We underestimated Naxals: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday forthrightly admitted that the naxal menace had been underestimated for several years allowing Left wing extremists to spread their wings even as he promised that the battle against Maoist ultras would be joined in full earnest.
Replying to questions in Rajya Sabha, with the massacre of 30 cops in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district providing the latest reminder of the firepower amassed by the Maoists, Chidambaram told the House, "Regrettably, for many years, we did not assess the LWE challenge correctly.I think we underestimated the challenge."
Indicating that it will now require sustained efforts to contain the Maoists, the minister said, "Left wing extremists have extended their areas of influence. They have entrenched themselves. Today they pose a grave challenge to the state." The message was clear enough: a massive overhaul of planning and coordination, alongwith arming and training of specialised forces would be required to take on the Red ultras.
Even though his junior colleague Ajay Maken in a Parliament reply dismissed "liberated zones" carved out by Naxals as baseless propaganda, Chidambaram did not mince words. His grim assessment is borne out by latest statistics that Naxal incidents this year are more than those of terrorist violence in J&K and northeast put together. While Naxal affected states reported 915 incidents, J&K and N-E witnessed 810 incidents till May. Of these, 624 took place in the N-E and 186 in J&K.
The minister, acknowledging the ability of Maoists' to launch military-style attacks and overwhelm police detachments, revealed that the government had appointed a military advisor to help out in operational matters. "Plans are being drawn up in close consultation with state governments... we have also appointed a military advisor (Brigadier D S Dadwal)." The Maoist expertise in executing ambushes and mine blasts has only added to the problems.
Making it clear that cooperation of the states was essential in tackling Naxals, the home minister said he was in close touch with chief ministers of LWE-affected states and was looking forward to a meeting with them in August. State-level plans were being drawn so that they could be integrated with the Centre's, he added.
Brigadier Dadwal, a senior Army officer who was serving as deputy GOC with the 11 infantry division, will be responsible for coordination of police forces. He was appointed in February mainly for advising security agencies on specialised training but is also expected to help out in operational procedures. The manner in which police parties are being repeatedly targetted in ambushes makes it necessary to constantly assess and improve tactics.
The movement of visible forces along roads makes them a target and while there are operating codes, they are not dynamic enough while a militant outrage needs speedy, and possibly unconventional, responses. V K Choubey, the SP-level officer who died in the Mandawa attack, was a veteran and had survived two previous assaults. A closer examination of events was needed before it could be concluded that an experienced officer had ignored safety procedures.
The poor maintenance of police stations, lax training and low motivation have led to police in several states simply not challenging the ultras. In Orissa and Jharkhand, the state is seen to have retreated while Chhattisgarh has expressed the resolve, it has not implemented it in a focused manner.
When asked by CPI leader D Raja about the status of Salwa Judum (anti-Naxal people's movement) in Chhattisgarh, Chidambaram said, "We are not in favour of non-state players taking on extremists. That could be a political party... that could be Salwa Judum or any other organisation. We are for states dealing with Left-wing extremists."
On BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu's remarks that Salwa Judum movement was headed by the leader of Opposition in the Chhattisgarh assembly who is from the Congress, Chidambaram said he was in close contact with chief minister Raman Singh. The CM has "more or less accepted my line", Chidambaram told Naidu.
During his reply, the home minister also took on the Left Front government in West Bengal on a different ground - of poor handling of development demands that helped provide recruits to the LWE and resulted in incidents like Lalgarh. Claiming that alienation of sections of people was a factor in the rise of left wing extremism, he said, "A recent example of this is Lalgarh incident. Frustration and alienation builds up when state governments neglect development needs."QnA: Will the governments' inefficiency to curb naxalism cost the country?