“Shocking, Painful, Deplorable”. “We can’t be cowed down by such dastardly attacks”. “Maoists are cowards. They are heartless, soul less creatures”. “We won’t spare any efforts to crush this menace”. “Our forces are well-prepared to take on them, ready to face any eventualities”.
“We appreciate the resilient Mumbaites, their determination to face any eventuality in the face of intermittent terror strikes”. “We will equip our police, paramilitary forces’ CRPF jawans with modern training and sophisticated weaponry”. “Terrorism will be wiped out of the soil of this nation once and for all.”
These are some of the responses of our ever-vigilant rulers whenever terrorists and Maoists strike anywhere, any time at will from “time immemorial” -No this is no exaggeration, this is the truth, naked truth, the whole truth. Otherwise think for a while, how many times they mouthed such words, sometimes indignantly sometimes with determination and sometimes placatingly towards the terrorists and Maoists by extending olive branch.
Maoists are terrorists, says one raging gentleman bureaucrat in the Home Ministry. “No, Maoists area not terrorists. They are part and parcel of India. They should shun violence and enter the national mainstream. Let them come forward and sit across the table to discuss and negotiate their problems and demands. Beforehand, they should abjure violence.” “So says and invites Maoists with nice soothing words by none other than our Home Minister P.Chidambaram.”
Simultaneously, holding meetings with Home Ministry officials and the heads of police, paramilitary forces and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and orders them to prepare the spade work for going on massive offensive. Yes, the mission has already started, Operation Green Hunt in action through jungles of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra to hunt for the armed Maoists scattered in groups to launch surprise attacks planting land mines and pressure bombs along the difficult jungles about which the tribals and Maoists are very well acquainted with. The ill-equipped jawans not much acquainted with the jungle warfare of ‘red-corridor’ now the area of activities of Maoists easily fall victims of the landmine and pressure bomb explosions some meet with gruesome deaths on the spot many others badly mauled succumb to their injuries soon after some maimed for life, the ultimate losers being their kith and kin.
Compared to the army personnel, our police and CRPF jawans are low paid ,not sanctioned sufficiently leave, they are forced to be on vigil along the difficult terrains most of the time, not provided with adequate training and sophisticated weaponry most of them undergo depression and when they feel like life seeming to be unendurable take their own lives or in fits of rage occasionally after verbal altercations with their seniors when the latter turn out to be overbearing gun down them at point blank range. Imagine the magnitude of their suppressed anger and frustration towards themselves, their employers, in short their hapless helpless lives. The traumas they undergo frequently are unimaginable and those in authority keep cool without looking into their urgent needs.
They have families, loving wives and children, friends and close relatives at their native places.
To long for sufficient leave, attractive salaries, to visit their homes to have nice moments with their kith and kin once or twice a year is not a crime. More recruitment, more training with modern weaponry-the Govt of the day, has to take care of.
Mumbai carnage of 26/11/2008 comes to mind, while ten gunmen hard core terrorists landed in the cosmopolitan city and occupied renowned landmarks like Taj Inter-continental, Oberoi Trident, Leopold Restaurant, Madam Cama Hospital, Chabab house and Victoria Terminus came under blood-chilling attacks by the murderers the innocents with near perfect precision, they were spraying bullets indiscriminately in cold-blood and held the city to ransom for three successive days killing more than two hundred and sixty innocent lives. Our brave jawans dared to take on them turning martyrs, remember, due to the lapses of the concerned officials in the Govt, it took more than eight hours for the NSG Commandos to land in the unfortunate city. Hemant Karkare, Sandip Unnikrishnan and such courageous jawans laid down their lives for the cause of the country. How many of us recall them except their bereaved families who were part and parcel of their lives after a lapse of about one and half years?
A number of our intellectuals, social activists and human rights activists and thinking citizens were eloquent in drawing the urgent attention of our rulers, the impending rebellion of the Maoists and the starving, exploited tribals dating back to centuries and calling upon the authorities to take a humane approach to them rather than threatening them with dire consequences by aiming guns at the hapless tribals. Instead our ruling mandarins decided to go on the offensive and by forming and helping a group of tribals- Salwa Judum - thus they are named - pitting brothers against brothers to end the Maoist threat once and for all. The consequences we are witnessing now in other words resistance fed the Maoists with more strength leading to blood baths and destruction of our infrastructure like blowing up of rail tracks, setting vehicles and trains ablaze, destruction of mobile towers along the way.
Is it too late? No idea. Renewed onslaughts may prove counter- productive.
The incidents of last few months point towards this fact. Last week in Orissa’s Koraput district, landmines blew up about eleven police personnel and yesterday more gruesome attack by the Maoists by triggering pressure bombs leading the annihilation of 76 jawans at Dantewada district of Chattisgarh, Whither our country, heading to? These kinds of revolts and rebellions could have been settled amicably by successive Governments which came up by going deeper into the problems of the tribals taking effective measures to redress their hardships which they are forced to carry over their shoulders since decades if not centuries.
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