Oct 13, 2010

General

The government claimed that the security forces had regained control over 10,000 sq km area dominated by the Maoists of a total of 40,000 sq km in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal for last several years. "We have got maximum gain in Chhattisgarh. We hope that the success will continue in the coming days," a source was reported by the media. This success was attributed to a combination of State police and over 60,000 central paramilitary forces carrying out sustained operations with effective intelligence. [Based on Indian Express Report 27 September 2010].

            Despite extending presence of the troops in over 10,000 square kms there is much to be done in countering Naxal threat with only one fourth of the area regained more over the Naxals are able to organize bandhs and strikes at will throughout Central India which was evident on 13 and 14 September and on 30 September as well. The ability of the guerrillas to control routine activity through such bandhs in Central India is another facet which indicates that various support groups that have been nurtured have been active and thus are able to implement the directions on the ground through coercion as well as some local support. This capability is yet to be addressed by the government. This is no doubt a long fight for the government which has to meet the challenge in a graduated manner with the first phase to reclaim areas which have been lost to the Naxals and contain the spread.

Problems of coordination of operations between the local and the central police continued with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) seeking written requisition comprising of a three-page form with 39 points which had to be cleared by the headquarters in New Delhi. This has restricted local police operations that can be launched with CRPF assistance and as a result of 50 Naxal casualties in Chhattisgarh 42 were in operations conducted exclusively by the state police while only 8 were in joint operations in 2010 so far while in 2009, of the 113 Maoists killed, 80 were by state police operations and 33 in joint operations.

The Andhra Pradesh State government has also planned to issue non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against all the central committee and politburo members, including the guerrilla chief, Muppalla Lakshmana Rao alias Ganapati, in the Gunukurai conspiracy case prior to launching the deadly attack which killed 38 Greyhounds personnel in Balimela reservoir. "Though top Maoist leaders were not directly involved, the police hold them responsible for the large-scale violence in the country as the seed for massive destruction was sown in Gunukurai," a senior officer involved in anti-Naxal operations said.

The Visakhapatnam rural police are also planning to issue NBWs against Katakam Sudarasan alias Anand, the mastermind behind the Chintalnar massacre in Chhattisgarh where 73 CRPF jawans were killed, Devji, Jaspal, Kanchan, central military commission member Pratap Reddy Ramachandra Reddy alias Chalapati, Misir Besra alias Sunirmal, Paresh, erstwhile MCCI leader Prasanth Bose alias Kishanda, CMC chief Namballa Kesava Rao alias Prakash. NBWs are being reissued against Ranjan, Mallaojula Venugopala Rao alias Sonu, Kadari Satyanarayna alias Kosa, Rajesh Da, Narla Ravi Sharma, Jeenugu Narasimha Reddy alias Jampanna, Sujeeth, Chandranna, Mallojula Koteswara Rao alias Kishanji, Bupesh, Balaraj alias Aravind, Yogesh, Akkiraju Haragopal alias Saketh, Amber, AOB secretary Modem Balakrishna alias Bhaskar, Prayag alias Vivek, Subrahmaniam alias Sukanth, Mohan alias Mahesh, Amitabh Bagchi alias Sumeet. [Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/NBWs-to-be-issued-against-top-Maoists/articleshow/6549900.cms#ixzz0zSCJXeC5]

Meanwhile the Planning Commission has finalised a Rs 13,742-crore Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Naxal-affected districts covering 60 districts over the next three fiscal years in Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and a few areas of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Planning Commission member Mihir Shah said: “It is not about pouring more money into Naxal-affected districts. It is a plan which seeks to incentivise governance reforms...through this Plan we are covering what is called the Red Corridor. We would like to cover those districts with incipient Maoist activity so that by taking governance to the grassroots there we can stop the spread of Naxalism.”

The expansion of the numbers from 35 districts nominated earlier to 60 is seen as a measure to contain the spread though the ability to deliver in more number of districts was reportedly questioned by the Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Initial funding is said to be for governance reforms, improved implementation of flagship programmes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), mid-day meal scheme, Forest Rights Act and provisions of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act. The five criteria for selection of a district for inclusion in the IAP were 25% of tribal population, 50% poverty ratio, 30% forest cover, security-related concerns and be covered under Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF). The quantum of funds to be allotted will be based on a special formula assigning different weightage to area of district, population and proportion of tribal population.

Mr Shah highlighted that: “The plan involves devolution of power to the gram panchayat and gram sabha level. All democratic institutions below the district level have been envisaged to be actively involved in decision-making. But this is not happening at present. The idea is to activate these processes and institutions and build capacities. Under this plan, there will be district, block and panchayat-level consultations. They would be actively engaged in deciding what the area needs — more roads or schools or anything else. The plan does not earmark any specific amount to be spent under a particular head. Only the allocation for capacity building is specified.”

            The Home Minister Mr P Chidambaram highlighted brutality of the Maoists in the Monthly Report Card for September thus, “I also wish to highlight an aspect of CPI (Maoist) brutality that has not been sufficiently noticed by the media or the public.  The CPI (Maoist) holds courts called ‘Jan Adalats’, tries the ‘accused’, sentences many of them to death, and executes them in full public view in order to strike terror in the hearts of the villagers. The number of ‘Jan Adalats’ has risen to 48 in the current year up to August 31, 2010 (from 38 in the corresponding period last year).  The number of persons executed has risen to 21 from 11 last year.  Every one who swears by the rule of law must condemn these kangaroo courts and brutal executions”.

OCT 2010