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New Delhi: The Prime Minister will later today meet representatives of all political parties in an attempt to engineer an agreement on how to tackle Naxalism.
Last month, a convoy of Congress leaders was attacked in Chhattisgarh. 25 people were killed.
The Centre wants states affected by Naxalism - like Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh - to forgo the focus on development in Naxal-affected areas and take more responsibility in combating Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). Specifically, it would like states to conduct thorough intelligence operations to identify and locate top local Naxal commanders, add more police stations in the worst-affected areas, empower and upgrade special state forces so that they are less dependent on central paramilitary troops, and speed up the construction of roads so that troops have better access to affected areas.
The Centre also believes it is essential for mainstream political parties to be encouraged to be more active in areas dominated and controlled by Maoists.
At last week's conference on internal security, called by the PM and attended by chief ministers of different states, there was resistance to "the military approach."
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "We must work together to launch serious developmental initiatives so that misdirected people or those who were left of the development net can be brought back into the socio-economic net."
There have been no major Maoist strikes in Bihar in the last few years and ground support for the Naxals appears to be shrinking, which means there is little incentive for the government there to change its strategy.
"Unless tribal areas are developed on a war footing, they will continue to be vulnerable to the Naxalites," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said at the same meeting.
The Centre wants to promote what officials refer to as "the Andhra model."
Over the last decade, the state of Andhra Pradesh has evolved a policy where the District Superintendent of Police (DSP) makes key decisions about how and when to target Naxals. In most cases, this officer is expected to lead operations against Maoist military formations - platoons and companies of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army of the CPI (Maoist).
The State Intelligence Bureau helps to gather information about Naxal activities and leaders, which is passed on to the DSP.
Development of Naxal-affected areas by providing facilities like road, health, education and revitalising the Public Distribution System to counter the propaganda of Naxals takes second place to military action.
"We want political parties and states to realise that the soft option won't work and unless they go after the Maoists, the Maoists will kill them at every given opportunity no matter how weak or denuded the Maoists may be," a senior official in the Home Ministry told NDTV.
This approach signals, say sources, a paradigm shift in the Centre's assessment of the Naxal insurgency.
The movement is no longer being seen as a result of the State failing to provide basic facilities to its own people. The development-deficit approach is Nehruvian in nature. It puts the onus on the State to redress the grievances of the people. And, the Naxals are perceived as an instrument that highlights the neglect of the poorest and most backward parts of states.
The powerful National Advisory Council, headed by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, had earlier endorsed this view.
With today's meeting, government officials hope to propagate the view that Naxals attack Indian democracy and its representatives and must be dealt with militarily. Speaking to reporters after the massacre at Chhattisgarh last month, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters that there was no difference between Maoists and terrorists.
In how to tackle Naxals, sign of new battle between Centre and states | NDTV.com
Last month, a convoy of Congress leaders was attacked in Chhattisgarh. 25 people were killed.
The Centre wants states affected by Naxalism - like Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh - to forgo the focus on development in Naxal-affected areas and take more responsibility in combating Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). Specifically, it would like states to conduct thorough intelligence operations to identify and locate top local Naxal commanders, add more police stations in the worst-affected areas, empower and upgrade special state forces so that they are less dependent on central paramilitary troops, and speed up the construction of roads so that troops have better access to affected areas.
The Centre also believes it is essential for mainstream political parties to be encouraged to be more active in areas dominated and controlled by Maoists.
At last week's conference on internal security, called by the PM and attended by chief ministers of different states, there was resistance to "the military approach."
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "We must work together to launch serious developmental initiatives so that misdirected people or those who were left of the development net can be brought back into the socio-economic net."
There have been no major Maoist strikes in Bihar in the last few years and ground support for the Naxals appears to be shrinking, which means there is little incentive for the government there to change its strategy.
"Unless tribal areas are developed on a war footing, they will continue to be vulnerable to the Naxalites," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said at the same meeting.
The Centre wants to promote what officials refer to as "the Andhra model."
Over the last decade, the state of Andhra Pradesh has evolved a policy where the District Superintendent of Police (DSP) makes key decisions about how and when to target Naxals. In most cases, this officer is expected to lead operations against Maoist military formations - platoons and companies of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army of the CPI (Maoist).
The State Intelligence Bureau helps to gather information about Naxal activities and leaders, which is passed on to the DSP.
Development of Naxal-affected areas by providing facilities like road, health, education and revitalising the Public Distribution System to counter the propaganda of Naxals takes second place to military action.
"We want political parties and states to realise that the soft option won't work and unless they go after the Maoists, the Maoists will kill them at every given opportunity no matter how weak or denuded the Maoists may be," a senior official in the Home Ministry told NDTV.
This approach signals, say sources, a paradigm shift in the Centre's assessment of the Naxal insurgency.
The movement is no longer being seen as a result of the State failing to provide basic facilities to its own people. The development-deficit approach is Nehruvian in nature. It puts the onus on the State to redress the grievances of the people. And, the Naxals are perceived as an instrument that highlights the neglect of the poorest and most backward parts of states.
The powerful National Advisory Council, headed by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, had earlier endorsed this view.
With today's meeting, government officials hope to propagate the view that Naxals attack Indian democracy and its representatives and must be dealt with militarily. Speaking to reporters after the massacre at Chhattisgarh last month, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters that there was no difference between Maoists and terrorists.
In how to tackle Naxals, sign of new battle between Centre and states | NDTV.com
