K S Shaini
Another terrible Naxal attack in the Bijapur Sukma border in Chhattisgarh in which 23
jawans were martyred and 33 injured pose serious questions on our internal
security system. Is it a security lapse or mismanagement on the part of the
state and center government?
Great wisdom lies embedded in the insight of the past. Will government ponder into the past lapses in tackling the ongoing Naxal menace and draw a concrete operation plan
or will end up just by fulfilling the ritual of condemnation and
assurances.
The deadly attack indicates that the Maoist threat remains potent and in a more deterrent way.
In the recent incident, there was prior information about a large number of Naxals
gathering at Bijapur, and heavy troops were mobilized to target them. Ten
security teams including the COBRA unit and CRPF were put into action. But the
whole operation failed as it was a chakravu designed by the Naxals and our
security forces walked in without sufficient tools in their armor.
The Naxals planned the strategy so meticulously that they even got the village,
where the firing took place, evacuated prior to the operation. What is more
shocking is that the Naxals attacked the jawans with rocket launchers. They
also looted the uniform and weapons of the jawans who were martyred, to
executed another future attack.
Such incidents of Naxal attacks are not new. They go into a lull for a period of
time and plan strategy targeting not only our jawans but also leaders and
common people. A large number of leaders and police personnel got ambushed in
the past. There is a lesson to be learned from the continuous planned operations
of the Naxals. Every time, the police personnel land up into a Naxal
trap.
There are many issues that need to be addressed to tackle the menace. The frequent
operation failure of our security forces points to the confusing way of
handling the problem. Maoists realize the confusing situation and outsmart the
state machinery. Moreover, the Maoists access weapons like rocket launchers and
heavy guns, and our intelligence machinery fails to catch hold of it. They also
access police intercepts and messages. All these pose a big question mark on
the intelligence system.
It is unfortunate that a handful of Naxals challenging the security forces and the
administration looks helpless.
There are innumerable Naxal-affected areas that are miles away from development. Even the government is reluctant to carry out road construction or any developmental
work.
Naxalism is in fact an ideology and will have to understand their demand and find a
solution before another tragedy stuck us. The persistence of the Naxal menace
indicates a lack of conviction and political complicity. The structural issues
should be addressed and should go hand in hand with the development
initiative.
