Women are enrolled at a young age from villages and also assigned the responsibility of serving in the Maoists’ cultural troupe ‘Chetna Natya Mandli’, various supply chains and keeping watch on their male counterparts.“The women Naxals are deployed as human shields too as their male counterparts are cowards. Female cadres, unlike their men, don’t easily flee from the field,” a senior IPS officer having nearly a decade-long posting in conflict-ridden Bastar told . One of the reasons for the high strength of women among the Maoists is a reflection of the social character of tribal communities in Chhattisgarh. “This consequently influences the composition of the Maoist organisation,” said an officer of IGP rank.The CPI (Maoist), in their attempt to garner the support of women and lure them to join their movement, were also seen issuing a diktat to the local population to observe International Women’s Day on March 8.Casualty count of women Maoist cadres in major operations in 202512 among 27 along Narayanpur-Bijapur border, 21 May16 among 31 in 21-day long Operation Black Forest, 11 May11 among 17 in Sukma, 29 March14 among 26 in Bijapur, 20 March11 among 31 in Bijapur, 9 February6 among 16 in Gariyaband, 21 January
Source link
