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SOURCE: DNA INDIA
Hopes strategy will lure those who might have otherwise added strength to left-wing extremism forces
The Indian Army has recruited thousands of tribal youth in a strategy it hopes will weaken the Naxals on the latter’s turf. The Army’s massive, special recruitment camps in the country’s worst-hit Naxal areas have seen the induction of more than 6,500 tribal youth, who might have otherwise come under the Naxals’ fold.
Army sources told dna that they have recruited tribal youth from sensitive areas of Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, Chaibasa in Jharkhand and Bolangiri and Suparnapur from Odisha in the last one year.
Naxals lure tribal children to take up arms against the government on several grouses. The special recruitment drives in the left-wing extremists’ heartland are therefore aimed at reducing the supply of manpower to Naxals while offering the tribal’s employment.
“The strategy to bring tribal youth into the army is an attempt to reduce Naxal’s strength and to generate employment. Naxal cadre mostly target poor tribals and ask them to take up arms against the establishment,” a senior army official told dna on condition of anonymity.
The army had been given the mandate to recruit tribals from the worst-hit Naxal areas last year. The army has conducted 163 recruitment drives across the country since last year. Of these, 22 were conducted in remote areas in Naxal-hit districts, an army officer told dna on condition of anonymity.
“The army is also conducting lectures and workshops to persuade scheduled tribes of these remote areas to join the army,” the officer said. “We have learnt that Maoists have been targeting tribal school children to join their armed cadre. If we give the tribals an opportunity to join the army or other para-military forces, they will never raise arms against the state.”
The police and paramilitary-forces of Naxal-affected states have also employed the same strategy; these forces have recruited nearly 10,000 tribals so far.
The army feels that tribal’s have shown faith in the governance and this was borne out by the high voter turnout in the Naxal-hit areas of Chhattisgarh, which went to polls earlier this month to elect new Assembly members.
Hopes strategy will lure those who might have otherwise added strength to left-wing extremism forces
The Indian Army has recruited thousands of tribal youth in a strategy it hopes will weaken the Naxals on the latter’s turf. The Army’s massive, special recruitment camps in the country’s worst-hit Naxal areas have seen the induction of more than 6,500 tribal youth, who might have otherwise come under the Naxals’ fold.
Army sources told dna that they have recruited tribal youth from sensitive areas of Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, Chaibasa in Jharkhand and Bolangiri and Suparnapur from Odisha in the last one year.
Naxals lure tribal children to take up arms against the government on several grouses. The special recruitment drives in the left-wing extremists’ heartland are therefore aimed at reducing the supply of manpower to Naxals while offering the tribal’s employment.
“The strategy to bring tribal youth into the army is an attempt to reduce Naxal’s strength and to generate employment. Naxal cadre mostly target poor tribals and ask them to take up arms against the establishment,” a senior army official told dna on condition of anonymity.
The army had been given the mandate to recruit tribals from the worst-hit Naxal areas last year. The army has conducted 163 recruitment drives across the country since last year. Of these, 22 were conducted in remote areas in Naxal-hit districts, an army officer told dna on condition of anonymity.
“The army is also conducting lectures and workshops to persuade scheduled tribes of these remote areas to join the army,” the officer said. “We have learnt that Maoists have been targeting tribal school children to join their armed cadre. If we give the tribals an opportunity to join the army or other para-military forces, they will never raise arms against the state.”
The police and paramilitary-forces of Naxal-affected states have also employed the same strategy; these forces have recruited nearly 10,000 tribals so far.
The army feels that tribal’s have shown faith in the governance and this was borne out by the high voter turnout in the Naxal-hit areas of Chhattisgarh, which went to polls earlier this month to elect new Assembly members.
