As we struggle to get a handle on the Maoist insurgency that cuts a large swathe of terror across India and threatens to become bolder and bloodier, it's worth recalling how another Asian country, the Philippines, faced a similar ordeal and came out winning. History always has a thing or two to teach if anyone cares to learn.
In basic character and motivation, there's no difference between the Maoist rebellion in India and the Huk uprising in the Philippines in the 1950s. The Huks were the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines formed, originally, in 1942 to fight the Japanese occupation forces during World War II. The group's real intention, however, under the leadership of the legendary Luis Taruc, was to enlist peasants, mount a revolutionary war, and take over the government.
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