DNA Edit: Maoist menace

Back in 2010, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called Naxalism the biggest internal security challenge and spoke about the dire need to control Left-wing extremism for the country’s growth.

Eight years later, the security forces fighting Maoists in inhospitable terrains do not have modern technology to pre-empt the deadly attacks. An MHA spokesperson’s frank admission that Central Armed Police Forces have been outmanoeuvred by Red terror because of their inability to detect deep-seated bombs, spells doom for the country.

It boggles the mind that India’s defence spend hasn’t factored in the threat from the Maoists. That a bunch of terrorists could turn the men-in-uniform into sitting ducks, not once but repeatedly, shows an enormous lack of political will to tackle the crisis with war-like urgency.

This is indeed a war carried out in the forests of the country for decades, leading to loss of lives on both sides and grievously affecting poor tribals who are the worst victims of police excesses. It has put development on hold in the country’s mineral-rich regions where the Maoists hold sway. And, neither the Congress-led UPA nor the BJP-led NDA could blunt the edge of their assaults.

Certain questions still remain: How did Maoists get hold of such improvised explosive devices since they are confined to the deep ravines where even mobile network is tenuous at best? Which forces are funding the Maoists and sustaining them against the might of the Indian State? Why couldn’t the country’s intelligence agencies bust the money trail of these extremists? It seems after a couple of reverses, the insurgents are now poised to draw blood and there is little that the government can do. If the menace of Naxalism isn’t rooted out, it will continue to jeopardise India’s growth story.