A recent interview given
by the Home Minister, Mr. Shivraj Patil to well known television anchor,
Karan Thapar, clearly denied that
Naxalism is not the most dangerous
threat to India. The Prime Minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh differed a few
days back. What then is the truth? The Naxals seemed to have settled the
matter just a day ago with a lethal twin attack in Orissa, where 100
Naxals, attacked a police training school and a police station in tandem
to kill 13 police personnel, including two women, and a civilian and
made away with a large cache of arms which could arm a conventional
military battalion in Nayagarh, Orissa. Such attacks were seen in
India’s North East many decades ago and not many have come about in the
troubled Northern state of Kashmir a few years back. So how do we
quantify the threat from Naxalism to national security?
The Central government has continued to claim that Naxalism in the
country was on the decline. Sahara Samay quoted, Union Minister of State
for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal as, "While Naxalism in the country has
weakened, governments of Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand have failed to
tackle the menace effectively." This was anticipated as the base of
policing in the three states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar is very
poor. While the former two are new states carved out of larger entities,
their administration continues to be unsettled. On the other hand, Bihar
is suffering from years of neglect by successive governments. Up
gradation of the policing structure in these states will take time. But
the greater fear is collaborative institutionalization of Naxal
operations, training and social security apparatus, across the Central
Indian states.
Operationally, Naxals continue their counter jail strategy by damaging
an under construction jail in Orissa on 28 January. Bihar has seen 10
incidents of jailbreak in the last few months in different jails of the
state, including the recent ones at Beur, Motihari and Sasaram. The
Naxals have found railway infrastructure, a lucrative target. Thus, the
East Central division of the Indian Railways, which spans the states of
Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, has reported rising trend of Naxal
attacks on railways. The statistics of the last three years are as given
below:
• 2005. Four Naxal
attacks on vital infrastructure.
• 2006. Eight attacks (100% increase).
• 2007. Seventeen attacks (100% increase).
These attacks have been
classified as catastrophic node failures, which destroyed the railway
line, cable or station/office. There are many more which are disruptive
node failures, which do not lead to substantial damage and hence go
largely unreported.
Nitin Mahajan, reporting in the Indian Express, quoted Chhattisgarh
Director General Police, (DGP) Vishwaranjan, to denote four training
camps being run by the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), in
Bastar area of Chattisgarh. Two camps were functional in jungles of
Bijapur and Dantewara and two in Abujmarh area, where possibly no
administration footprint exists and is regarded as a Maoist liberated
area. The total numbers being trained varied from 1500-2000. These camps
were now giving training to Maoists from other states .As per the DGP,
“According to intelligence inputs received by us, apart from locally
recruited cadres, Maoist extremists from other states, including
Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, are also
being given training.” The training comprised of laying explosives,
blasting government buildings (even) schools and targeting security
forces. The total cadre strength of the Maoists, as per the DGP was
8,000-10,000 armed PLGA and Jan militia with 25,000-35,000, Naxal
sympathizers or Sangham members.
A large number of trained cadres of Maoists indicate that these are
likely to continue to cause disorder, in the days ahead. While the DGP
has rightly indicated that there is lack of adequate policing available,
there may be a need for greater transparency, to ensure that information
of such camps is made publicly available. It would raise consciousness
of the masses, to the emerging threat from naxalism, in the country.
The high level of penetration of Naxals in various civil society
organizations, using these as a front to recruit and train youth, for
disruptive activities was evident, when the Maharashtra police unveiled
the network established by Arun Ferreira, arrested from Mumbai in 2007.
He was reportedly in charge of the rebel set-up in Chandrapur district,
in Eastern part of the state, where Naxalism is rampant. He also ran a
number of front organizations, with accomplices such as Vidyarthi
Pragati Sangathana and Desh Bhakti Yuva Mancha. The complex was run, on
an institutional basis, with regular payment to the operatives and
supportive gun running. The Chandrapur area is particularly significant,
as it is at the cross roads, of Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Thus,
police have had to carry out linguistic training of their personnel, in
the area, with the need for learning Urdu, Bengali and Telegu. As
Chandrapur SP, Chhering Dorje, indicated, "Around 50 cops will be
trained, including staff of anti-Naxal cell, in the three languages,
Telugu, Bengali and Urdu." [With inputs from Times of India. 24 January
2008.].
Increased institutionalization of Maoist organization is also evident
with reports of Naxals in Jharkhand, providing social security to
families of cadres, killed in anti- naxal operations by the police. A
report in the Times of India, on 8 January, indicated that compensation
was being paid based on the position of the cadre in the hierarchy, with
families in Latehar and Chatra districts-- the first to benefit from
this, “largesse”. Jharkhand police spokesperson, R K Mallik is reported
to have said, “We have received information from different sources about
the Maoists giving compensation to families of their cadres, who lost
their lives during anti Naxal operations by police”. In addition, Naxals
are reportedly taking responsibility of bringing up children of the
killed cadres as well. The Naxals are also using festivals in local
areas, to provide rest and recoupment for their cadres, while looking
for opportunities for strikes. Recently a number of Naxal cadres were
noticed in Jharkhand attending the Tusu festival at Dumaria and
Musaboni.
So is Naxalism spread by the government’s own admission across 165
districts, India’s greatest security threat? You decide for your self.
February 16, 2008
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Analysis
