It’s time to take the bull by the horns
The massacre of Congress leaders, their security personnel and civilians by the Maoists in the forested areas of Jeeram in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, should silence the apologists of the violent movement who cling on to the belief that the Maoists are mere misguided elements who have taken to the gun in response to state repression. The bare fact is that the Maoists are terrorists who are determined to subvert the country's democratic system, and they have to be dealt with an iron hand. That they should have so brutally targeted political leaders and celebrated the gruesome killings at a time when politicians cutting across party lines in the State are making inroads into the forested tribal areas which are Maoist strongholds, goes to show that the Red ultras are willing to go to any extent to halt the spread of democracy in their domain.
The Maoists are not people who will see reason — unlike what the army of human rights activists fondly maintain. Senior Congress leader and one of the founders of Salwa Judum (the anti-Maoist front), Mahendra Karma, had of late gone soft and said that it was alright for Maoists to flourish but that not one innocent tribal should be targeted. Yet, the Maoists gunned down Karma, as they did State Congress president Nand Kumar Patel and his son. If it was a convoy of Congress leaders which was attacked on Saturday, it could the turn of BJP leaders or those of any other mainstream political party next. Therefore, parties must not fall prey to petty politics at this time of grief and grave crisis that the country faces. While by and large political parties have struck a dignified stance, some remarks have unfortunately come from certain leaders trying to pin the blame for the tragedy on their political adversaries. This must stop, and both the BJP Government in Chhattisgarh and the Congress-led UPA regime at the Centre have to work unitedly to tackle the Red menace. Whether there was an intelligence failure or that adequate security had not been provided to the Congress leaders who were on a Parivartan Rally or that the convoy failed to follow the standard operating procedures, are issues that will be dealt with. But as importantly, energy must be focussed on formulating plans to neutralise the Maoists — and not just in Chhattisgarh.
The problem so far has been that, while senior Ministers of the UPA Government — and indeed the Prime Minister himself — have acknowledged that the Maoists constitute the single biggest internal security threat to the country, efforts to formulate a strong national policy and execute it have run into rough weather because of attempts by vested groups to torpedo those measures. These groups have been advocating a soft approach — ‘the Maoists are our brothers and sisters; they have to be won back'.
The results of the kid-glove approach are there for all to see. Of course, this does not mean that State Governments have had no role in the deteriorating situation, but in most cases they are dependent on the Centre for troops and the latest arms and ammunition. What can be more shocking than the fact that the security personnel attached to the ill-fated convoy ran out of ammunition just when those were desperately needed to ward off the mounting attackIJ It's time that the States through which the so-called Red Corridor runs and the Centre together crack down mercilessly on the Maoists. All available measures, including drone attacks, should be considered. If the authorities don’t wake up even now, it will be too late.