This refers to the recent killing of Central Reserve Police Force personnel by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh. Maoist sympathisers often say that the Red ultras are fighting for the rights of the poor people and the tribals. But is that soIJ The security personnel who lost their lives too may have been children of not well-to-do families. A CRPF jawan's background is not generally an elite one. Finally, whose children die in our borders and in these junglesIJ They too are Indians and innocents.
The Centre and the State Governments need to handle Maoist threats seriously. There has been too much of soft-peddling. The time has come for the authorities to use decisive force, even if its means getting military equipment on the ground, against the ruthless Maoists who cling to ideologies that are not even followed in countries where they originated. Also, we must crack down on the ideologues and sympathisers of the Maoists sitting in metro cities such as Delhi.