Documentary on Maoism: The Red Terror released
Pramod Kumar
“The Government needs to put in place a stern policy to deal with hostage situations like the one framed for dealing with aircraft hijack. At the same time the authorities should negotiate with the Maoists with a clear message that causing any harm to the hostages would mean a death warrant of the people whose release is being sought,” said former Union Home Secretary Shri GK Pillai. He was speaking at a round table conference on ‘State’s Response to Hostage Situations’, in New Delhi on June 28.
Recording the major naxal attacks of last five years in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, etc, the documentary has comments from leading security experts, journalists, victims of the Maoist violence and also the former Maoists who fed up with the violence, confused Maoist ideology and misguided people have surrendered.
The documentary describes the Maoist violence as a story of unabated violence, ruthless killings, mindless atrocities and horror which is repeated to ‘change the world on gunpoint’. It also exposes the Maoist supporters like Agnivesh, Binayak Sen and others who shed tears whenever there is action against Maoists and keep mum when they kill the innocent civilians or security personnel. Citing a report of BBC, the documentary claims that about 6000 innocent people and security personnel have been killed in Maoist violence during the last 25 years.
Stressing the need to adopt a zero-tolerance approach while dealing with Maoists, Shri Pillai expressed concern that none of the major political parties in India has so far gauged the magnitude of the Maoist violence and the damage it is causing to the country. “By instigating the Vanvasis against Government, the Maoists have created a kind of political vacuum. This gap can be filled by the political parties and not by the security forces. Majority of the people killed by Maoists are those whom they call ‘police informers’. They openly declare that those who support the police and administration deserved to be killed. Therefore, before starting development process in such areas, we must ensure safety of the people,” he said.
Former DGP of Chhattisgarh Shri Vishwa Ranjan said the Maoists seem to be prepared for a long battle. “They have trained guerrillas and equipped them with sophisticated armory. On the other hand we want to fight this menace with the help of our ordinary policemen who are not trained to tackle such situations. Need of the hour is that apart from creating special force to combat the terror we must also equip the ordinary policeman with modern arms and knowhow,” he said adding that the zero causality doctrine is not practical at this moment. He said in hostage situations one cannot ignore the negotiations, but we must decide how much to be given. He also expressed concern that the areas liberated from the Maoists have not yet witnessed the desirable development, which is not good sign for continuing peace.
Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Smt Nirmala Buch said the rising presence of media has made tackling of hostage situations complicated, as they create undue pressure on the authorities, which ultimately harms the state’s interest in negotiation process. She stressed the need to create an effective public grievances redressal mechanism. “This is a fact that if the people do not get redressal of their grievances in the system, they approach the people who are outside the system,” she added.
In the beginning, editor of The Pioneer, Shri Chandan Mitra described naxalism as the greatest threat to the security and integrity of the nation.Pramod Kumar
“The Government needs to put in place a stern policy to deal with hostage situations like the one framed for dealing with aircraft hijack. At the same time the authorities should negotiate with the Maoists with a clear message that causing any harm to the hostages would mean a death warrant of the people whose release is being sought,” said former Union Home Secretary Shri GK Pillai. He was speaking at a round table conference on ‘State’s Response to Hostage Situations’, in New Delhi on June 28.
A documentary, Maoism: The Red Terror, was also released on the occasion. Many prominent personalities, intellectuals, security experts and retired bureaucrats including Shri BP Singhal, Shri Prakash Singh, Shri Chandan Mitra, Dr JS Rajput, Shri Ram Madhav, etc. were present on the occasion. The documentary was prepared by India Foundation.
Recording the major naxal attacks of last five years in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, etc, the documentary has comments from leading security experts, journalists, victims of the Maoist violence and also the former Maoists who fed up with the violence, confused Maoist ideology and misguided people have surrendered.
The documentary describes the Maoist violence as a story of unabated violence, ruthless killings, mindless atrocities and horror which is repeated to ‘change the world on gunpoint’. It also exposes the Maoist supporters like Agnivesh, Binayak Sen and others who shed tears whenever there is action against Maoists and keep mum when they kill the innocent civilians or security personnel. Citing a report of BBC, the documentary claims that about 6000 innocent people and security personnel have been killed in Maoist violence during the last 25 years.
Stressing the need to adopt a zero-tolerance approach while dealing with Maoists, Shri Pillai expressed concern that none of the major political parties in India has so far gauged the magnitude of the Maoist violence and the damage it is causing to the country. “By instigating the Vanvasis against Government, the Maoists have created a kind of political vacuum. This gap can be filled by the political parties and not by the security forces. Majority of the people killed by Maoists are those whom they call ‘police informers’. They openly declare that those who support the police and administration deserved to be killed. Therefore, before starting development process in such areas, we must ensure safety of the people,” he said.
Former DGP of Chhattisgarh Shri Vishwa Ranjan said the Maoists seem to be prepared for a long battle. “They have trained guerrillas and equipped them with sophisticated armory. On the other hand we want to fight this menace with the help of our ordinary policemen who are not trained to tackle such situations. Need of the hour is that apart from creating special force to combat the terror we must also equip the ordinary policeman with modern arms and knowhow,” he said adding that the zero causality doctrine is not practical at this moment. He said in hostage situations one cannot ignore the negotiations, but we must decide how much to be given. He also expressed concern that the areas liberated from the Maoists have not yet witnessed the desirable development, which is not good sign for continuing peace.
Former Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh Smt Nirmala Buch said the rising presence of media has made tackling of hostage situations complicated, as they create undue pressure on the authorities, which ultimately harms the state’s interest in negotiation process. She stressed the need to create an effective public grievances redressal mechanism. “This is a fact that if the people do not get redressal of their grievances in the system, they approach the people who are outside the system,” she added.
In the beginning, editor of The Pioneer, Shri Chandan Mitra described naxalism as the greatest threat to the security and integrity of the nation.
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