Indian Govt says it has a plan to deal with Maoist violence
Geneva: The Indian Government has said that it has a plan in place to deal with the vexed issue of Maoist violence. According to sources accompanying the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on his visit to the United States, the plan has a twin objective -- restoring law and order on the one hand, and putting in place development-related projects
on the other. While they admit that this simultaneous action is not bereft of
problems, the sources say the Centre feels there is subliminal support from civil
society to Maoist groups. There is, however, no divergence of opinion on this
score in the highest echelons of power in New Delhi. UPA Chairperson and Congress
president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram
are working jointly on this double-pronged plan, the sources said. In the recent
past, Prime Minister Singh has called the Naxalites "The single biggest internal
security challenge" before the country, and this year, he went to the extent of
saying that India is "losing the battle against Maoist rebels". While the Naxalites
claim to be supported by poorest of the poor in rural India, they have been known
to frequently target tribals, the police and government workers in their quest
for securing improved land rights and more jobs for neglected agricultural labourers
and the poor. They have been following a strategy of rural rebellion for more
than four decades, projecting it as a "people's war against the government." The
rebels claim to operate in 182 districts in about 20 states across India, mainly
in Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
and West Bengal. The Naxal-affected areas stretch from India's border with Nepal
in the north and east to Karnataka in the south. Chhattisgarh is regarded as the
epicentre of the anti-government rebellion. Their recent attacks include halting
the Rajdhani Express in Midnapore to secure the release of one of their key leaders
in West Bengal, Chhatradhar Mahato, a foiled bomb attack on a jail in Sasaram,
ambushing and killing 17 policemen in in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, massacre of
civilians, including a 12 year old girl and killing 30 policemen in Chhattishgarh.
Home Ministry statistics reveal that between 1996 and 2008, the Naxalites or Maoists
have killed 5438 people with the highest number of casualties taking place in
2008 (938) and in 2005 (892). The gravity of the menace can be judged by remarks
made by Union Home Secretary G K Pillai in Bhubaneswar today. He said the Maoists
are using Chinese made arms, but were not enjoying any support from Beijing. "I
state very clearly that it was Chinese arms that were coming in, not support from
the Government of China and that had been made absolutely clear, it is not only
because from Myanmar, Bangladesh and so on...arms smuggling is one of the largest
businesses in the world," Pillai said. Pillai said the state governments were
closely interacting with the Centre to tackle the Maoist menace. "There is increase
in cooperation among state governments, there is increase in sharing of intelligence
among the state police forces and as was decided in the last chief ministers''
conference, state governments are cooperating with each other to try and see how
best operations on the border, both bilateral and trilateral junction, are being
carried out," he said.
