ON April 6th early morning at about 5 am, 75 CRPF personnel and a head constable lost their lives in the worst Maoist attack in Tarmetla a deep forest village in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh province. This brutal massacre was the most daring and the biggest single strike by Naxalites during the past 50 years.
The actual event that took place on April 6, highlights the leadership failure during and after the worst ever Naxalite attack. After the CRPF forces were trapped and butchered by the Maoists, they collected their weapons and personal belongings, like wrist watches, etc. Then the Maoists got split into two groups. One major group went towards Malkanjigiri in Orissa and the other minor group slipped into Andhra Pradesh. The attack reportedly started a little before sunrise and lasted for three hours. Apparently barring seven or eight Maoists killed during the attack and most of the attackers got away and disappeared without any pursuit of Police forces.
It now comes to light, that there was a deplorable lack of quick decision and action. If some senior officers in the State had alerted their counterparts in the neighbouring states, the major group which entered Orissa could have been fought vigorously. There was no immediate response after the killing of 76 CRPF jawans that took place because of poor intelligence.
The case study will reveal many more details.
CRPF jawans were sent to locate and fight the Naxals. It is a tough task of penetrating inside the deep forest. The CRPF personnel were carrying a considerable load. It seems that the long march without sufficient food made them tired and exhausted. They were not so alert. In any counter insurgency operation, a large force has always proved to be counter productive. The CRPF undertook this expedition without collaboration and co-ordination with the State Police.
It was not a prudent step on the part of the Home Ministry to plan an offensive against the Naxalites by the CRPF without sufficient arms and ammunitions. Support from the State Police was not taken. Only one head constable was involved. The local State Police force knows the language of the people. They have a better chance of gathering information from local sources. So the local State Police force should be encouraged to take more initiative. They can establish bondage because of the understanding of the nature, customs and practices of the villagers.
The threat must not be underestimated. Police forces must have complete knowledge of the Maoist insurgency and their ways and means of attacking and retaliation. Security Forces must be well trained to face the menace. We have to create awareness about the danger of Maoists among the people at large.
The Left wing extremism and violence is continuing unabated. Available reports indicate that 160 districts in 13 states, have how been affected by violence in varying degrees. About 5,000 persons have lost their lives so far. A large number of people have lost their limbs. More than 1,000 children have become orphaned. The Naxals have blasted government buildings, railway stations, bridges, telephone exchanges, microwave towers and Police stations. Their motive is clear i.e, state power can be seized only through armed revolutions. They believe that guerrilla war alone can expand their bases. Maoists ultimate plan is to capture the Indian state. Maoists are for dictatorship. They are not for ballot or freedom or fundamental rights. They plan to grab the power through barrel of gun. Maoists thrive in poverty. They don’t allow any development activity to take place.
They extort money from contractors, farmers, employees and traders. They snatch weapons from the armoury of government. Every State government employee posted in the affected area has to give a certain percentage of pay to them. The extortion money collected by Maoist is estimated over 1,500 crore. They eliminate anybody, by declaring them as class enemies or Police informer. At the end they dream to eliminate democracy itself from our country. So Maoism is a militarised movement, it will have to be fought by the security forces. Definite measures are necessary to mitigate the lapses so that Dantewada like incidents do not occur in the future.
Hence, the violence of Maoists is a serious challenge to our national security and integrity. It is essential for the Central and State forces to carry on joint operations. They should give perfect training to their forces to face any eventuality. Forces must be equipped with the modern weapons, arms and ammunitions. An all encompassing and aggressive action is required in a cohesive manner. It is equally important to win the support of the villagers by empowering them with all facilities and full protection.
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