Bloodshed is the action behind someone’s anger.
-N. Das
On the 3rd of April, a massive encounter(from close range for about 3 hours) took place on the Sukma – Bijapur border of Chhattisgarh. Multiple Intelligence teams – Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force, the Cobras- had been deployed and planned an attack in 3 different places among which, the Bijapur border was one. They had received classified intel confirming the presence of prized Maoist leader, Hidma. The Maoists had surrounded the personnel from all sides and attacked them. 16 out of 31 personnel are CRPF Jawans who survived injuries. The Red Gang (as the Maoists of Chattisgarh are called), had cut the hand of an inspector before killing. Most of the personnel are still recovering from injuries. One of them is believed to be missing as well. The Red Gang, not just attacked them, but also took away the arms and ammunition from the personnel, along with their shoes and bulletproof jackets. They were seen to have fought with the help of light machine guns and rocket launchers. In retaliation, the security forces killed about 23 Naxals as well.
Was the intel on Hidma, true? How could the Maoists predict the presence of forces and end up surrounding them from all sides? How did they have access to such powerful ammunition? All these questions seem to be of great concern, not just to the families of the Martyrs but also to the government officials.
Soon after the news broke out, the Prime Minister had expressed his condolences by a tweet. The Home Minister, who was campaigning in Assam had curtailed his election campaign and returned to Delhi. He organized a high-level meeting with the Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), Ajay Bhalla, secretaries, and other senior officials from CRPF. Despite providing trust to the people of India regarding action in the matter, the BJP accused the Chief Minister of Chattisgarh, who was campaigning in Assam, to have not taken appropriate measures for the same. In their defense, Congress mentions that Naxalism is not just a problem in Chhattisgarh but also along the lines of Jharkhand, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh, thereby making it a national, rather a state problem. Among the blame game of both the leading National parties, it is also unclear as to how, in every attack, the Naxals can gather in such large numbers (250 to 400 this time) to ambush the personnel completely.
Be it the 2009 attack in Chintalnaar- wherein 76 out of 81 personnel were killed by approximately 100 Naxals who had set up landmines and later restored into the forest- or the attack of Convoy of Congress leaders in 2013 or encounter of a BJP MLA in 2019 or 2020 when 17 jawans were ambushed and killed, Left-wing extremism is the greatest threat to India’s external security, as the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh rightly said. Is it strategic or tactical deviance? How could the security personnel be trapped the same way, two times?
Indeed, both state and central governments are believed to have achieved satisfactory results while silencing the movements and activity of the Naxals. Roads and telephone towers were built. Further CRPF camps were established. The statistics seem to project that there has been a drastic reduction in encounters as the Naxals had to be pushed further into the forests due to the development of infrastructure. But, the interpretation of the statistics is only one side of the coin. The reduction in encounters also portrays the accumulation of Naxalites over a period that provides them with further grip in the area. Yet, there is a lot of work to be done in this area to restore peace. My Proof vehicles, foliage problem, satellite imagery, deepening of roads, expanding helicopter base are the needs of the personnel as of date. Exclusive Ministry of Internal Affairs could be a way out.
When sending men into such an operation require a backup and are expected to have enough resources to retreat as well. Are we lacking resources? Are we lacking communication and leadership? Is it time to focus on who is the culprit- BJP or Congress? Or be busy with fixing the internal security issue?