ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses various measures the state took to punish the offenders, and examines government efforts to retain its legitimacy in the face of numerous charges that it had abused its authority during the armed struggle. It explores the "re-grouped villages" established by the government in the Agency area; tribals were moved into these villages to keep them "safe" from the Naxalites, and to make the guerrilla war against the Naxalites easier for the police to fight. Beginning in 1969, the government of Andhra Pradesh was questioned about the legality of its anti-Naxalite operations in Srikakulam and, later, other parts of Andhra Pradesh. In 1969, the Government of Andhra Pradesh began a program in which girijans from villages in the hills were brought, "not without pressure," to government-established villages in the plains. The regrouped villages while allegedly established for developmental purposes, were plainly initiated and maintained for the purpose of suppressing the Naxalites.
