Thread by @kochattil

I grew up in #OsmaniaUniversity from my school level onwards. I have seen how PDSU and RSU, student union fronts for naxal groups going about brainwashing students, some of whom were brilliant engineers. #Marx & #Mao were bandied about as the best things that happened to mankind.

Many of these students were indoctrinated into what was then called CPI (ML) People's War Group led by Kondapalli Seetharamaiah. The heady romance of gun and revolution was an abyss into which these unfortunate souls were sucked into. It was a point of no return for many of them.

OU, Kakatiya University and REC Warangal were perfect recruiting grunds for naxal outfits. Many students who came from poor families had witnessed how the rich zamindars had subjected their parents to humiliation. That was the sales pitch which the naxal recruiters worked on.

I was often asked why Naxalism took root in erstwhile Hyderabad State, not in Kerala, which had the first democratically elected Communist government in the world. Guess, it had to do with unequal distribution of wealth - used as hook to get young foot soldiers for Naxal outfits

Naxal outfits preached class annihilation theory to achieve equality in society. The young men and women were regularly subject to accepting that power flows from the barrel of the gun. Politicians and police in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh faced the bullets on a regular basis.

Setting of up of Greyhounds, an elite anti naxal force by AP Police was the turning point in the war against naxals in the then undivided state. Funded with copious amounts of money, they built a network of informers, human intelligence & professional training. The tide turned.

The churn among the old guard saw, Muppala Lakshmana Rao, known by his nom de guerre Ganapathy taking over from Seetharamaiah in a bloodless coup. Naxals became more bold and succeeded in killing senior IPS officers including KS Vyas and Umesh Chandra in the heart of Hyderabad.

Killing of senior police officers prodded Greyhounds to go all out after naxal outfits in Nallamala Forest Range that spans 7 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Encounters were common and no questions were asked. Soon, naxal presence in that area was reduced to almost zero.

The naxals were offered an olive branch by then AP CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. Talks were held with senior leadership including Ramakrishna in Hyderabad, but no middle ground was found. In a way, that was a huge mistake by YSR. The ceasefire allowed Naxal outfits to regroup, again.

Window of opportunity given by YSR allowed Naxal groups to build on red corridor from Nepal to Andhra Orrisa border. Gadricholi in Maharashtra, Bastar in MP, Sukma in Chattisgarh were no go areas. Formation of @bhupeshbaghel govt in Chattisgarh provided impetus to Naxal groups.

Congress which had won elections in Chattisgarh thanks to naxal support, soon eased pressure on Naxals. @INCIndia which had lost its top MP leadership in naxal ambush, did not learn any lessons. This mollycoddling, resulted in the killing of 22 of our security forces at #Bijapur.