Fighting in the red corridor - The Naxalites and Indian government’s obstacle to reach the negotiation table

Abstract: The intrastate conflict between the Maoist inspired rebel group the Naxalites and the Indian government have been active since the late 1960s. This qualitative case study, use parts of Jacob Bercovitch’s framework ‘Contingency Model of Mediation’ to interpret the obstacles found in this case, in order to reach a successful negotiation situation. Six different factors in the conflict were analysed. According to the framework and the findings the conflict is unsettled due to; its long duration, wide power disparity between the parties, unfriendly and disputable past and their different view of the conflicts issues. The Naxalites view the conflict as ideological, whereas it is viewed as a conflict of security by the Indian government. Ideological issue conflicts are least prone to be negotiated, compared to conflicts regarding security issues, which are more prone to be negotiated according to Bercovitch’s study. The conflicts regime type and intensity of the conflict showed some more promising results towards possible negotiation. Altogether, the six factors being measured concludes that the case have low probability of reaching a successful negotiation according to Bercovitch’s framework.