Are the Maoists gaining ground in West Bengal?
Hundreds of tribal people backed by the Maoist guerrillas stormed the high-speed Rajdhani Express, one of the country’s most prestigious passenger trains, in West Bengal on Tuesday. Police and security forces could free the train and its driver after a five-hour-long hostage drama, including a gunfight with the rebels in the forest.Maoists have stepped up violence across eastern and central India and internal security experts say it indicates a growing dominance of the insurgents in the state.The rebels raided a police station in West Bengal this month and abducted a senior official after gunning down two of his colleagues.Police officer Atindranath Dutta was held captive for two days and freed in exchange for 23 tribal women lodged in prisons for suspected Maoist links.Maoist attacks on police posts are nothing new in an area that has witnessed an anti-insurgency operation since June and the rebels have taken effective control of large swathes of the countryside.The insurgents say they are waging war on behalf of the poor and the landless against the state. The attack has raised concerns and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the swap was an “exception, not a norm.”Security experts say the Maoists, whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has identified as the country’s biggest internal threat, have thrown an open challenge to the authorities.In June a combined force of central paramilitary troops and state police retook control of Lalgarh, a town captured by the Maoists in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.The government began cracking down on the rebel leaders and sympathisers since then.The policeman abduction episode has apparently galvanised the communist government in West Bengal which has said it will heavily weaponise policemen and fortify its police stations. The NGOs working in Maoist-affected areas blame the government for the state of affairs.Is increasing Maoist violence in West Bengal indicative of a growing clout of the rebels?
Does India need its army to tackle the Maoists?
I have been noticing a debate in newspapers and television channels about the need to call in the army to tackle the Maoists and wonder whether it is indeed time to turn towards them before the movement spirals out of control.
Last week, hundreds of Maoists, who are expanding their influence in India, chased away police from a tribal area based around the town of Lalgarh about 170 km (100 miles) from Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state.
By attacking Lalgarh and then keeping the police at bay for four days, the Maoists demonstrated their growing influence over poor villagers and their capability to strike close to a big city like Kolkata.
(For Analysis on how Maoist insurgency can hurt industry in India, click here )
Thousands of villagers caught in the crossfire have left their homes in panic and have been put up in makeshift government camps. They are clearly shaken by the siege and the subsequent police campaign to sanitise Lalgarh.
Indian states have time and again asked the central government that it might need the army to fight the Maoist movement, which is rapidly spreading in the country.
But for the moment, India is banking on the police to tackle the Maoists and equipping its forces with modern weapons and training to fight the Maoists in their own den.
Do we need the army to tackle the naxals? The short answer is no. What we need is political will and a well trained, motivated, professional police force – unfortunately it lacks all the above.
The army should not be used to solve problems created by neglect, lack of good administration. It is foolish to pit the armed forces against their own countrymen.
Will it use the army at some stage? Probably yes. The army seems to be the only remedy politicians have now a days to get them out of a mess they themselves create. In the long run, this is detrimental to the army and the country’s security. what we badly need is people with a broader vision in administration and politics.
@the last thing we need is a rag-tag group of ‘terrorists’ using outdated ideology which has its own systematic suppression.- Posted by bulletfishbulletfish: Actually Maoist problem is very big problem. They may appear rag-tag, but they are committed. The reasons are genuine issues they have, ignoring for a moment the politics of Maoism. Poor are sandwiched between Indian state who claims 9% growth and gun-totting Maoists. Indian govt does not seem to have a non-military plan to deal with the issue and Maoists will not let the poor shun the gun. If they do not shoot, they are shot. Everybody is at fault.I have a Bihari friend from Delhi whose parents recently chose to settle in native a Bihari village to help the poor in the village. But the rising violence by Maoism has forced them to move back to Delhi. Maoists militants are contributing themselves to the poor-rich gap.