Growth key to fighting maoists
Francis Indwar, a Jharkhand Special Branch police inspector, was brutally decapitated by Naxalites. In the past, several Indwars in Naxalite-infested districts of Orissa, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have been killed in cold blood by the ultra-Left armed cadre.
It was a nice gesture on Rahul Gandhi’s part to visit Indwar’s family and tell his three orphaned schoolgoing children that he understood their pain as he himself had lost his father tragically to another form of terrorism.
A week or so after the beheading of Indwar, two policemen in Orissa took Naxalite bullets on their chest and blocked the way of the outlaws to allow the politician they were guarding sufficient time to flee from the ambush site. They died unsung.
Many other too have met their death in revoltingly similar situations. Revolting, not because they died in the line of duty, but because of the recurrence of these incidents and the ease with which the outlaws could ambush the uniformed personnel deputed to protect people from those who trash the Constitution of India and the rule of law.
The problem is enormous, to say the least, even if one goes by the sketch of home minister P Chidambaram. He had said ultra Left-wing extremists (read Maoists) have pockets of influence in 20 of 28 states and their area of operation spanned 223 districts. Facing the brunt were those in 2,000 police stations.
When policemen themselves fear to go alone into these areas under the sway of Maoists, can one fault government employees — teachers, revenue collectors etc — from fearing to go there unarmed. These areas have remained in the leeway side of the winds of development. As a result, people of these areas are pitiably dependent on the benevolence of Maoists for their existence.
The administration’s loosening grip in such areas had not escaped the attention of the Supreme Court. It felt armed action could not bring about a solution to the problem, for one recently heard a proposal of using IAF planes for anti-Naxalite operation. A balanced approach — development along with stern action against the outlaws — can possibly meet the exigencies of the situation. The SC in the D K Basu Vs State of West Bengal [1997 (1) SCC 416] had advocated a similar approach.
It was a nice gesture on Rahul Gandhi’s part to visit Indwar’s family and tell his three orphaned schoolgoing children that he understood their pain as he himself had lost his father tragically to another form of terrorism.
A week or so after the beheading of Indwar, two policemen in Orissa took Naxalite bullets on their chest and blocked the way of the outlaws to allow the politician they were guarding sufficient time to flee from the ambush site. They died unsung.
Many other too have met their death in revoltingly similar situations. Revolting, not because they died in the line of duty, but because of the recurrence of these incidents and the ease with which the outlaws could ambush the uniformed personnel deputed to protect people from those who trash the Constitution of India and the rule of law.
The problem is enormous, to say the least, even if one goes by the sketch of home minister P Chidambaram. He had said ultra Left-wing extremists (read Maoists) have pockets of influence in 20 of 28 states and their area of operation spanned 223 districts. Facing the brunt were those in 2,000 police stations.
When policemen themselves fear to go alone into these areas under the sway of Maoists, can one fault government employees — teachers, revenue collectors etc — from fearing to go there unarmed. These areas have remained in the leeway side of the winds of development. As a result, people of these areas are pitiably dependent on the benevolence of Maoists for their existence.
The administration’s loosening grip in such areas had not escaped the attention of the Supreme Court. It felt armed action could not bring about a solution to the problem, for one recently heard a proposal of using IAF planes for anti-Naxalite operation. A balanced approach — development along with stern action against the outlaws — can possibly meet the exigencies of the situation. The SC in the D K Basu Vs State of West Bengal [1997 (1) SCC 416] had advocated a similar approach.
Rahul Gandhi with Indwar’s family in Ranchi last week
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