Quell Maoist Insurgency

The Government of India has insisted on a formal and unconditional truce offer from the CPI(Maoist) and made it clear that the Naxalites would have to abjure violence before the government responds to the 72-day “ceasefire” declared by senior leader Koteshwara Rao alias Kishanji.

Meanwhile, the government has made it clear that counter-operations against Naxalites continue, as of now, across the affected states including Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Orissa and Maharashtra.

The fact that Centre is not yet ready to look at Kishanji’s truce call seriously stems from apprehensions that the offer was possibly made without the full backing of the other CPI leaders. The intelligence agencies have also gathered “some leads” that the CPI leadership was divided on the ceasefire proposal when it was considered at a recent meeting of its senior leaders.

There is an assessment that Kishanji may have made the truce offer unilaterally apprehending a threat to himself in view of the public anger generated by the Maoists’ carnage of 24 people, including 23 EFR personnel, at a security camp in Silda. Incidentally, hours after the ceasefire offer was made, Maoists mounted a fresh attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp at Katapahari in Midnapore district.

The Centre is clear that it will not decide unilaterally on the truce offer. Once a formal offer is made, Mr Chidambaram will discuss it with the prime minister and thereafter also hold consultations with the Naxalism-hit states before formulating the government’s response to the Maoists’ peace moves. The basic issue, however, is that of the understanding of the root cause of Naxalism. Poverty, religion, illiteracy, neglect, scarce resources – factors galore to push people in under-developed states to abide with the dictums of fanatics who disturb the peace and prospects of prosperity in the region.

While all successive governments have had elaborate development plans for the Naxal-infected regions, little gets done as the infrastructure is still not ready to combat the insurgents, who on the other end are thriving due to support from various anti-social, anti- India elements.

It is extremely important that the conditions that have helped the Maoists get a toehold in these areas are examined thoroughly. Come to think of it, barring a select few states, a major part of India is slowly losing its security cover. The terror outfits, who go by various ideologies and names, have erased the safety and security of the region. The way Mr. P Chidambaram is currently dealing with the Naxalites is definitely commendable. Any group, outfit or individual who resorts to violence and is responsible for disturbing the peace should be dealt with in a strict manner. Unless the government doesn’t clamp down on these outfits with all its force, it won’t be long before the country becomes a hotbed of unbridled divisive activities with these groups getting all the support they need from across the borders.