Bharat Rakshak

Right on cue, rediff has an interview where the other scumbag, Himanshu Kumar, yaks about tribal rights. Anyone here would have thunked that?!

Reading the previosu discussions:

(1) Both Andhra and Bengal in pre-Partition India had certain common features not present all together, anywhere else in India, (a) Both had large peasant populations with uneven concentration, and productivity mixed with fractured societies and a good deal of "tribals" (b) both had large non-Muslim populations under Islamic overlordship until the British removed the latter from actual power, and cohabiting with a significant Muslim population. There is a theory that "Communism" became attractive to Hindu forward "caste" elite from anti-British struggles who failed to mobilize Muslims in their nationalist struggles, as a possible ideology that could form a common "secular" platform. It could also hopefully coopt Muslims in a supposedly common-interest economics based "class struggle".

(2) Not many perhaps remember that the first radicalization note within the "Marxists" in India was struck at two places - In the Telengana region in 1948, and the Tebhaga [three portions] land-struggle in North Bengal in the same period. This was the first time that Maoist lines of "peasant uprisings" and "militant land reforms" with an outline of Maoist "fluid base area" tactics appeared. The 1948 Telengana and Tebhaga episode was significant in the first dissent within the CPI [and the first virtual split] post Independence. [In communist circles this is known as the Andhra-Line]. The militarization came from two specific conditions - the anti-feudal struggle for land against theviolently repressive Nizam-shahi, which the communists took over, and the similar struggles against the North Bengali Zamindars like that of Naogaon.

Obviously the Andhra cadre got more militarized because it was a "princely state". Moreover by this time the Maoist "Long March" had become a folklore. Moreover, at this point the Chinese communist party was still within the Comintern sphere. In fact the peculiarities of Indian communist twists and turns cannot be understood unless one looks at the weirdest twists and turns of the Comintern as regards anti-Imperialist struggles in the colonies [ entirely determined by Stalins personal power struggles with his Russian opponents and then his concerns to preserve USSR over all other interests].

In fact the Maoization started from what a large portion of the Communists of the period felt as the "betrayal" by the Russian led Comintern of the aspirations of the Indian communists. As early as 1948, this led to the seeds of the split which would eventually lead to the formal split of the CPI into CPI and CPI(M).

Internal, personal power struggles within the Communists always take the form of intense polemical battles. So the Andhra and Bengal communists, forced to work with peasants and industrial workers with strong rural links, found the Russian orthodox Marxist line of "industrial proletariat" as the mainstay of "revolution" less attractive and appropriate for Indian conditions compared to Mao's clever redefinition of traditional "class" theory.

Get this very clear - it is a search for power by Hindu elite who thought that it was their own "Hinduness" that prevented them from mobilizing sufficient numbers to push them into power. The history of Indian communism has been one long struggle to find a constituency that will win them power. So they have had to redefine their "class" enemies and "class" friends in bewildering twists and turns.

(3) The majority of the upper echelons come from "Hindu forward castes" of their respective regions. The higher you go up the ladder, greater is the proportion of Brahmins and Kshatryias. The core leadership does not contain non-Hindu members, not at the PB level - never has been throughout the inception of the movement.

(4) As I said before, mere capture and liquidation of "top" leadership has never been the problem to find next rung of leaders. There are n-number of youth from idealistic background, who will be ready to take up the next slots. In fact there already are. The problem is that, many institutions of higher education have significant inter-"generational" chain of influence and recruitment. The Indian establishment, including academics - have never, ever tried to undermine three aggressively proselytizing ideologies by continuous deconstruction and delegitimization - Communism [Marxism-Leninism-Maoism], Islamism, and EJ-ism. Since the ideologies are raised sky-high as "good", this has subtle but far-reaching impact on elite youth of idealist bend.

For them, these then become the "idealist' alternative to the "abominable" and "shameful" "Hinduism" of their birth. All the directed energy of youthful idealism that would have otherwise led to a psychological comfort with the birth culture is focused on to "alternatives" which however disjoins them from their cultural roots and keeps them constantly on edge. An internal struggle that possibly sustains never-ending aggression.

I am loosing 50 cents of my hard earned land, currently being used as establishment for enlightment for 500 youth, Government has freezed it, and later instead of acquisition plans to negotiate a buy on their terms for a new national highway. It is going through the middle of my establishment, therefore will force me and 'clintele' to find a new location, raise money(good luck with a hindu/'secular organization) and restart. Guess, I should be forming my own maoist organization, but hey I am well off, if I loose something it doesnt measure up to the same standards kept by all leftie idiots. Why does in India somehow Poor People= Nice People, Rich People= Evil find so many takers. Guess whose hardened money as siphoned as tax and who has to live in the fear of unions. So,Where is my politburo.

Anger spills over in CRPF camp

CHINTALNAR: Deep discontentment and utter frustration sweeps CRPF's 62 Battalion camp at Chintalnar, around 185 km from Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh, that lost 76 men to the worst ever Maoist ambush on Tuesday.

The jawans are angry over the delay in reinforcements following the attack, their gruelling day-to-day lives in remote jungles and the failure of senior officials to show up at the camp after the tragedy. The edgy jawans didn't even spare Union home minister P Chidambaram and the media for sympathising with them "for the sake of it".

"People are issuing statements, expressing grief over the incident, but how many have tried to see the condition we work in," yelled a jawan from inside the camp. "Media are flashing fabricated reports about senior officers making visits or camping at our site. No one has actually turned up," he added.

He said politicians were finding faults with them. "They say it was a mistake. How can they pass such a judgment sitting in Delhi?" asked another jawan. Another jawan joined in to take a dig at the politicians.

"Choppers are ready for their emergency needs, but when our men bleed to death without any assistance, the choppers are no where to be seen," said the jawan. "Our seniors keep talking on the phone and the assistance is delayed."

Their seniors tried to calm the jawans down but they continued to vent their anger at the government's apathy. "We've to walk around 42-km daily with facilities that don't even match up to minimum standards," said another jawan. "They've provided booster pumps to draw water but there is no electricity."

He said the jawans even go hungry during operations. "We're forced to fight without rest or food. Why this discrimination against us?" asked a jawan who was part of the rescue operation.

Sriman wrote:

Vishwamitra wrote:Flash News!

Maoists attack on Polampalli Base Camp in Andhra Pradesh!

Around 500 maoists surrounded the base camp. The encounter is in progress.

Any more news on this?

Looks like the maoists dispersed when police returned fire.

Me think, Maoists are trying to break police morale by attacking them in AP, an anti-maoist success story.

If the CRPF jawans are angry, no point shouting they should cooly direct their anger towards the traitor scum that are sitting in air-conditioned homes issuing pro-Maoist statements.

BTW rapist goon propaganda yellow media has still not come out with Stalinist mass murderers statement on the massacre...

In late 2009 I attended a lecture by Home Secretary Pillai where he said the following stuff.

Naxals are the biggest threat. They are more organised and they are patient. Successive state governments have been so callous that there are huge tracts of India where a government functionary has not set foot in for decades. There is an 8000 sq km area in Jharkhand where the last time a govt functionary stepped in was in 1971. The area is isolated and there is a river to cross. If anyone tries to build a bridge now the naxals will kill the workers and blow up the works.

Mr Pillai noted that he was unable to understand how state governments were unable to bring in police reform and add to the police forces. He said that the sate chief minster has the power to offer 3 lakh government jobs to policemen - which is such an attractive and vote wining thing that it is inconceivable why India has among the lowest police population ratios in the world (see news item linked above)

A posting to far out areas is a punishment posting and the worst people get posted there. Those rotters treat the locals badly and it is no wonder that people become Naxals or rebels in the NE. All these rebels/Naxals are funded by extortion. Every government servant or businessmen pays extortion fees and in a sense it is the Government of India itself that funds these people.

Here is a related news item about the talk

http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a11/cy ... sm-toi.jpg

Regarding caste and religious configs in AP based Naxals - In the past it was all from high caste, educated but ideologically-inclined to communists joined these orgs. The young of those days are the current leaders. From 80s and 90s after the fall of SU and Chinese liberalization the trend changed. The mid-level leadership is more of Dalits, EJs etc. This is where the coordination between church and Maoists is very significant in Orissa.

as Kati wrote in his post - It is almost impossible to crush Naxalism using counter-terror ops that we all like to see becasue they are very much part of the society and have excellent intel collecting tactics. If you are a religious one, they may tell you verses from Bhagavatgeeta and can come in similar attires too. You never even know that the next person sitting in train or bus could be a naxalite. They have many overground organizations. The classic one in AP is PUCL (K. G. Kannabhiran). CPI-ML (Marxists and Leninists ) is the political wing of these folks that stands in elections too.

In the very backward regions they are the Robin Hoods because government administration is almost zero due to corruption etc. They are the ones who may be providing basic needs. Hence collecting intel about these folks also is very difficult.

Muppalla wrote:R They have many overground organizations. The classic one in AP is PUCL (K. G. Kannabhiran). CPI-ML (Marxists and Leninists ) is the political wing of these folks that stands in elections too.

One MP from AP from this party was visiting and a large turnout in the massaland to hear him. There is a sizable NRI supporters for these political outfits.

Acharya wrote:

Muppalla wrote:R They have many overground organizations. The classic one in AP is PUCL (K. G. Kannabhiran). CPI-ML (Marxists and Leninists ) is the political wing of these folks that stands in elections too.

One MP from AP from this party was visiting and a large turnout in the massaland to hear him. There is a sizable NRI supporters for these political outfits.

They rarely win and winning MP seat is difficult for them. He may be just leader of the outfit. May I know who is that gent?

Muppalla wrote:
They rarely win and winning MP seat is difficult for them. He may be just leader of the outfit. May I know who is that gent?

I will enquire and let you know. This was around sept-oct 2008 before the general elections. There was talk about new govt. State BJP president was also on tour around the same time.

If the Maoists are so angry about local level corruption they should take on and punish local village level govt. staff that are in nuke-proof jobs with pension and hence miles ahead of poor folk -the village accountants, local health clinic doctors and staff, veterinary, agricultural extensions staff, those manning water bodies, babus issuing birth/death/caste cert, school teachers, panchayat employees and so on...these leeches don't do an hour of sincere work in their entire lifetimes, are often controlled by Stalinist unions and hence are the biggest obstacle to progress and poor delivery of services. Taking them on from top-down approach is impossible because they gang up vote out anyone that even asks them to report to work on time. Ask JJ..they also sabotage upward movement of bribes so political parties cannot take them on.

The only way is bottom up, road side rural justice that brings them to heel...

If each Indian village takes strong action against just one of these leeches, we will beat US/Japan for sure in a decade. It will cut down cost of governance by 50% and yet improve services.

Suppiah wrote:If the CRPF jawans are angry, no point shouting they should cooly direct their anger towards the traitor scum that are sitting in air-conditioned homes issuing pro-Maoist statements.

Doubtful this can achieve much. The traitor scum have political protection at the highest levels.

yvijay wrote:

Muppalla wrote:
Though technically they are from Telangana, substantial part of the leadership is actually coastal AP origin. I can tell from the last names. Regarding caste breakup though it is difficult in the current time period, the guess per intel is that leadership consists of Kamma and Reddy folks. Most of foot soldiers are dalits.

As far as I know, atleast the AP maoist leadership mainly consisted of brahmins and then reddy and kamma folks.

This is a Hindu army.

It has representation across the caste spectrum. Its members are willing to leave their homes and families, live far from civilization, train themselves to fight a powerful adversary and if necessary, die for what they believe in.

Subtract the EJ and Marxist ideologies and there stands revealed an army of men who have qualities that the nation of Bharat really needs.

If properly motivated with the right ideology they could achieve wonders.

Nonsense. It is not "hindu", nor is it an "army".

It is a band of hardened neo-Maoist criminals, and it needs to be wiped out, without mercy. The only thing is, that once it HAS been wiped out, we need to also ameliorate the basic reasons why it emerged in the first place. Which are, of course, the insensitivity of the Indian state to its people, and the continuing colonial era system of undemocratic administration which has caused this insensitivity to emerge.

Kavu wrote:I am loosing 50 cents of my hard earned land, currently being used as establishment for enlightment for 500 youth, Government has freezed it, and later instead of acquisition plans to negotiate a buy on their terms for a new national highway. It is going through the middle of my establishment, therefore will force me and 'clintele' to find a new location, raise money(good luck with a hindu/'secular organization) and restart. Guess, I should be forming my own maoist organization, but hey I am well off, if I loose something it doesnt measure up to the same standards kept by all leftie idiots. Why does in India somehow Poor People= Nice People, Rich People= Evil find so many takers. Guess whose hardened money as siphoned as tax and who has to live in the fear of unions. So,Where is my politburo.

Im sorry to hear this. But you see quite easily, how something like this could make a man take up arms. The overbearing and autocratic nature of government, the lack of legal recourse to right wrongs, (ubi jus, ibi remedium), all lead to a sense of anger. And if, unlike you, a man is just barely making ends meet, such state sponsored exploitation is enough to drive a man over the edge.

While I say there can be no mercy for anyone who has sided with this demoniac naxal ideology, and committed crimes of murder and worse, I do understand why there is such a fertile recruiting ground for the swine who lead this subversive gang.

Kavu wrote:Why does in India somehow Poor People= Nice People, Rich People= Evil find so many takers

May be it is thanks to the socialism concepts taken to the extremes. Right from the days of independence the rich people (or businessmen) have been categorically shown as people who made their wealth illegally. And poor people remain poor, because they have been honest - and thus cannot make too much wealth.

I remember the words of my first boss (a person who made his life in Japan, even though he was from India). "Poverty does not lie in one's pocket, it lies in one's mindset". He reached this conclusion when he found a man spitting paan to the floor in a railway compartment. My boss asked why he did it, guess what the reason was -"saab, ham gareeb aadmi hein" (I am poor person). Sad state of affairs. Poor people take the excuse of poverty to do any non-sense, rich people have found ways to circumvent the law. The people who are neither of the two are in a confused state of mind.

Suppiah wrote:If the CRPF jawans are angry, no point shouting they should cooly direct their anger towards the traitor scum that are sitting in air-conditioned homes issuing pro-Maoist statements.

And what happens next? These poor CRPF people would be hauled up, and would be imprisoned. The media will clap their hands and say "justice has won". The way the police force is treated, and their working conditions would make any person go bersek sooner or later. I am surprised that they have already not started mutineeing. Perhaps they find some other group on whom they can use up their frusturations.

Sachin wrote:Poor people take the excuse of poverty to do any non-sense, rich people have found ways to circumvent the law. The people who are neither of the two are in a confused state of mind.

Probably this is one of the best quotations quoted, this will be the best not only in BRF and in general. Probably, I will never forget this and will be memorized to my bones. Thanks sir.

^^^^^
Waht Shiv-ji has mentioned above as G K Pillai's assessment about the situation is right to the point.
It is a vicious cycle that propagates and perpetuates the problem. In Jharkhand and central Bihar, things have crossed a certain threshold - so much so that the state doesn't exist in large areas. Those govt babus sent there treat these places as punishment areas, and siphon off almost all developmental funds. Ironically, a cut money is then given to naxalites in these two states
to protect the skin of some of the babus. Corruption affects helpless rural folks more bitterly than the urban middlelass. Exactly the same situation in NE - just replace naxalites by ULFA/NLFT/NSCN........
I haven't seen the things in MP, AP or Chattrishgarh, but have seen how money
earmarked for schools and health clinics in Bihar and Jharkhand are looted by the babus, .... and the money trail goes up the ladder to all the major political parties. And many of these babus have their relatives in the foreign lands, and some of these relatives now read BRF and rue how the country is pushed to the brink by these maoists ........ See the problem! Don't know where to cut the chain and straighten up the things.

Today, sixteen ranvir Sena men were given capital punishment for killing 58 landless peasants who
were probably supporting lal Sena. But yesterday, these Ranvir Sena men were cheered up by BJP. Day before yesterday, landless peasants formed Lal Sena because they were (and are still today) couldn't cultivate the land. Many are not allowed in temples by the landlords .... its a total mess - a spaghetti like situation.

Having said all these, strategically it is a failure for the police forces to set up their intel network. it takes a small fraction of the money that is spent today to combat the menace to cultivate informants. Exploitation is there, but at least do it intelligently!!!!

Should govt take lessons from enemy?
Relevant portions posted

The Dantewada incident underlines the need for Centre and states to urgently learn lessons on coordination, intelligence gathering and deployment in the face of a Maoist leadership which has been feeling the heat and has been looking for an opportunity to score a telling blow.

The use of mobile squads has become central to Maoist tactics as they look to implement the doctrine spelt out in their documents outlining strategy after the 2009 national elections. The documents anticipate a stepped up offensive and point to the need to engage security forces in new areas while "intensifying mass resistance" in Red zones............

Maoist mobile squads of 200 persons using guerrilla tactics in a military manner with the cooperation of locals are likely to remain the mainstay of the ultras in dense forests. With the government meeting with some success in gathering intelligence, Maoists have become more secretive and local units have been asked to periodically carry out "purges".

Govt may have to use air power against Naxals: Chidambaram

Relevant portions posted below.

"At present there is no mandate to use the air force or any aircraft. But, if necessary, we will have to revisit the mandate to make some changes." ........

"To our call for talks after giving up violence, Naxalites have answered by a savage and brutal act of violence, " he said, adding that "To talk of talk now would be to mock the supreme sacrifice made by 76 jawans." ......

But while the time for any "offer" for talks is clearly over, questions over what went so badly wrong in the Dantewada operation that led to the decimation of the CRPF contingent remain unanswered. "As I said yesterday, something went wrong. Only an inquiry will establish what went wrong," he said, pointing out that a probe would establish whether or not 1,000 Maoists were involved in the attack.

An analysis from KS deserves reading in full

Where Does The Buck Stop?

The lives of 76 CRPF jawans were lost in the deadliest insurgent trap ever laid by Maoists in Chintalnar Tarmetla village in Chhattisgarh on April 6 morning. Reportedly, the CRPF patrol party, tired after four days of continuous operations, ran into an ambush laid by a force of Maoists believed to number between 200-300 and 800-1,000. The latter were deployed on the hills all around the police patrol as it moved on the basis of presumably false intelligence along a narrow path mined with inertial explosive devices on both sides. The patrol was mowed down. The buck in this case must stop with the home minister. For, it is obvious the jawans were not adequately trained, appropriately led or properly commanded.

This kind of situation was anticipated 10 years ago by the Kargil committee which recorded: "There is general agreement that in the light of the new situation of proxy war and largescale terrorism...the role and the task of the paramilitary forces have to be restructured particularly with reference to command and control and leadership functions. They need to be trained to much higher standards of performance and better equipped to deal with terrorist threats. The possibility of adopting an integrated manpower policy for the armed forces, paramilitary forces and the central police forces merits examination."

There has been a strongly held conviction among the leadership of the home ministry and police service that paramilitary forces should be non-military in culture, ethos and standard of training. Tuesday's massacre as also 26/11 is a wake-up call to re-evaluate whether that assumption is wholly correct. Objective evaluation of the comparative performance of the Rashtriya Rifles and the civil paramilitary forces will help in arriving at a conclusion.

Insurgency is a combat situation, not a law and order one. The police forces are meant to handle situations where the people to be controlled are not armed. In insurgencies, the adversary is fully armed and trained as a group in combat skills. Earlier, when the police forces successfully tackled the problem of terrorism in Punjab, they were dealing with single or small groups of terrorists. They were not dealing with groups trained to engage in combat. One report suggests the group of CRPF jawans that was attacked had received training from the army. It is one thing to have a few days' or weeks' training and a totally different thing to have had actual counter-insurgency experience as ex-servicemen would have.

A civilian paramilitary force with men of military standard training as well as a central police force for law and order may need to be considered. The task force may have to examine whether the civil paramilitary force for counter-insurgency and counterterrorism should be independent of the Border Security Force or merged with it. Prima facie, there is a good case to separate them from the Indian Police Service cadres.

There have been demands and suggestions that the armed forces be brought in against insurgency. To their credit, the armed forces have opposed this move. In a democracy, they should be kept out of internal developments to the maximum extent possible. This task is part of homeland security and should be treated as such. It has been recognised that, in the coming years, maintenance of internal security will require a full-time cabinet minister and will occupy much of the NSC's attention. But the primary exe-cutive agency will have to be a ministry of internal security or whatever name it is given.

The article by KS very clearly mentions what is wrong with the current domestic security setup. But he is only looking at things from a military stand point and not trying to address the sense alienation of the population which has led them to become pawns in the hands of anti India ideologies.

It is easy to point out that the Indian state has not done this and dose not do that. The question that comes to mind is that if the grievances' are genuine. Then why the naxals are not seeking a redress of the grievance through legitimate political means of contesting state and national elections. They certainly have the organization to conduct themselves as a paramilitary group. They should also be able to form political parties and by contesting elections and forming governments (If they win enough number of seats) they will be able to deal with the sense of alienation that they are complaining about.

Is it because they ultimately don't wish to take any responsibility. Only perpetuate the grievance so that they can extort money and continue with there lawless behaviour.

The silence of the chateraty on the possibility of organising a political party to address the issues through democratic means is deafening. The only thing that they wish to do is perpetuate the status quo so that the romanticism of naxals can continue and they can line up there pockets.

Sachin wrote: May be it is thanks to the socialism concepts taken to the extremes. Right from the days of independence the rich people (or businessmen) have been categorically shown as people who made their wealth illegally. And poor people remain poor, because they have been honest - and thus cannot make too much wealth.

I remember the words of my first boss (a person who made his life in Japan, even though he was from India). "Poverty does not lie in one's pocket, it lies in one's mindset". He reached this conclusion when he found a man spitting paan to the floor in a railway compartment. My boss asked why he did it, guess what the reason was -"saab, ham gareeb aadmi hein" (I am poor person). Sad state of affairs. Poor people take the excuse of poverty to do any non-sense, rich people have found ways to circumvent the law. The people who are neither of the two are in a confused state of mind.

The funny part is the rich say the same thing about uber rich, then again I am talking about Mallu land,this is weird place, I wonder when is my next "nookoo kooli"

A repulsive article in the Hindustan times not worth posting .

But my responce to the article is posted below.

The only undemocratic exception practiced by the Indian State is that it has allowed people like Pothik Ghosh to have a voice in the country where they romanticizes the lawless behavior of certain section on the the population citing real or imaginary grievances. The lack of recognition of the grievance settlement mechanism is the most repulsive aspect of the ideology of these individuals. The excuse that the state is repressive and the noble tribal s are left with no recourse but to take up arms to kill the CRPF or local Police force members is repulsive to me.


If the tribals can organise themselves into an army to kill and in general create mehaeme then they can also organise them selves into political parties and provide themselves a vote and a voice. thereby overcoming the so called "undemocratic exception practiced by the Indian State", But it is too much to expect from the idea-logs of the movement.

Every problem has a solution and one need to have the vision to find it. In a country like India the solution is ballot and not the bullet. The followers of the Naxal idealogy are the "undemocratic exception" as defined by the author and not the Indian state

Activists, CPM put blame on Centre for Dantewada killings
8 Apr 2010, 0434 hrs IST,ET Bureau
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 772454.cms

comments: The central government should strike the heart of the nexalite movement. CPM supports and defends the Naxalites movements and so provide resistance to the centre. I do not know why congress government is not taking this seriously except in words. 70 CRPF jawans' lives cannot be easily taken. They should strike in spite of the stiff resistance from communist marxists.

It is true that the Maoists are popular among the poor with their ideologies. They come from the underdeveloped areas and also get support from people from tribal belts. Their causes may be justified but not their method of violence. They might get supply of arms from China or through other countries which are sympathetic towards their cause. Such violence should not force the government for ceasefire rather first strike those who are responsible which would make the lives of a few difficult including innocents who accommodate and feed these maoists.

Otherhand India's neighbours are exploiting these situations against India supplying arms either to terror groups in the name of religion or in the name of ideologies. This needs to be strategically countered at all costs.

I see the death of these CRPF people as a unforunate incident, exacerbated by the impatience of Chidambaram in dealing with this situation.Any sucessful strategy to destroy the Naxal upsurgence involves a lot of time, it cannot be done overnight.Chidambaram is not able to deal with this independently nor successfully yet, and we need some specialists who can handle this, not politicians.Gill would have perhaps provided good support had he been involved at a very early stage, but now this is headed towards another Operation Bluestar (or should I say Redstar) when eventually the Army will be called in again and the fortress of he Naxals destroyed permanently.

If you ask me for a strategy, we have to surround these daring brigands from all sides, and that means a lot of CRPF battalions and other para-military reserve forces. After surrounding, sealing off escape routes, no heroism needed.. slowly and surely eliminate them just as the Taliban are being decimated. We must learn that this is similar to Taliban insurgency, except that the idea is not of an islamic state, but of a maoist state. Once again I smell that two countries or maybe three are involved in this Naxal menace - China,Pakistan and Nepal.It is of economic importance to China that a red corridor that bypasses Indian Control & Customs regulations, be strengthened, and the push has always been to expand this corridor.We must also ensure that the sea front is guarded, to prevent more weapons from being smuggled in through the sea route.Nepal cannot be ruled out as a possible route for weapon supply.However, the Naxals have amassed weapons by looting the local police too, and now they are looting the CRPF. Imagine if the Naxals reach and take control of our Missile testing facilities in Orissa and Andhra. Would anyone want that to happen?
A very strong resolve to destroy them is needed from the politicians, and from the strategists cool and determined efforts.Then maybe without the Army being called in this could be ended....now that the battle has begun.

From Orbat.com-

Maoists kill 75 paramilitary police in ambush Editor has spent the whole day trying to formulate a comment that would explain this fiasco to our non-South Asian readers, and he has failed.
Our South Asian readers need no explanation: they know this is the way India works.
First, the Government sits passively as Maoists extend their presence from approximately 1 county in 10, primarily in the rural/tribal poverty struck regions of Central and East India, to one third of the counties in the country. This took the Maoists a mere six years. All this time an insurgency is going on and hundreds of police and rebels are being killed. The police are short of training, sensors, vehicles, arms, ammunition, and everything you can think of, but Government of India can't be bothered with petty details like that.
Then the Government wakes up, declares the Maoists the greatest threat to Indian security, and offers talks. Except for closing the barn door after the horses, goats, rats and cockroaches have fled, this was the correct approach. Whatever it is they have done, these people are Indians and the Government was 100% correct not to unleash the Army on them. Many of their arms originate from China, and are smuggled through Bangladesh and Nepal, but there are no foreigners operating with the insurgents. Even the Government concedes the Maoists are raising legitimate social and economic issues.
Well, the Maoists figure they have nothing to gain by talks, especially since Government is calling on them to abjure violence as part of the negotiations. So they say: "fugabhatit".
Government inducts reinforcements and sets out to "clean out" some of the Maoist strongholds, and announces progress and the usual kind of stupid claims that of late we have come to associate with the Pakistan in its "battle" with the Taliban.
So the Maoists stage a carefully planned ambush - and this was indeed a complex operation. Several hundred of the, perhaps even 1000, keep watch as police columns penetrate their strongholds. In accordance with standard Indian CI doctrine, each morning the Indians sweep road for mines that may have been planted the night before. Somewhere between 6 and 7 AM local, one reduced company of the police is returning from its sweep duties, setting the stage for additional police to enter with their vehicles, supplies, and so on. There is a single MPV with the road-opening company, with a single driver.
The MPV is hit by a mine, the police scatter for cover, and find that every place they flee to is mined, and that they are open to devastating fire from Maoists that are hidden all over the jungle.
When a reinforcement company reaches, there is nothing left to do except carry off the dead - 75 of 82 men, and evacuate the 7 survivors. As one of the survivors said, the police company didn't have a chance.
The survivor asks why was the under strength company on its own, when it is known the Maoists attack in groups of 500.
Good question, and India's answer, of course, is: "we are shocked, shocked, sorry about that."
After all, who cares. These are just police, after all, of no consequence. The police have been getting killed and killed, and no one was bothered then, why start now?
So now we have the usual calls for vengeance, retribution, punishment, the whole nine meters What Editor is very worried about is that the Army will be ordered to send in the Rashtriya Rifles, the specialized all-army CI force. Just two days ago the Army said it didn't want to be involved in operations against the Maoists, but the Indian Army is not the US Army. It does not have political allies, and it cannot leak and manipulate the media. There is a very, very strict convention that the civil government is the ultimate authority, there is no question of the Army objecting or refusing.
Please to note: the three Service chiefs were at the meeting the Minister for Home conveyed after the fiasco.
For all that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet should be held responsible for the expansion of Maoist influence, the Prime Minister is undoubtedly right when he says there is no military solution to this problem. At the same time, when 500-1000 insurgents can get together and defeat a sizeable force of security personnel so easily - even if they are only armed police, than like it or not, the problem has a security dimension.
We will wait and see what happens next.

Mao vs. Gandhi in Chhattisgarh
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... SecondNews

.........
In a rambling 19,500-word essay published a week ago in Outlook magazine in India and the Guardian newspaper, Ms. Roy writes of recent experiences following the Maoists in the Dandakaranya forest, near where the security forces were ambushed this week. The piece was headlined "Gandhi, but with guns."

The comparison is obscene. Not only does it suggest an amoral nihilism, it also represents a rewriting of history. A Gandhian with a gun is as absurd as a Maoist pacifist. India's founding father Mohandas Gandhi may not have been as perfect as some would make him out, but he did believe that only the right means could be used to reach an end, however noble. In 1922 he suspended a nationwide civil disobedience movement, when some Congress followers burned a police station in Chauri Chaura, killing over a dozen policemen and officers. Maoist ideology is precisely the opposite: The ends justify the means.

Ms. Roy herself notes that when she mentioned Mohandas Gandhi's non-violent struggle to the Maoists, they laughed hysterically. Despite her best efforts to portray a bucolic image of Maoists and tribals living harmoniously, their tranquility disturbed by forest officers, loggers, mining companies, and security forces, the truth still comes through. The Maoists show off an impressive arsenal of weapons, and their teenage recruits watch hours of reruns of violent ambush videos. The kids tell her they want to implement Mao's vision in India.

Ms. Roy's naïve admiration for the Maoists is emblematic of the tendency in some among the Indian intellectual class toward left-wing utopianism.

..........

To be sure, Indians living in forests have legitimate grievances. Their rights are routinely violated. Successive governments have failed them. Large companies, Indian and foreign, want the mineral wealth in those forests. The state hasn't built schools, nor equipped the few that are built. There are few primary health care centers, and the administration neglects remote areas. The rapidly modernizing and prospering parts of urban India ignores the region, its poverty, and its problems.

But the Maoists offer no solution. Their collectivist authoritarianism is culturally alien in an India where spiritual acceptance of fate prevails, and where, despite feudal structures, inequities and rigidities, there is social and economic mobility. With all its flaws, it is a real democracy. Maoists know they would never win power through the ballot box.

They can only win through force, by shocking the state, by spreading terror, and by scaring away the administration so that they can reach their end. Which is power, not the removal of poverty.

.........

Maoists want an articulate messenger, and Ms Roy fulfils that role. Her poetic eloquence clothes their naked ambition of power, offering it respectability. Her fame helps make their struggle known to audiences abroad, where people with limited knowledge of India accept the romanticized image of warriors in the jungle fighting for justice that she writes about. In early April, while the Maoists were preparing to ambush the troops in the forest, Ms Roy was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a public forum with Noam Chomsky.

Ms Roy has explained Maoist violence as a response to the repressive state, suggesting that the tribal groups are rising against the state, getting even—an eye for an eye. But as Gandhi said, an eye for an eye leaves the world blind.

Mr. Tripathi, a writer based in London, is the author of "Offense: The Hindu Case" (Seagull, 2009).

munna, we can do away with the 'ji' part - makes me feel old.

Allow me to present my POV:

First and foremost I will address the psy-ops value of their dastardly act. Maosists have orchestrated bloodiest ambush of all insurgents in recent times or maybe in the history of free India. For whatever it is worth these guys do have strategies and tactics-they are not rank amateurs when it comes to fighting the CPOs.

I agree on the psy-ops of the value of this attack. However, the effect is going to be negative as the lines will be that much clearly drawn. If the decibel levels in print and television media is any indicator, the inflection point may have been breached. IIRC, no one - that is movement of any kind, has achieved anything from Republic of India from a position of strength. Laldenga became CM after he surrendered and effectively ended his movement. If there is one thing that does not work in case of dealing with Indian Government, it is pressure,especially the violent type. The more you press, the more violently (albiet not disproportionate) it pushes back.

This ambush has brought the maoists from the jungles of Dantewada-some god forsaken place, to the drawing room. Next time, anyone says maoists, this ambush will be the reference point.

As for the strategies and tactics, they haven't been tested. What they have done is the minimum required to offer any resistance and 'sustain' any sort of operations. I'll come to it later

Coming to the efforts I can list the following

(a) Penetrating the local police or CPO to gather intelligence of CPO movements
(b) Positioning a force of anywhere between 600-1000 men with the all agencies being clueless about it
(c) Mastering a chain of command to direct a Battalion level force for one operation
(d) The refined tactics and almost copybook style in which they effected their operation
(e) Having moles and intellectuals in Delhi defend them in media, government and bureaucracy even after this act

My replies to the points above:

a) This is Guerilla Tactics 101. These people have been in the area for years now and it is but obvious that they would have contacts inside. Naxalites and Maoists are nothing but glorified extortionists - with people outside in administration and police getting a cut.

One of the reports says the CRPF did not take the local police into confidence/inform about the operations - my guess is that CPO are cognizant of the situation and would want to compartmentalize the information and on 'need to know' basis. IA faced this in J&K and managed to overcome it to great extent.

b) The area in question is dense jungle with maoists dominating the centre while CPO are in the periphery - that too only in some areas of periphery. One data point says that Dantewada junle has radius of 50kms and security forces have penetrated only 10kms - penetrated and not even dominated/regained controlled of.That is why one needs the concept of 'Area Dominance' - The AOR (Area of Responsibility) of CI formation is divided into grids and IA regularly send out patrols across the length and breadth of these grids. 99.9% of patrols do not encounter anything - but they deny the militants freedom of movement.

We've not reached that stage in our anti-naxal operations.Unless we deny the naxalites this freedom of movement, you cannot prevent such groupings and attacks.And how would have CPO or Security set-up have know about these movements? these forces have just moved in - they will take time to establish the required intel network. IA faced the same problems initially and it took them some years to establish their own humint network. These are early days and lets not pass judgement on the capablity or otherwise of CPO and maoists alike.

Do the above capabilities indicate that they can challenge Indian state now? No, but do they have the will and trojans within the current setup to support their bid? Yes. Will they be successful? I do not think so, but can they retard and halt India's development? Yes, it seems more and more likely that we will end up paying huge costs to recover the lost ground.

Agree completely on the time part. However, I don't think they can impose great cost on Indian Nation so as to retard its growth. Have Kashmir/Nagaland/Assam/Tripura been able to impose cost on India that can have negative impact on India's development?When these have been running for more than 20+years now?

Allow me to ask a rather crude question - how central are these areas to growth of Indian economy at 10% per annum for next 5 years? And suppose they do become central in long run (considering the mineral wealth), don't you thing GOI will come under even more pressure to 'take care' of maoists from 'vested' interests like capitalists?

Those thugs are definitely inferior to Indian state in terms of weapons and firepower but as I said we CANNOT allow this sore to fester for long. Remember you crawl then walk and then run. These guys are attempting to walk now and should be nipped in the bud.

Agree on this part.

Rohit I am not qualified regarding the purely military matters (I lack a Phd with upper hand) but here is my take about the difference between the other insurgencies and this one. Maoists are an inter state group with pockets of influence in nearly all poor Eastern states of India. Unlike other insurgents these guys not only have inter state support base but also have sympathizers in bureaucracy, academia and political classes both in Dilli and states. Hence the political support that they enjoy to recover, replenish and attack is by far the best and most broad based of all insurgent groups active in India. Therefore my fear is that over time these guys may attempt a state within state solution with active help of leeches in Dilli. Also, you know our neighbors are not helpful either and can feed these groups when the opportune time comes (or maybe they are).

What I was trying to say that the 'success' like the ambush of CRPF is not an indication of some extraordinary smartness on part of maoists. As of now, the troops are simply trying to find their feet…the problem is with the strategy adopted by the GOI/States/CPO and how coordinated it is. As and when security forces get their act together and manage to achieve area dominance, the ability of maoists to group and launch such attacks will go down…IMHO, we’re in phase one of this operation – where the maoists have these bastion of influence and no-go areas…as and when security forces break this control, you’ll see the phase 2, where these maoists will melt into the back ground and try and launch small scale operations with ambush here and there (something like Taliban – but no where close in scale)…nothing of the scale that we see now. It is this phase which will be the protracted one and it will become imperative to target their leaders to break the movement…no leaders, no revolution, simple. They can’t hide in foreign lands…they will have to melt into the cities and smaller towns or be deep in jungles. And this is something Indian police is brilliant at – after all they have inherited their genes from the British.


It is important to understand that unlike the Nagas/Jehadis, these people do not have access to un-interrupted supply of ammunition and high end weapons – from whatever I’ve read so far, they have access to automatics weapons looted from forces and smuggled stuff from NE/Bangladesh/Nepal…that is why they try to use over whelming numbers while making an ambush…The moment they’ll try and hold ground, they will violate the basic tenet of guerilla operations and et killed…

Where does the buck stop

A good and as usual right on the button analysis by K. S. Have to agree with him. The basic premise of the govt has been that the "Maoists are misguided people" , it is a "law and order problem" , it is a "development deficit problem" and of course, it is riddled with opportunistic electoral calculations like the Andhra experience has shown. When in power, you fight the naxals and when the govt changes, there is a "ceasefire" and "talks" (NTR, CBN, YSR) and when in opposition , use the naxal influence as a potential vote catcher.

No realization at all that this is a deadly serious full blown insurgency that you may have ignored all these years and is largely "contained" (if you still choose to ignore), but if you need to confront it, you need to be deadly serious about it and realize that it is not the same as "law and order" as in beating up a bunch of unarmed civilians in the cities or villages. You are fighting a military style fighting force. The IPS babus are out of depth in this. Separate the danda wielders from the military style fighters from each other and keep the danda boys in the settled areas and send them in only after the area is cleared and secured!

Heck, this idea of not deploying close in air support even in close support and recce roles is laughable. Why POLICE forces in any developed countries have a helicopter hovering above in SECONDS if there is a shootout/robbery/ chase kind of situation. If nothing else to direct friendlies to engage the bad guys and give better situational awareness.

Here we are stuck in analysis paralysis on whether to use "airpower" or not. Why should you get the IAF if you want choppers. You have the BSF and CRPF and other home ministry folks who have choppers. Get a dozen choppers or so from HAL / old surplus from the army /airforce and use them for support !. Matter over. In all these cases, we display excess babu giri.. Gosh this is the classic equivalent of "filling forms in triplicate" and academic masturbation at it's worst.

No sir. This Maoist business reminds me so much of Veerappan who pretty much ruled parts of the KA_TN border for close to 2 decades. There were some 300 policemen or so who were killed by him and his gang, including some pretty top cops. Veerappan could do what he did becuase operated across "jursidictional borders" (oh.. you know how it is, it is impossible to get to babus from different states to do ANYTHING together) and Veerappan was playing the political situation like a fiddle.

Here too we had an entire industry of "human rights activists" and NGO singing the tune.Veerappan phenomenon is because of state oppression , development deficit yadda yada, without recognizing the fact that it was rank criminality and terrorizing the hill folk that was behind Veerappan's success

Veerappan killed close to 100 TN Police in land mine attack on their bus,in one instance, something similar to the current CRPF debacle. Walter Devaram the IG of Police of TN and Jayalalitha vowed get Veerappan. Dewaram and his men hunted down Veerappan's gang and Veerappan was down to 4 men.. And then the govt changed and Dr Artiste was back in power and then pressure on Veerappan was removed, he grew back again.. and then there was the Rajkumar episode and there were feelers from Dr Artiste's proxies about general amnesty for Veerappan in return for a "surrender".

Thankfully, that shameful day never happened. Amma was back before that happened. The police learned from their earlier debacle. They changed tactics, realized that it was long drawn and finally gunned him down like a dog after a lot of hard work. NOW NO MORE TALK ABOUT VEERAPPAN WAS DUE TO DEVELOPMENT DEFICIT OR POLICE/GOVT OPPRESSION

The Maoist can be put down . But that will happen only if the pressure can be sustained across multiple states over many years and across many govt changes. Already there are weak links like Jharkand and maybe Orissa and Bengal where "talks are an option" / electoral calculations will enter the game, come elections.

More importantly. Where is the equivalent of Walter Dewaram in the center who will vow to wipe out the Maoists ?. Where is the leader with the firm resolve of purpose of Jayalalitha in the center ?

P. Chidambaram's words are instructive. He comes across like a total babe in the woods. "The Maoists have imposed ware on US" . He should be fired,if he didnt realize that the Maoists were fighting a WAR. WTF ?. Their entire literature and starategy is based on "People's War" . They knew they were fighting a war and PC and the Home Ministry babus thought they were controlling a riot in Hyderabad?

http://www.dailypioneer.com/247749/Fore ... -safe.htmlThe police seem to know where the Maoists are. Why not use air power to wipe them out? Why do they have to walk through mines

'5,000 hardcore Maoists with armed militia in Chhattisgarh'


http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/apr/ ... alites.htm

P.S. - how do I integrate links with caption itself?

vina wrote:Where does the buck stop

A good and as usual right on the button analysis by K. S. Have to agree with him. The basic premise of the govt has been that the "Maoists are misguided people" , it is a "law and order problem" , it is a "development deficit problem" and of course, it is riddled with opportunistic electoral calculations like the Andhra experience has shown. When in power, you fight the naxals and when the govt changes, there is a "ceasefire" and "talks" (NTR, CBN, YSR) and when in opposition , use the naxal influence as a potential vote catcher.
...
...
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P. Chidambaram's words are instructive. He comes across like a total babe in the woods. "The Maoists have imposed ware on US" . He should be fired,if he didnt realize that the Maoists were fighting a WAR. WTF ?. Their entire literature and starategy is based on "People's War" . They knew they were fighting a war and PC and the Home Ministry babus thought they were controlling a riot in Hyderabad?

Good post.

Though blowing hot and cold was persued by both TDP and INC in AP, Naxalites were used for political purposes by only one party and that is our GOP. In 2004 without Naxals and TRS they would not have romped back to power. Period.

Regarding Air Power usage, it will be vehmently opposed by various leaders of INC ( example see Ajit Jogi's statements). The reason is again due to these Naxals living in the midst of INC vote banks. Politics is more important than Nation. 75 CRPF dead is not that important as they are all paid to die anyway.

PC talks too much ahead and does little. It is the hallmark of that man since I started watching him from the time he bacame Finance minister. Everything is like his "dream budget". Is it not a joke to say "was is thrust on us" when the org that is fighting with the state is "Peoples war group" and was also banned a decade ago.

Muppalla wrote: Good post.

Though blowing hot and cold was persued by both TDP and INC in AP, Naxalites were used for political purposes by only one party and that is our GOP. In 2004 without Naxals and TRS they would not have romped back to power. Period.

Most of the worst affected states have non-Congress govts.

Regarding Air Power usage, it will be vehmently opposed by various leaders of INC ( example see Ajit Jogi's statements).

What about the IAF's views? Surely you don't think they treat news of the CRPF casualties as immaterial?

PC talks too much ahead and does little. It is the hallmark of that man since I started watching him from the time he bacame Finance minister. Everything is like his "dream budget". Is it not a joke to say "was is thrust on us" when the org that is fighting with the state is "Peoples war group" and was also banned a decade ago.

His record on counter-terrorism is better than any of his predecessors. I don't know him, but I've met people who've worked under him(at various levels) when he was with the finance ministry, and they say he's an efficient decisive worker. And until he took over the Home Ministry no central govt. be it NDA or UPA did anything concrete against the Maoist organisations.

Plan to launch surgical strikes on Naxals


8 Apr 2010, 1125 hrs IST

Forty-eight hours after the Maoist massacre, which left 76 CRPF jawans dead, Chhattisgarh DG told TIMES NOW on Thursday (April said that the government intends to launch surgical strikes to counter Maoist terror in the state.

Rubbishing reports of lack of coordination between the state police and the CRPF forces on ground level, Vishwa Ranjan, Director General of Police, Chhattisgarh added that 'coordination is talked by many, who do not know the ground situation'.

He said, "There is no single-dimensional operation. The operations will be more intense against the Maoists. There will be surgical strikes based on intelligence inputs. There may be more complex sort of operations and more dismantling of the camps. We will give them a befitting reply. It will be a well calibrated response and well thought of. We will surprise the Maoists."

http://www.timesnow.tv/Plan-to-launch-s ... 342507.cms

from times now.tv

We will surprise the Maoists."

A surprise? Really? After announcing it on TV?

everything i can think of has already been said here. i dont like the idea of air strikes. killing lower cadre is not going to achieve anything. target must be higher ups. they must be held accountable. now today the talk is about mines etc. but maoist violence predated mines. mines is just the latest problem.

another thing, we as a whole should have a clear idea about tribalism. either leave them completely untouched, and ban any external influence, or expose them to the full vagaries of modernism, which means exposing my tribal counterpart to the same conditioning and forces I and other like me have been subject to. but the point is, by all reasonable measures, tribals themselves are not invested in rosy, dreamy bow & arrow era. if given an oppurtunity, i would think that the tribals would want their kids to learn science, economics and arts and get out of subsistence living. they have their language, culture and religion, just like zillion others in india do, but i cannot imagine anyone who does not simplify his existential issues, especially out of theoretical opposition to money and modernism. if you notice, romanticism about barter, nature etc are all the pet theories of modern academicians who are either tenured or are on path to tenure. theories have value only in modern world. at best a tribal can offer a pumpkin for such theories.

Suppiah wrote:If the Maoists are so angry about local level corruption they should take on and punish local village level govt. staff that are in nuke-proof jobs with pension and hence miles ahead of poor folk -the village accountants, local health clinic doctors and staff, veterinary, agricultural extensions staff, those manning water bodies, babus issuing birth/death/caste cert, school teachers, panchayat employees and so on...these leeches don't do an hour of sincere work in their entire lifetimes, are often controlled by Stalinist unions and hence are the biggest obstacle to progress and poor delivery of services. Taking them on from top-down approach is impossible because they gang up vote out anyone that even asks them to report to work on time. Ask JJ..they also sabotage upward movement of bribes so political parties cannot take them on.

The only way is bottom up, road side rural justice that brings them to heel...

If each Indian village takes strong action against just one of these leeches, we will beat US/Japan for sure in a decade. It will cut down cost of governance by 50% and yet improve services.

It seems like this is how it works...

Kati wrote: It is a vicious cycle that propagates and perpetuates the problem. In Jharkhand and central Bihar, things have crossed a certain threshold - so much so that the state doesn't exist in large areas. Those govt babus sent there treat these places as punishment areas, and siphon off almost all developmental funds. Ironically, a cut money is then given to naxalites in these two states
to protect the skin of some of the babus. Corruption affects helpless rural folks more bitterly than the urban middlelass. Exactly the same situation in NE - just replace naxalites by ULFA/NLFT/NSCN........
I haven't seen the things in MP, AP or Chattrishgarh, but have seen how money
earmarked for schools and health clinics in Bihar and Jharkhand are looted by the babus, .... and the money trail goes up the ladder to all the major political parties. And many of these babus have their relatives in the foreign lands, and some of these relatives now read BRF and rue how the country is pushed to the brink by these maoists ........ See the problem! Don't know where to cut the chain and straighten up the things.

Home Ministry, in my opinion, is making another blunder by going for (or at least talking about) using the air power. This gives a higher level of credence and aura to the maoists.

The number one thing the maoists (read all naxals and seccessionist movements) want is
Publicity. Just imagine what a field day will they have when some heli borne CRPFs strafe
a bunch of huts killing some tribals. A Roy and her ilks will be shouting from the top of the roof, calling for UN Human Rights Commissions, all the western media will find a new issue to divert the attention from uncomfortable Iraq and Afghanistan. TSP will be willing to give a few tips to ...........Indian diplomats will be on the defensive on this issue putting more important stuff on the back burner. CPM/CPI will rejevenate themselves by blaming the center for human rights abuses, ............ Simply mind boggling.

So why give them this chance?

The broad contour of the strategy should have two components:
(i) assign dedicated officials with the mandate to improve the lawless condition, channel crores of rupees in the short run to win over the tribals. A bounty for giving tips about
the maoists.
(ii) silently form small hit sqads in plain cloths to wipe out the mid level (local level maoists).
The top leaders don't interact with the tribals all the time, - they are the strategists. Maoists will find it difficult when suspicion reigns about who is friend and who is foe. As long as uniformed security personnel go the affected areas in jeeps and APCs, it is easy to target them. deny that opportunity.

Air power should not be confused with the use of LGB's or even MKI, Jaguar , carpet bombing or CBU's. This would be very different , probably involve much greater drone suvelliance to give Jawans a live feed of on the ground activity and max comes to max the select use of helicopter gunships when the need arises. I think this is a bare minimum which the CRPF jawan needs.