Oct 19: Army option vs Maoists on table
October 19, 2014
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1141018/jsp/nation/story_18939180.jsp#.VENdjOcnXbl
Army option vs Maoists on table
Nishit Dholabhai
The Centre has moved to clear the decks for deploying the armed forces
in anti-Maoist operations by asserting its right to use “any element
of national power” against the rebels.
Government sources, however, highlighted a conditional clause — “as
the situation warrants” — in the draft policy to stress that the
administration was only trying to arm itself with an option.
The new draft policy for managing “Left Wing Extremism” is yet to be
officially accepted or circulated among the affected states.
The UPA government had used the armed forces in rescue, evacuation and
transportation in Maoist areas but refused to deploy them in
operations. The army itself has been against involvement in
anti-Maoist operations, as opposed to anti-insurgency operations in
Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
The right to use the armed forces option is the fourth of six “general
principles” proposed in the new draft policy.
It states: “The State is duty-bound to resolutely deal with the Maoist
violence and reserves the right to use any element of its national
power against the outfit as the situation warrants.”
It is this principle that marks the new policy’s character and sets it
apart from the UPA’s doctrine — the rest of it is essentially an
extension of the previous government’s policy of
security-cum-development.
Former Chhattisgarh director-general of police Vishwaranjan said the
new policy seemed different from the UPA’s.
“But I don’t think the army will be used. They (the army) do not want
to get involved, unless absolutely forced,” Vishwaranjan told The
Telegraph from Chhattisgarh.
Government sources emphasised that the armed forces option “may be
seen as a strategic threat; it does not mean that the army will be
pressed in or air strikes ordered”.
The last time the Centre had used air strikes within its territory was
in 1966 when the air force used machine guns to destroy Mizo National
Front targets.
Anti-Maoist operations are now led by the Central Reserve Police
Force. The army, however, has two sub-area commands in Chhattisgarh
and undertakes anti-insurgency exercises in parts of the state.
The new policy’s fourth principle underlines the Narendra Modi
government’s image as a hard-nosed administration. The tough approach
comes at a time the CPI (Maoist) is faced with a crisis of leadership,
dwindling recruitment figures and large-scale surrenders.
“Much of it is because of disenchantment within,” Vishwaranjan said.
Under the draft policy, the CRPF will hold the counter-insurgency grid
together and operate seamlessly across state borders. Technology,
training and new standard operating procedures will be designed to
turn it into a “world-class force” within a “reasonable time frame”,
sources said.
