India Facing Growing Maoists Insurgency, Targets Rights Groups

[RiazHaq]

New Delhi: The Indian Army will go by whatever government decides on the issue of deploying armed forces in the anti-Naxal operations, Army chief Gen VK Singh said today.

However, he said it would be difficult for him to say anything at the moment.

Singh was asked whether the army would be deployed in the anti-naxal operations against the backdrop of Union home minister P Chidambaram's remarks that government may have to consider using air force in the fight.

"For this, country's political leadership will have to take an appropriate decision on this keeping all the things in mind. It would be difficult for me to say whether the army will be deployed in anti-naxal operations or not. They will decide, we will act accordingly," Gen Singh said.

However, he said the question was hypothetical as of now.

On the involvement of army in anti-Naxal operations in late 60s and early 70s, the army chief said, "Circumstances were different and assistance was given for certain things, which was provided in consultation with the political leadership."

He said employing the army in these operations has its own implications as "there are a lot of things that you have to do in terms of what you want as the end result."

Asked about Indian and Pakistani armies carrying out large-scale exercises at the same time along the border in the summer, Singh said it was a coincidence that they were exercising at the same time.

"Both the Armies keep doing exercises as per their schedule. If a country wants to validate any concept, they do it in the form of exercises. There is nothing to worry over this," he added.

Army will go by what govt says: Army chief on anti-Naxal operations - dnaindia.com

 

[ramu]

New Delhi: The Indian Army will go by whatever government decides on the issue of deploying armed forces in the anti-Naxal operations, Army chief Gen VK Singh said today.

However, he said it would be difficult for him to say anything at the moment.

Singh was asked whether the army would be deployed in the anti-naxal operations against the backdrop of Union home minister P Chidambaram's remarks that government may have to consider using air force in the fight.

"For this, country's political leadership will have to take an appropriate decision on this keeping all the things in mind. It would be difficult for me to say whether the army will be deployed in anti-naxal operations or not. They will decide, we will act accordingly," Gen Singh said.

However, he said the question was hypothetical as of now.

On the involvement of army in anti-Naxal operations in late 60s and early 70s, the army chief said, "Circumstances were different and assistance was given for certain things, which was provided in consultation with the political leadership."

He said employing the army in these operations has its own implications as "there are a lot of things that you have to do in terms of what you want as the end result."

Asked about Indian and Pakistani armies carrying out large-scale exercises at the same time along the border in the summer, Singh said it was a coincidence that they were exercising at the same time.

"Both the Armies keep doing exercises as per their schedule. If a country wants to validate any concept, they do it in the form of exercises. There is nothing to worry over this," he added.

Army will go by what govt says: Army chief on anti-Naxal operations - dnaindia.com

I think the UAVs are planned to be deployed against naxals. This can be a game changer and this will provide real time intelligence.

India getting experience of fighting jungle warfare is very useful in the north east.

 

[ajpirzada]

how will UAVs be of any help? there is a dense forest cover which will be hard to penetrate unless you equip those UAVs with infra red

 

[herakles]

how will UAVs be of any help? there is a dense forest cover which will be hard to penetrate unless you equip those UAVs with infra red

season is changing and forest will be less dense.
last time when UAV were used some how its info always got leaked .
hope this time it will be better planned.

 

[RiazHaq]

The Indian government recently launched a major offensive against Maoist rebels in central and eastern states. The BBC's Geeta Pandey travelled to Bijapur district in the southern part of Chhattisgarh state to meet tribespeople whose lives have been torn apart by years of conflict.

Bijapur used to be part of Dantewada district where Maoist rebels, also called Naxalites, killed 76 paramilitary troops on Tuesday in their deadliest ever attack on India's security forces.

The new district was carved out of Dantewada in May 2007. Two months earlier, the rebels killed 55 security personnel there - their worst strike until Tuesday's killings.

Last week, we travelled nearly 450km (280 miles) from Raipur, the state capital, to Bhairamgarh in Bijapur - as we got closer the drive got bumpier.

The road between Gidam (in Dantewada) and Bhairamgarh is missing in places.

Seeking shelter

"Work has been going on this stretch for 10 years now, but the Maoists will not let the authorities build this road," says S Karimuddin, a senior journalist based in the region.

Bhairamgarh is famous for its wildlife sanctuary - containing tigers, leopards, wild buffalo and hill hyenas.

But today, these jungles are controlled by Maoists who come out and strike at will before melting away into the forests.

Our destination is Patta Godam camp. Scores of mud and brick homes with thatched roofs hug the two sides of the road. Seeking shelter here are people from 16-17 tribal villages.

The camps first appeared in 2005 after the birth of Salwa Judum, the term for anti-rebel militias. As rebels began attacking Salwa Judum supporters, many villagers sought shelter.

Initially, nearly 50,000 tribespeople came to Patta Godam - it is estimated that more than 20,000 remain in the camp and in others in these districts.

The Patta Godam camp is well protected. As we arrive, we run into 24 paramilitaries patrolling the area.

Rebel attacks

Somaru from Pondum village has been living in the camp since 2005.

"The rebels wanted us to come to their meetings and support them, but we were busy in our farms and fields. So they got angry and attacked our village two or three times. They killed six villagers. So we came here," he says.

More than 400 villagers from Pondum are living in the camp. Only 100 - mostly old people - continue to live in the village.

Hapka Lakhur shows me his maimed leg.

"My family was rich, we had money and cattle. One night the rebels attacked us. They came at midnight. They were armed with guns and knives - they took away all our animals, goats and cows. They sliced my leg at the knee and twisted it."

His father, Hapka Yatu, was the village chief.

"A few days ago, he had fever so he went to see the witch doctor in the village. The Naxalites killed him. They slit his throat. He had deep cuts on his chest," Hapka Lakhur says.

Sukh Ram from Baeel village says they have been caught in the crossfire.

"The police will come to seek information about the rebels and then the rebels will come to the village and beat us up. They would ask - why did police come to your village? They killed our village head, they said he was a police informer."

'Caught in the middle'

Pandru and Shanti came to live in the camp with three young children because the "violence in the village got too much to bear", but every day they dream of returning home.

"Life in the village is good, but we can go only if we are given protection," Pandru says.

Most villagers in the camp say they have never gone back to their villages, in some cases just 5km (three miles) away.

The Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of the poor, but ironically it's the poor tribespeople and villagers who have been caught in the crossfire and displaced from their homes.

From the camp, we go to nearby villages looking for those who have returned home.

We travel for several kilometres on a dirt track and then drive in the fields to get to Jaigur village.

Here we meet Jailal who spent a month in Motwada camp.

"All the men from my village went to the camp, but we came back after a month because we had to look after our land, home and cattle. Moreover, the rebels were targeting camps too."

'Cannot be beaten'

Jailal says his brother was the village head and wanted to go against the Naxalites, so they killed him.

"We don't support the Maoists or the Salwa Judum. We are caught in the middle," he says.

"Because of the Maoists, we don't even put our heart in the farming. We don't know when we may have to run again, when we may die," he says.

A few minutes' walk from Jailal's house is the Indravati river - the Maoists live in the hills and forests just across the river.

To be living in such close proximity to the rebels, it's obvious that Jailal and other villagers have made their peace with the Maoists.

The rebels are often seen passing through the village, I'm told. And the last time the security forces came into the area was six months ago.

Indian authorities recently announced a massive anti-Maoist offensive in several states, including Chhattisgarh.

Nearly 21,000 paramilitary troops have been deployed in the state, and officials told the BBC fighting was going on just 10km (six miles) from Patta Godam camp.

But neither the camp residents nor the villagers in Jaigur have heard of the offensive.

And people are not optimistic that the government will be able to clear the area of Maoists.

Jailal says: "They will not leave. They cannot be beaten quickly and easily."

Tuesday's attack in Dantewada reinforces that belief.

Karimuddin, the journalist, says: "This generation is unlikely to see peace in their lifetime. Next generation, maybe."

BBC News - Indian villagers in crossfire of Maoist conflict

 

[RiazHaq]

 

[RiazHaq]

Here is a comment someone left on my blog that talks about the human angle of the ongoing Maoists insurgency in India:

the sad part is the casteism, that is rampant in this region. i heard a story, about a woman maoist sniper, who had played havoc with the security forces. they could not find her for three months, and toll was mounting....one day by sheer luck, they caught her and killed her. she had fallen and the security forces just watched her die, gasping for breath, for they were afraid, that she might detonate a hand grenade. the officer of the troops however took a chance to approach her and give her water. she just spat that water on his face. he says there was a look on her face that he will take with him until his death. she was high up in the maoist hierarchy so the officer went ahead to check her background. he found that she was from a village in srikakulam, in andhra pradesh. she was married at 16. On her first night, it was not her husband who came to her, but the landlord of the place. a 60 year old man abusing a 16 year
old. it is a custom it seemed in that region, that the first night should be with landlord. she lost her mind after that night, recovered , left her husband and wandered ,eventually joining the maoists.

there are many indians here who blame pakistanis. we say Pakistan is going wrong because of its establishment. namely the mullah, military and rich anglican pakistani elite. dont we have that oligarchy here in india! do we not have the upper caste hindus, the landlord, the rich businessmen and the politicians forming an oligarchy? An oligarchy that is simply growing rich by exploiting the vast riches of our soil?
whatever we might say about Pakistan, please understand that atleast some of them, have opened their eyes to this oligarchy. have we in india done that? the answer is no.

there is a company called vedanta resources. it is headquatered in london, and they are billionaires. they want minig rights to a mountain hill in jharkhand, that a real rare find. it has amongst the best Bauxite content. but the gond tribes who are in that area say, our god lives on this hill! we have a temple there, so we will not allow you to mine!
you know what the company management said? We will rebuild a better temple for you in the plains? (take it from our corporate social responsibility account) WOW! great minds these MBA`s are from our management institutes?
we have a temple atop palani hill in tamilnadu. we have been praying over it for few thousand years, if vedanta or anyone tells us, hey there is gold in that mountain you guys better shift, then do you think we will allow that? we will skin those MBA`s right there and hang it to dry.
but then the poor gond tribals and their tribal god? thats fate isnt it?
the officer who told me this story, weeps at the guilt of having killed a poor girl. i left him saying if you carry fighting with guilt, you will get killed.
how many more lives will we corrode?

Haq's Musings: Dalit Victims of Apartheid in India

 

[booo]

Here is a comment someone left on my blog that talks about the human angle of the ongoing Maoists insurgency in India:

the sad part is the casteism, that is rampant in this region. i heard a story, about a woman maoist sniper, who had played havoc with the security forces. they could not find her for three months, and toll was mounting....one day by sheer luck, they caught her and killed her. she had fallen and the security forces just watched her die, gasping for breath, for they were afraid, that she might detonate a hand grenade. the officer of the troops however took a chance to approach her and give her water. she just spat that water on his face. he says there was a look on her face that he will take with him until his death. she was high up in the maoist hierarchy so the officer went ahead to check her background. he found that she was from a village in srikakulam, in andhra pradesh. she was married at 16. On her first night, it was not her husband who came to her, but the landlord of the place. a 60 year old man abusing a 16 year
old. it is a custom it seemed in that region, that the first night should be with landlord. she lost her mind after that night, recovered , left her husband and wandered ,eventually joining the maoists.

there are many indians here who blame pakistanis. we say Pakistan is going wrong because of its establishment. namely the mullah, military and rich anglican pakistani elite. dont we have that oligarchy here in india! do we not have the upper caste hindus, the landlord, the rich businessmen and the politicians forming an oligarchy? An oligarchy that is simply growing rich by exploiting the vast riches of our soil?
whatever we might say about Pakistan, please understand that atleast some of them, have opened their eyes to this oligarchy. have we in india done that? the answer is no.

there is a company called vedanta resources. it is headquatered in london, and they are billionaires. they want minig rights to a mountain hill in jharkhand, that a real rare find. it has amongst the best Bauxite content. but the gond tribes who are in that area say, our god lives on this hill! we have a temple there, so we will not allow you to mine!
you know what the company management said? We will rebuild a better temple for you in the plains? (take it from our corporate social responsibility account) WOW! great minds these MBA`s are from our management institutes?
we have a temple atop palani hill in tamilnadu. we have been praying over it for few thousand years, if vedanta or anyone tells us, hey there is gold in that mountain you guys better shift, then do you think we will allow that? we will skin those MBA`s right there and hang it to dry.
but then the poor gond tribals and their tribal god? thats fate isnt it?
the officer who told me this story, weeps at the guilt of having killed a poor girl. i left him saying if you carry fighting with guilt, you will get killed.
how many more lives will we corrode?

Haq's Musings: Dalit Victims of Apartheid in India

movie story: Osey Ramulamma (1997)

 

[RiazHaq]

The guerrilla fighter was tough, experienced, leading a platoon of around 60 insurgents.

"I am from a very poor family," the fighter told me.

"Life was very difficult. I joined the party and now I understand many more things. I think revolution is the only option."

One thing you should know about this hardline Maoist rebel - she is a young woman.

She is one of the growing numbers of poor Indians who have joined a four-decades-old Maoist rebellion, in which thousands have died. Last month the rebels killed 76 members of the security forces in a single attack.

More than 20 of India's 28 states are affected by the insurgency. The remote tribal villages of Jharkhand state, where the fields are still tilled by oxen, are at the centre of it.

The area is home to some of the country's poorest people, mostly members of indigenous tribes. There is little sign of India's economic miracle here.

Local people feel the government has neglected them. So the Maoists, or "the party" as the villagers call them, have got on with running the place.

Parallel government

"The government here has no health programmes… so our party sets up health clinics to help the people," one Maoist fighter told me.

"This area is plagued by illness... Our party gives free medicines in the clinics - and we get help from doctors and nurses. We run them in the rainy season when people are suffering most."

The Maoists have drawn a lot of support from poor villagers like Chachi.

"They are like our sons, our brothers," she says.

"Before, we were not allowed to go into our forests - the authorities used to cut the trees but we weren't even allowed to gather firewood. Now we can.

"The party makes sure there is no tension between rich and poor… that's why we want the party here."

But not everyone agrees. The Maoists have blown up schools because the security forces use them as barracks.

"The pupils there now have classes under a tree," says a teacher, whom I call Pandey.

"The area is not able to develop - if a road is to be constructed, the Maoists won't let it be built," Pandey says.

"When electricity was planned, at first they objected. They didn't allow the main road connecting the villages to the cities to be built. And so this area remains extremely backward."

'Gravest threat'

Pandey is from a different state. There are few villagers who are as critical. Whatever actions the Maoists take, it seems they are still considered part of the local community.

But the authorities brand them "the gravest threat to India's national security", in the words of Home Secretary G K Pillai.

The government has sent 75,000 security forces and tens of thousands of policemen to these remote regions to regain control.

"Maoists treat the Indian state as the enemy. If citizens of India take up arms against the state no democracy can allow anarchy to flourish. And you can see in areas where the Maoists are there it's total anarchy. They decide who is to live, who is not to live," says Mr Pillai.

The Maoists defend their actions as part of a wider struggle to end the increasing gap between the rich and the poor.

Violence

I had a rare face-to-face interview with a member of the movement's leadership, a man I call Rameshji. I questioned him on their violent tactics.

"See the other side of the picture - how the minorities are butchered in state-sponsored pogroms," Rameshji responded.

"Many people in the struggling areas of central India are being killed by the state forces," he alleged. "Many people are dying of hunger. Who is responsible for such deaths? People are left with no other option. No-one is going to listen to you. This violence has been imposed by the state on the people of India."

For the Indian authorities, such accusations do not justify the insurgents' use of violent tactics against a democratically elected government.

But Maoist leaders like Rameshji seem determined to fight on until they overthrow the government itself.

"Our aim is to achieve a new democratic revolution - to seize the state power. You must eradicate the whole system and in order to eradicate the whole system, you must seize power."

BBC News - Inside the Maoist insurgency in India's Jharkand state

 

[RiazHaq]

Maoist rebels have attacked a bus in central India and killed at least 20 people, including civilians and police officers, according to officials.

The rebels apparently detonated a mine under the bus in Chhattisgarh state's Dantewada district. Some reports put the death toll at much higher than 20.

Dantewada was the scene of the rebels' deadliest attack last month, when 76 people were killed.

Thousands of people have died in their decades-long fight against the state.

Civilian recruits

In the latest attack, the rebels are said to have destroyed the front of the bus with a landmine.

INDIA'S MAOIST INSURGENCY
# Violent rebellion began in 1967 in West Bengal village of Naxalbari and spread over rural areas of central and eastern India
# Led by elusive military commander Kishenji , supported by between 10,000 and 20,000 fighters
# More than 6,000 killed since rebellion began
# Worst attacks include 76 killed in April 2010 ambushes in Dantewada; 55 killed in attack on police outpost in 2007

"About 40 people were travelling on the bus and at least 20 police personnel and a couple of civilians have been killed in a landmine blast," local official SR Kalluri told the AFP news agency.

He said the officers were special police officers, who are recruited from the civilian population to act as pro-government militias, helping security forces in anti-Maoist operations

Local TV stations reported that as many as 50 people may have died in the attack.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Delhi says questions will be asked about why members of the security forces were travelling on a civilian bus in such a dangerous area.

He says officials will also want to know how the rebels managed to find out about it so quickly and mount an attack.

Earlier on Monday, the bodies of six villagers were found with their throats slit in the forests of Chhattisgarh.

Maoist rebels had kidnapped the six on the weekend, accusing them of spying for the government.

India's 'biggest threat'

Chhattisgarh has seen several attacks recently, and Dantewada is one of the areas hardest hit by the insurgency.

Last month, the district was the scene of the worst attack the rebels have yet carried out with the killing of 76 people, including soldiers and police officers.

The Maoists, also known as Naxalites, say they are fighting for the rights of rural poor who have been neglected by the government for decades.

But correspondents say support has been slipping away from the rebels, particularly after last month's attack.

The Maoist insurgency has been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country's biggest internal security threat.

Last October, the government announced a "massive anti-Maoist offensive" and deployed 50,000 troops in several states, including Chhattisgarh.
Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC News - India Maoist rebels kill many in bus attack

 

[ejaz007]

Suspected Maoist rebels kill 5 Indian soldiers

CALCUTTA: Suspected Maoist rebels blew up a paramilitary vehicle using a landmine in eastern India on Wednesday, killing five soldiers, police said.

The soldiers belonging to the Central Reserve Police force were ambushed in West Midnapore district, nearly 110 175 kilometres west of Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, said Zulfikar Hassan, an inspector-general of police.

The blast left a five-foot deep crater on the road, the Press Trust of India news agency said

The attack came a day after India’s home minister offered to begin peace talks with Maoist rebels, but only if they halt all attacks for 72 hours.

The offer followed a rebel ambush on Monday of a bus in central India that killed 31 police officers and civilians. The attacks highlighted the Maoists’ strength despite a government offensive aimed at ending one of Asia’s longest rebellions.

Suspected Maoist rebels moved into parts of West Midnapore district of West Bengal state last year after driving out poorly armed local police and seized control of villages in a 50-square-kilometre area. Security forces later drove them out from most of the area.

Inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, the rebels have fought for more than four decades demanding land and jobs for farmers and the poor. About 2,000 people – including police, militants and civilians – have been killed in the past few years.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called them India’s biggest internal security threat.

Last year, the government announced its “Operation Green Hunt” offensive aimed at flushing the militants out of their forest hide-outs. ap

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ejaz007]

Maoist-hit India faces massive police shortage

RAIPUR: The Indian home minister said on Wednesday at least 335,000 police posts were vacant across the country as the government struggles to tackle a spreading Maoist insurgency.

P Chidambaram told a security conference held in one area hit by deadly Maoist activity that India even lacked police stations in some regions that were in the grip of raging left-wing violence. “And there are police stations where men do not hold any weapons for the fear of their weapons being looted,” he said in Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state where Maoists massacred 76 policemen in an ambush in April.

Chidambaram has taken a hard stand against the outlawed guerrillas, pumping tens of millions of dollars into police programmes to re-arm men battling the rebels. “The total number of sanctioned posts in all ranks is about 2.1 million and of these about 335,000 posts are vacant,” said the minister, who is under pressure to deploy the armed forces to battle the Maoists.

The comments came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was determined to enforce “the writ of the state” in areas under Maoist control. Last week the rebels were blamed for derailing a passenger train, causing a crash that left 151 people dead.

Chidambaram launched a coordinated offensive against the Maoists in November last year, involving more than 60,000 paramilitary and state police.

The operation has produced few tangible results and Maoist attacks have stepped up.

The Maoist rebellion began in West Bengal in 1967 and has since spread to 20 of India’s 29 states. afp

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ejaz007]

27 Indian troops killed in Maoist rebel ambush

* Senior local police official says 10 other injured in attack on CRPF personnel while on routine patrol

PATNA: Maoist rebels killed at least 27 paramilitary troops in an ambush in eastern India on Tuesday, the latest in a series of bold attacks by the guerrillas, a senior police official said.

A 50-strong patrol of the Central Reserve Police Force was ambushed on Tuesday evening on a routine patrol in a densely forested area in the Narayanpur district of Chhatisgarh state, said Sunder Raj, a senior local police official. Ten other troops were wounded, he said.

Few other details were immediately available from the remote area. It is a stronghold of the rebels, who are also called Naxals, after the village of Naxalbari where their movement started in the 1970s.

The government launched a major offensive last year to tackle the worsening left-wing insurgency, but since then the Maoists have hit back – triggering widespread criticism of officials and politicians.

Maoist rebel groups have fought for decades throughout east and central India against state and government rule, drawing support from landless tribal groups and farmers left behind by the country’s economic development.

In the last major attack by suspected Maoists, one month ago 146 people were killed when a Mumbai-bound passenger train from Kolkata was derailed by saboteurs in a remote part of West Bengal state.

The express veered into the path of an oncoming freight train after a section of the track was removed.

Last month a Maoist landmine in Chhattisgarh hit a bus, killing 24 civilians and 11 police personnel, while 25 officers were also killed in February when Maoists overran a security camp in West Bengal state.

The scale of recent rebel strikes has highlighted the government’s struggle to find an effective strategy against the Maoists, with ministers coming under severe pressure to clamp down on the violence.

As the attacks have worsened, calls have grown for the army and air force to be drafted in.

But until now, the government has insisted that paramilitary and state police forces are enough for flushing the Maoists out of their jungle bases.

Analysts say the government is hamstrung by internal disagreement, with some urging a more aggressive policy and others favouring a long-term strategy to addresses the plight of impoverished tribespeople and farmers.

Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram is seen as belonging to the former camp, while his ruling Congress party chief, Sonia Gandhi, has stressed the need to combat the “root causes” of the insurgency.

“There is a conflict between the so-called hawks who want to crush the rebels and the so-called doves who call for development in Maoist-dominated areas to wean away their support,” Ajai Sahani, a counter-terrorism expert, told AFP recently. agencies

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ejaz007]

India sets up unified command to tackle Maoists

* PM wants decisive actions against the rebels
* Poor coordination between state forces has also hampered the fight

NEW DELHI: India announced a unified command structure on Wednesday to help coordinate a security offensive against Maoist rebels, but analysts said the move may not be enough to turn around the battle against the insurgency.

The unified command, which will include a former army general, underlines government urgency to tackle a rebellion that has roiled poor rural regions where a sense of official neglect runs deep.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants decisive actions against the rebels, not only to show the government is in charge but also to free up vast tracts of mineral-rich forests with billions of dollars in business potential. The rebels say they are fighting for the poor and landless and have backed farmers in land disputes with industry, one of the main obstacles in Asia’s third largest economy to higher growth and more rural jobs.

While the economic impact may be small compared with India’s trillion-dollar economy, the insurgency has taken some toll on business. Work on a $7-billion steel plant by India’s third largest steel producer, JSW Steel Ltd, has been delayed. Frequent rebel attacks have hit production and shipment at firms such as India’s largest miner of iron ore, NMDC Ltd.

Violent land protests backed by Maoists forced the scrapping of a Tata Motors’ Nano car plant and delayed work on two separate plants by the world’s leading steel makers Arcelor Mittal and POSCO in eastern India.

The campaign against the rebels has suffered because of the decision to avoid using the army for fear of alienating locals, leaving ill-trained police to fight a guerrilla war in the jungles of central and east India.

Poor coordination: Poor coordination between state security forces has also hampered the fight, and the central government in New Delhi now hopes that a unified command would be able to fine tune the security offensive. “The efforts of the state governments ... have met with mixed results”, Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told a meeting of chief ministers of the affected states in New Delhi.

The new plan also involves the use of more helicopters and logistical support from the army. And as a measure of balance in the government response, Chidambaram announced more money for development projects in the Maoist-dominated areas.

“The cosmetic measures they are talking about do not in any sense increase the capability of the forces and there is no talk about how they will counter the Maoists in their heartland”, said Ajai Sahni of New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management. The insurgency, which Singh has described as India’s biggest security challenge, is now present in a third of the country. reuters

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan