ABSTRACT

Maoism is the latest incarnation of ultra-Left extremism in Orissa. It had its organic roots in the past movements that drew on Marxism-Leninism and Mao’s socio-political ideas. Given its geographical spread in the red corridor, it would be incorrect to describe Maoism as a region-specific movement though there are some specific socio-political agenda that are only meaningful to Orissa. In other words, since Maoism has attracted a large number of tribals in Orissa, the Maoist leadership cannot avoid tribal-specific issues to sustain and expand the organization. Unlike its counterparts elsewhere in India, the Orissa Maoists have played significant roles in redefining Maoism by reference to the peculiar socio-political milieu of Orissa and its vicinity. By contextualizing Marxism not only have the Orissa Maoists indigenized the ideology they have also sought to ‘universalize’ its role as ‘a liberating ideology’ for ‘the wretched of the earth’. In this sense, a critical study of Maoism in Orissa is also a useful theoretical exercise by challenging that Marxism is not merely a derivative discourse since it is being constantly reinterpreted and redesigned contextually. Hence, it is not surprising that a grass-roots response always remains critical to the leadership while seeking to understand the reality that may not conform to the conventional copybook description. Two critical points have therefore emerged: (a) Maoism in Orissa is a historical phenomenon drawing its ideological roots from a variety of ultra-Left extremist movements of the past; and (b) despite being rooted in Orissa, Maoists are inspired primarily by the Maoist variety of Marxism, which was not merely a meaningful analytical device to understand a transitional society, but also articulates a powerful ideological voice for radical socio-economic and political transformation.