More than 40 mainly indigenous-based rebel armies are seeking either greater autonomy or independence. The army has committed atrocities with impunity during counterinsurgency operations in Assam, Manipur, and other states. Guerrillas commit hundreds of killings, abductions, and rapes each year, and extort millions of dollars annually from tea gardens and merchants. In May, Amnesty International reported that security forces are increasingly subjecting children in Manipur to torture, disappearance, and extrajudicial executions, and occasionally rape mothers in front of their children. Maoist Naxalite guerrillas control large areas and kill dozens of police, politicians, landlords and villagers each year in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.
Guerrillas run parallel courts in parts of Bihar.
The private press is vigorous. Journalists are occasionally harassed and attacked by government officials, party activists, militant Hindu groups and others. In 1998, police and soldiers increasingly arrested and attacked journalists in Assam and other northeastern states. Radio is both public and private, although the state-owned All India Radio is dominant, and its news coverage favors the government. The government maintains a monopoly on domestic television broadcasting.