ABSTRACT

The Naxalite Movement(s) in India, broadly referred to as left wing extremism (LWE) in the official lexicon, has had pre-occupied the domain of developmental-governance discourse in the Adivasi populated eastern and central parts of the country. The principal state agency tasked with internal security, the Ministry of Home Affairs, has squarely put the blame on Naxalites for any underdevelopment and lack of governance in the LWE-affected areas. On the other hand, several scholars have questioned such discursive constructs, that of a terror-wielding Naxalite and a victimised-impoverished Adivasi, which would pave the way for ‘counter’ insurgency operations in the region. These scholars, instead, blame the state functioning and functionaries for having caused profound grievances amongst the Adivasis, from which Naxalite is only a manifestation. In this chapter, building up on the works of scholars like Alpa Shah, Uday Chandra, and Siddharth Sareen, amongst others, I go beyond these projected oppositional entities to explore the fluidity between the Adivasis, Naxalites, and the state, and how these fluid interactions have shaped the processes of development and governance in the Adivasi populated areas of Eastern and Central India. The chapter raises important questions on the traditional understanding of development and governance as a government-related monopolistic project, and rather argues for conceptualising them as a complex set of doings within the frame of ‘public authority’ and ‘twilight institutions,’ as proposed by Christian Lund. The chapter is built upon secondary sources and draws some inputs from my fieldwork in Jharkhand.