Don’t let Maoists secure base in the North-East
All elements that have a stake in the country's security and territorial integrity must treat with grave urgency the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' warning about the spread of Maoist violence outside the existing Red corridor. According to reports, the Ministry has circulated a detailed note to 17 States on how the insurgents are looking to move out of their current bases where they have suffered heavy losses at the hands of Indian security forces, and expand their activities elsewhere. More specifically, the Ministry believes that the Maoists are looking to strengthen their Eastern Regional Bureau in the North-East. To that end, the Red terrorists have begun procuring arms, ammunition and communication equipment. In fact, the insurgents have reportedly been doing the groundwork in that region since 2006, when they were first noticed in Assam. Already, it is estimated that about a 100 Maoists are working in the North-East, where they are being led by a Central Committee member from the Rabha community. Another local Maoist leader has also been working to mobilise Adivasis in the Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts of Assam.
That the Maoists are preparing to target North-East, now that they are being chased out of central India, is not surprising. Over the years, the Red terrorists have proven to be remarkably resilient and adaptable; when security forces had begun hunting them down in Andhra Pradesh, they moved base to the backward districts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Now that they are on the run again, it is imperative that all their opportunities to create a new safe haven are crushed by the firm hand of the state. Else, much of the progress made in these past years towards containing Maoist terror will go in vain. For instance, last Tuesday security forces killed nine Maoists, including a high-ranking member, in the Dandakaranya region of Chhattisgarh. The eliminated insurgents belonged to the ‘military arm' of the Maoists, and because of their extensive training in jungle warfare, they were considered to be an elite fighting force. The operation to neutralise this team was possibly the biggest counter-offensive the security forces had launched in recent years, and it required the combined efforts of the Andhra Greyhounds, the 217 Battalion of CRPF and Chhattisgarh Police. Several such hard-fought victories make up the scenario of India's fight against Maoist terror, and it would be tragic if it all goes waste because the establishment is unable to rework its plan of action.
What makes the situation particularly dire is the fact that the North-East already has a history of violent insurgency, and here too it has only been in recent years that a fragile peace has prevailed. This certainly does not mean that left-wing extremist groups have been done away with. Indeed, they are still very much around and, as expected, are already collaborating with the Maoists on how best to spread their malevolent ideology. For instance, the Manipur-based People's liberation Army has already begun training Maoist cadres while the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (IM) too has joined hands. Clearly, the emerging crisis must be nipped in the bud.