number of Maoists surrendered and currency was seized from them in all states affected by Naxal violence. Data shows that in Gumla district, incidents of killings in extremist violence came down from 16 in 2013 to only 1 in 2018. Overall, in Jharkhand, it came down from 55 in 2013 to 30 in 2018.

A middle-aged woman running a dhaba in Basia says peace in the area has been one of the biggest accomplishments of the Modi government. Gumla is part of the Lohardaga parliamentary constituency which will go to polls on April 29.