Look who is batting for the Maoists

After?the audacious attack by Maoists on the armoury, police station and police training schools in Orissa’s Nayagarh on February 15 the nation is slowly waking up to how malignant the cancer of Maoist Terrorism has become. Nitin had this short piece on the over and covert support the pro-China Maoist agenda is receiving. Last week we also saw how utterly clueless the Home Minister Shivraj Patil was on the Maoist threat.

In that post Offstumped had posed these 5 questions which need to be answered to understand the nature of Maoist threat we are facing.

1. What is the terror structure that sustains Maoist violence across states in the nation ?

2. What are the sources of funding ?

3. Who are the key leaders and how is the movement organized ?

4. What are their strategic objectives and what near term tactical goals does the movement have ?

5. Which are the recruiting grounds and what plans does the Government to infiltrate the movement ?

As if in answer to Offstumped’s poser the Indian Express carried two extensive stories on how under prepared the police are in dealing with the Maoist threat as well as on how extensive the Maoist network was.

Some riveting statistics from the Indian Express

Chhattisgarh has the worst record in tackling Naxalites. Of the 20 police districts in the state, 16 are officially called Naxalite affected.

700 people including about 250 security personnel, have been killed in Naxal-related violence during the last 2 yrs.

368 deaths in 576 Naxal-related incidents in 2007 alone. One of the biggest ever Maoist attacks took place last year on March 15 on the Rani Bodli outpost in Bijapur in which 55 security personnel were killed.The latest attack was on February 18 in which five CRPF personnel were killed in Bijapur.

The Indian Express also provided insights into the Maoists objectives

?The 9th Congress held last year also resolved to drum up popular support in new areas, including states in north India. Urban sub-committees have since been set up to target industrial workers, develop mass organisations and form town committees in areas hitherto untouched by Naxal ideology

apart from detailing out how the Maoists are organized

At the top, you have a 14-member politburo and a 17-member Central Committee headed by Ganapathi. The politburo, incidentally, has seven members from Andhra Pradesh, including Ganapathi who hails from Karimnagar district. The Central Committee oversees four regional bureaus covering the East, North, South-West and Central parts of the country. The Eastern Bureau handles Lower Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The Northern Bureau is called 3U since it covers Uttar Bihar, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh and also handles Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. The Central Bureau is in charge of Andhra Pradesh, including North Telangana and parts of AP bordering Orissa. Operations in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are looked after by the South-West Regional Bureau. Below the regional bureaus are the 17 state bureaus. And then there are committees and groups that look after specialised tasks. The Naxal?s budget is no less painstakingly-compiled than a government?s. Rs 60 crore for two years (2007 and 2008), most of it?about Rs 42 crore?allotted for logistics. The Central Technical Command gets another big chunk, Rs 10 crore, with communication receiving nearly Rs 5 crore. Intelligence (Rs 2 crore) and technical work (Rs 1 crore) complete the list. A nine-member Central Military Commission is in charge of procurement of arms and ammunition, communication and electronic equipment. Then there is the Central Technical Committee that is tasked with production of arms including country-made weapons, grenades?even rocket launchers.

Well thats below the ground. Now look who is batting for them above the ground if this report by the PTI is anything to go by.

?fact finding team of academics and human rights activists on Sunday asked the government to hold dialogue with the Maoists, cut force presence in several areas and prevent harassment of people

So who are these anti-national academics and activists who’s conscience is selectively outraged.

Prof Manoranjan Mohanty of People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) lead the team of PUDR, Delhi, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL, Orissa), Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC), Centre for Protection of Civil Liberties (CPCL), Tamil Nadu and All India Students Federation (AISF, Orissa)

And what brief are they holding for the Maoists

Asking the state as well as central authorities to enter into unconditional dialogue with naxalites, he said “there shold be comprehensive socio-economic-political and legal response to the escalating violence and counter-violence

It appears that these anti-national elements are succeeding into coercing the Government if these remarks by Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik are anything to go by.

”My government is always prepared for dialogue with the naxalites, but first they should give up arms and the path of violence,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters after reviewing the ongoing combing operation against Maoists’ at a high-level meeting

Offstumped Bottomline: There should be no middle ground in dealing with Maoist Terrorism. As history has taught us any half baked moves at holding fire will only be a tactical concession by the Maoists to regroup and gain popular support and sympathy. While the State fumbles in its half-hearted attempt at waging war on Maoist Terrorism, with this post Offstumped is declaring Intellectual War on those above the ground Maoist Sympathisers who are batting for their anti-National pro-China agenda. In a series posts Offstumped will challenge these psuedo-intellectuals to expose them and their discredited cause.

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