Should IAF be used against Naxals ?

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Hey a question from Indian members, should Indian airforce bomb Naxals in India ?

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[/COLOR]Chidambaram favours IAF firing on naxals
PTI 7 October 2009, 08:08pm IST
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NEW DELHI: As government contemplates use of air power against Maoists, Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday favoured the Indian Air Force
firing on naxals while the Air Chief P V Naik said the rules of engagement in such situation will be stringent.

With the Cabinet Committee on Security set to consider the IAF's request for permission to fire when under attack by naxals, the Home Minister told a press conference the Force will take adequate counter-measures to protect its choppers and pilots from naxal attacks.

However, he refused to reveal any detail, recalling that an IAF helicopter was fired at by the Maoists a few weeks ago in Chhattisgarh.

Naik, who personally disfavoured use of defence forces for internal security, said the issue was under consideration.

"Decision will be taken only at the highest level. Conditions under which my air crew is going to fire are very stringent. We put up a set of Rules of Engagement, RoE, as it is called. And these RoE are very, very stern. No excessive force, no collateral damage, positive assurance, positive identification, only then," the Air Chief told a TV channel.

Defence Minister A K Antony appeared to suggest that such an engagement may be unavoidable when he said ".....actually, we were to minimise armed forces operations for the internal security".

The Defence Ministry is understood to have taken the decision to put the demand of IAF to CCS as the Ministry's stated position was that it could not take offensive action against the Maoists who are Indian citizens

Chidambaram favours IAF firing on naxals - India - The Times of India

 

[gubbi]

Hey a question from Indian members, should Indian airforce bomb Naxals in India ?
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About time!
But I would think it would be more of CAS with helos rather than jets!
But the problem is, the operation is a Police action with the use of paramilitary forces to support them. Center refuses to send in more paramilitary forces, wanting the states to take care of the problem through Police action. Using military air power instead of law enforcement CAS would be counter productive!

@ Jana: you quoting TOI when you just recently trashed an article and posted another article from the TOI to refute the original article from the same source?? Interesting times indeed.

 

[gaurysh]

Hey a question from Indian members, should Indian airforce bomb Naxals in India ?

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Well i am of the view that if using IAF will be effective why not, any move to counter terrorism in an effective way without harming normal civilians is welcomed....

 

[pmukherjee]

Hey a question from Indian members, should Indian airforce bomb Naxals in India ?

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The Naxals or Maoists are primarily a law and order problem in some states with large backward tribal population and communist influence. It is an offshoot of the Maoist/Leninist branch of Communist Party of India, CPI (ML) which advocates that the current social structure sucks and hence must be destroyed to rebiuld the society. The communists maybe nearly extinct world wide, but they do hold sway in certain parts in India Such as West Bengal and Kerala where they run the state governments. They also supported the last Congress govt. The Communist Party (CPI/M) running the state governments, even though pursuing a milder form of communism, are sympathetic towards the Naxals and till they were recently leaned upon heavily by the Central Govt, were against determined action against the Naxals.

This is not the first time we have faced the Naxal menace which was born in a small hamlet in West Bengal in late 60s. It was crushed in the early 70s. But West Bengal had a Congress govt then and not communist. Congress Chief Minister, Siddharth Shankar Ray was a tough and uncompromising guy with no sympathies for the commies.

Being a law and order problem, they have to be tackled by the State police of affected states. However, due to an aforementioned lack of will shown by certain state govts in tackling the Naxal issue (which is what resulted in the Naxals gaining strength to present proportions), the Central govt decided to utilise the central police forces like the CRPF.

In no way are the defense forces involved and neither should they be. The Naxals have never advocated breaking away from India. They wish to wage a violent class struggle against the govt of the day and its apparatus in order to bring it down and create a style of governance they consider ideal, which is something similar to that which existed in Soviet Union under Stalin or in China under Mao.

Apart from the above, there is also the feasibility of retaliatory action by IAF which matters. If some body lets lose a burst of automatic fire on a helicoptre in a jungle, what can the IAF do about it? Any retaliatory action is bound to result in considerable colateral damage which will further alienate the local population. These are the reasons why IAF should not fire back and instead be prepared to take hostile fire, with protection as possible. Graduated response without use of overwhelming force.

 

[Sprint]

Well i am of the view that if using IAF will be effective why not, any move to counter terrorism in an effective way without harming normal civilians is welcomed....

If you wish to have a swat like situation inside india well then go ahead and bomb the **** out of naxals but if not then bombing those areas is the biggest stupid step GOI would take. We need high quality HUINT in coordination with ground troops and that too not beyond paramilitary forces. Naxals do not have very sophisticated weaponary, the plan should be to corner them and tire them before eliminating them. we need to go step wise for cleaning up the mess from the roots and gain confidence of common men. For this the idiology of naxalites necessarily has to be crushed so that means capturing their leaders alive is very important

 

[agastya]

i am totally against the use of iaf's role in a kind of a retaliatory approach ....its use in gathering information like for reconnaissance using its uav's for locating movements inside the rugged terrain where para military forces take time to reach can be great

 

[gogbot]

Cluster bombs solve all problems

 

[RPK]

The Hindu : News / National : Permission only to fire in self-defence not to attack: Naik

 

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IAF to deploy commandos in choppers flying in Naxal-hit areas
PTI 8 October 2009, 01:03pm IST


HINDON: The IAF on Thursday said it will deploy its commando units to defend its helicopters and men on board in Naxal-infested areas, but made it
clear that they would not carry out any "Rambo-style" operation against the Maoists.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik told reporters here that the Garud special forces would be present in the helicopters flying in Maoist-hit areas for rescue operations and would defend their personnel and equipment by warding-off attacks by Naxals on them.

"It is not a free for all like 'Rambo' that we will go and fire in the countryside. The helicopters operating for casualty evacuation will be mounted with guns and the Garud force will man them," Naik said on the sidelines of the 77th Air Force Day parade here.

Asked about the IAF request to the government to allow opening of fire in self-defence, he said the Cabinet Committee on Security will decide the matter.

"I want to reiterate that I am totally against armed forces -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- being used in internal situations. We are meant to defend threats from across the border," he said.

Naik, however, said, "If the states requires any help we are always there to give it in terms of casualty evacuation and insertion (of security forces)."

Referring to the killing of an IAF personnel in a Naxal attack on a helicopter during Chhattisgarh Assembly elections last year, Naik said this made the IAF request the defence ministry to permit it to open fire in self-defence.

He said the request was to ensure that the IAF could protect its personnel and platforms and suppress the fire coming on to a helicopter.

"We are not indulging in any armed aggression against any citizen of India. We would only like to undertake operations to protect our helicopters and men and women who fly these (air) hospitals," he said.

Stating that the helicopter's commander should give permission to open fire in case of a decision by the CCS, Naik said, "There will be very stringent stipulations to help identify where the fire is coming from, and where to use minimum force to ensure minimum collateral damage."

He maintained that the Air Force was not deploying its armed helicopters or aircraft to bomb any area in Naxalite- affected regions.

IAF to deploy commandos in choppers flying in Naxal-hit areas - India - The Times of India

 

[blueoval79]

Well till now IAF has been doing only search and rescue operations ...using Choppers to evacuate Injured...and evict stuck personal.......there have been instances Naxalites firing on Choppers....and IAF was unable to retaliate....because of no permission.....Now they can retaliate...when fired upon....

 

[hembo]

No 'Rambo style ' offensive against Maoists, IAF says
Thu, Oct 8 03:19 PM

New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS) The Indian Air Force (IAF) said Thursday that it was not contemplating a 'Rambo style' offensive against the Maoists.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Air Force Day parade, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik said that IAF request for permission to fire in self defence did not mean an all-out 'armed offensive' against the people of India.

He said the force was only taking counter measures to defend itself against firing from the ground by Maoist guerrillas who are increasingly becoming aggressive across the country.

'We have approached the government to fire in self defence to protect ourself. It is not free for all where you go like Rambo and fire at everybody. There are laid down procedures. You have to ensure minimum use of force, minimum collateral damage, firing has to be permitted by the captain of the helicopter and so on,' Naik told reporters here.

IAF helicopters providing air support and non-offensive roles in Maoist affected areas have been fired at in the past. The IAF has carried out surveillance, reconnaissance and casualty evacuations during anti-Maoist operations.

On Nov 14 last year, the IAF lost an aircrew when Maoists fired at a Mi-8 helicopter in Pedia in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region.

The IAF has sought permission from the defence ministry to fire in self-defence.

'We are not indulging in armed offensive against the people of India. We are trying to protect our men, women and crew who fly these machines,' said Naik.

'In the helicopters going for anti-Naxal operations the measures will be taken in self defence. The first being armour, then body armour for the crew, tactical maneuvering and sanitisation of place before taking off and landing by the local agencies,' said Naik.

However, once permission is granted, the IAF will mount guns manned by Garud, the IAF's special force, the chief revealed.

Indo Asian News Service

 

[deckingraj]

Pardon my lack of knowledge related to defence procedures but can anyone enlighten me here that why the hell IAF needs permission from GOI to shoot back in self defence?? I mean what shall IAF do when one is ready with sofisticated weapons to shoot at them?? Wait for some minister to give them a knod to save their own life??

I am of the opinion that a political problem should be solved in a political way and overuse of force will result in further alienation of people(and in fact will serve to Moist propaganda) but not to retaliate even in self defence is beyond my understanding.

 

[pmukherjee]

Pardon my lack of knowledge related to defence procedures but can anyone enlighten me here that why the hell IAF needs permission from GOI to shoot back in self defence?? I mean what shall IAF do when one is ready with sofisticated weapons to shoot at them?? Wait for some minister to give them a knod to save their own life??

I am of the opinion that a political problem should be solved in a political way and overuse of force will result in further alienation of people(and in fact will serve to Moist propaganda) but not to retaliate even in self defence is beyond my understanding.

Excellent question.