ABSTRACT
The protracted violent movement of the Maoists in India intending to capture political power to proclaim a new and different democracy merits an ethical evaluation. Contrary to the claims of the Maoists of fighting for justice for the marginalized section, the extent of violence they are involved in carrying out the movements needs ethical scrutiny. Accordingly, this question precedes a fundamental question on to what extent violence is justified to achieve the abovementioned objectives. In this regard, two dominant narratives offer explanations. The ‘Western Just War theory’ lays two principles: reasons for taking the place of any war/warfare and principles followed during the war/warfare, explaining the necessity of violence in a conflict. Secondly, the ‘Hindu War Theory’ permits unavoidable violence based on the conditions of a particular situation. Drawing upon these two theoretical frameworks critically evaluates the Maoist insurgency in India, including three different yet connected sections. The first section briefs on the conceptual framework highlighting the definition, features, origin, development, success, and failure of insurgency movements in general and Maoist insurgency in India in particular. The second part of the chapter highlights the aspects of war ethics of different traditions and their overlapping natures of rejecting and (or) justifying violence as a means for achieving an end. The third segment of the chapter critically analyses the Indian Maoist insurgency focusing on their strategy and objective with employing different moral standards discussed in the previous sections. This leads to the conclusion on the ethical standings of the movement.
