Belling the Naxal Cat
*Saumitra Mohan

After making a tactical retreat from Lalgarh in West Bengal following the state offensive, the Maoists were waiting for an opportunity to strike back to make their sinister presence felt. The recent outrage resulting in the killing of 36 policemen including an SP in Chattisgarh was an example of what the Naxals are capable of. This takes the casualty toll to 148 this year in that hapless state falling in the so-called Red Corridor. Indeed, the three almost simultaneous attacks were the deadliest of the extremist violence Chattisgarh has seen in recent times.

The Maoists seem to have struck with lot of precision and planning. The modality and dynamics of the strike are said to be somewhat reminiscent of the early seventies in West Bengal. The worst strike took place in Rajnandgaon, barely 70 km from the state capital of Raipur. This points to the audacity which informs the functioning of the Maoists these days. They appear intent on moving closer to the seat of authority from the forests and tribal areas. If some of the intelligence reports are to be believed, the Naxals are working hard to make forays into towns and cities through recruitment of more and more volunteers.

The slain SP, who was on the Naxal hit-list for quite sometime, is said to have been targeted for his deemed success in breaking the extremists’ urban network in Bhilai city in Madhya Pradesh. The way Naxals could pull off this strike with deadly effect points to the need for further sprucing up our intelligence and internal security apparatus.

Rightly, the Naxalism has been termed as the biggest threat to the national security by none other than the Prime Minister himself. The Union Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram has also bracketed Maoists with terrorists for the threat they pose to the internal security. Be it noted that CPI (Maoists) has been declared as a banned Organization by the Centre barely a few weeks ago.

While there still seem to be no consensus on banning the Naxals, the time definitely has come to take the Naxal threat more seriously than has been felt so far. The Union Home Minster Mr. P. Chidambaram rightly believes that the Naxal menace had so far been underestimated which allowed the Left-wing extremists to consolidate and spread their wings. He has promised that the battle against Maoists ultras would be joined in full earnest through sustained efforts and drive.

The ban and the branding of Maoists as terrorists should further convince the skeptics about their insidious design on the Indian Nation. We need to find out better ways of dealing with this internal adversary masquerading as Left Radicals. There is not only need for infrastructural upgradation in terms of better logistics, equipment and arms, there is also need for better and more scientific ways of gathering intelligence. Our police force needs to be better trained and better motivated to face the Naxal challenge. The training needs to be customized to make the force understand the various nuances of anti-insurgency operations. Besides, there is undoubtedly a need for better execution and better targeting of developmental schemes in the Naxal-infested areas to extirpate the grounds of frustration and alienation there as per the recommendation of an expert panel recently.

Even though many of the politicos and observers believe that the so-called ‘liberated’ or ‘compact revolutionary’ zones are nothing but media hype, we need to take the Maoist challenge in its true perspective. This, inter alia, requires a massive overhaul of planning and coordination, along with arming and training of specialized forces. The Naxal threat appears in sharper relief once we look at the latest statistics for this year. The sundry violent incidents involving Naxals exceed those involving terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir and North-East put together. While Naxal-affected states reported 915 incidents, Jammu and Kashmir and North-East witnessed 810 incidents till May this year. Of these, 624 took place in the North-East and 186 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Government is learnt to have appointed Brigadier D S Dadwal as its military advisor to help out in operational matters. Plans are also being drawn up in close consultation with different state governments. Proper coordination among the affected state governments along with a unified command structure seems to be need of the hour. The Naxal expertise in executing ambushes and mine blasts point to the extent and amount of challenge Naxalism poses to our country.

Brigadier Dadwal, who was so far serving as Deputy GOC with the 11 Infantry Division, is supposed to coordinate among disparate police forces of different states. This is likely to help in tackling the Naxal threat better. He is expected to not only advise the security agencies on specialized training, but is also supposed to help out in operational and logistical coordination. The manner in which our policemen are being repeatedly targeted in ambushes makes it necessary to constantly assess and improve tactics and strategy. The counterforce to Naxals has to be speedier and unorthodox beyond the mundane operating systems.

The truth is that the Naxals are a confused lot, not knowing what they wish to do. They actually do not seem to have any ideological mooring or any vision for the alternative they proffer vis-à-vis the system they seem to be fighting. The Indian democracy gives every ideology ample opportunity to seek popular consent through the first-past-the-post system. But till the time the Naxals do not see reason, an efficient and effective counterforce seems to be the only alternative.