The Architecture of Counterinsurgency: Crafting a Blueprint for India’s Left-Wing Extremism

Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) in India has had its share of crests and troughs.Footnote1 The movement saw a renewed upward trajectory from 2004 when two major insurgent groups united under a single banner of the Maoist party.Footnote2 In the last decade or so, the insurgency has exhibited a declining trend.Footnote3 26 April 2023 however was an eventful date in so far as LWE in India was concerned. Nonetheless, the event was perhaps no surprise considering the ever predictable and standard modus operandi implemented by India’s Maoist extremists.Footnote4 On 26 April, ten police officials and a driver were assassinated in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, as the Maoists ambushed them through an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).