Narendra Modi government takes fight with Maoist to another level
Making a huge departure from UPA government’s policy in dealing with
the Maoists, in the new Naxal policy that is being framed by the union
home ministry, the BJP government has reserved the right to use “any
element of its national power” against the CPI (Maoist). The “hawkish”
change enumerated in the general principles of the new policy says, “The
state is duty bound to resolutely deal with the Maoist violence and
reserves the right to use any element of its national power against the
outfit as the situation warrants.” Union home minister Rajnath Singh was
reviewing the draft of the Maoist policy periodically during the past
three months of its preparation.
Describing “any element of national power” a senior officials said,
“any element obviously would mean whatever power comes under the command
of the State – be it Army, Air Force or any other option but it would
be requisitioned only if the situation warrants.” During the UPA regime,
even the Chidambaram doctrine, that was considered to be security
heavy, had rejected the use of Army and Air Force during the worst of
massacres by the Maoists, including the one at Chintagufa in Bastar
where 76 CRPF jawans were brutally killed by the Maoists in an ambush.
Condemning the policy, noted tribal rights activist, Dr BD Sharma, who
served as a commissioner in undivided Bastar said, “It should condemned
in absolute terms. Its annihilation of your own people. No democratic
government should launch a war against its own people.”
People’s rights activist, Gautam Naulakha said, “There is nothing
surprising in it. The government is escalating the war against its own
people and giving carte blanche to the forces. I hope the Army will
realise the futility of it once such option comes to it as it will
degrade their reputation internationally. The ministry of defence had
rejected a similar request made by the MHA during Chidambaram’s tenure
as home minister. But it will not be easy to put such a policy on the
ground as rhetoric and jingoism is different and ground realities are
different.”
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