The Army and Air Force have always been wary of being given the responsibility of anti-Naxal operations. A retired Chief of Air Staff went to the extent of saying that the Air Force was not trained to bomb and strafe 'our own people.' Many have warned that it may lead to a full-blown civil war in the country. General Shankar Roychowdhury, former Chief of Army Staff, shared his perspective with IBNLive readers on the matter.
Q. If armed forces are used will it be effective? if effective will it completely wipe out the menace of Naxalism? Asked by: Ganesh
A. I'll ask the second qs first. The first thing to remember is that you are operating amongst your own people. So first principle impartiality, second good faith, third minimum force. Fourth engage with people and last enlightened administration. So if they are deployed, they have to follow these principles and the govt too. Our vocabulary must be correct. It must not be "wiping out" but "engaging" with the Naxalites.
Q. ACM PV Naik once had remarked that the Armed Forces were not meant to fight the country's own people but defend them. In the sense he made a distinction between the Maoists and Kashmir militants, do you think there is a section within the force which feels this way. Asked by: Sudesh Prabhu
A. Yes, I think the former Air Chief is correct. Often these internal disturbances are form of external aggression like in Kashmir and NE. But this is not the case with the Maoists. So we have to deal with them as our own people.
Q. Don't we have enough state and paramilitary forces to tackle the menace of Maoism. This is basically a political crises created by unscrupulous politicians. Why do we need the army be directly involved. They can train the security forces to tackle the menace without getting directly involve. Asked by: Arun
A. First requirement is enlightened administration which is a political thing. If it fails at the first phase, then nothing can be done. I think the state police should do it and not even paramilitary forces. This will take a decade if not more. If organised politico-military steps are taken, it will take a long long time. If CI is delegated to state level, very few will be able to cope with it. The state leadership is not competent to handle these. Central interventions are necessary and paramilitary forces have to be properly trained.
Q. It is understood that use of Army in Naxalite affected area is avoided to prevent a damage of collateral nature, but can't the use of Army be done intelligence gathering and if required then carry out missions when information is 100 percent? Asked by: Vaibhav
A. Intelligence gathering is ideally done by organisations working with local people. So IB, local police should be good enough to do their job. And this is not a job for special forces and the state police forces should be able to do it. A lot of it also depends on political leadership.
Q. AFSPA is in force in Srinagar, Jammu and other districts where militancy has largely been contained, yet the government refuses to repeal AFSPA.if this act is there in Kashmir to check the anti India sentiments, why doesn't GOI uses this act to crush militant Naxalism. Asked by: Altaf
A. You must not use words like 'crush' when you are taking about your own people. AFSPA is only required for the regular Army.
Q. I think this is a dangerous move and it may even lead to rebellion within the paramilitary and military ranks. Very bad idea. Asked by: Sarthak
A. Like I said, ideally this has to be done by state police. If they fail, then the paramilitary forces come in. The Army should not be involved in this at all though I rule out the possibility of any rebellion within the Army's rank and file. This requires political solution and can't be achieved by guns alone. You have to involve them in talks.
Q. Should our armed forces instead of fighting against Naxals, should actually join them and teach our corrupt politicians some good lessons? Asked by: Shrikanth
A. No.
Q. Don't you think CRPF and other security forces have enough power and intelligence to handle these Maoist if government gives them enough Power and autonomy to tackle them, of course with the help of Air forces. Do you really think Army is required to handle these Naxalites? Asked by: Prabhakar
A. I do not think the state police and paramilitary are doing their jobs properly and neither are the politicians. You can't solve this just by killing them and should not even use such words for your own countrymen. Naxalism has deep economic-political roots. The political class has to involve them in talks. There has to be will from the government, both at the state and the Central level.
Q. What is the best way to tackle this barbarism by Naxalites, by no means it looks like war for poor people. Asked by: Anand
A. Yes, these massacres hurt our sensibilities but the fact that they enjoy support among the locals in the areas where they operate say a lot about our failure as a nation to integrate all and ensure that development touches everyone.
Q. What is the real problem behind the Naxalism is what all political parties should try to understand. using forces you really feel will be effective? Asked by: Sandeep
A. You are correct. Just using force without enlightened and compassionate administration will be futile. That will worsen the situation. This is not a military problem. There is no proxy war unlike in Kashmir and some parts of the NE. The attitude of certain govt functionaries is disappointing when they use words like "No talks" and "They must die by the gun."
Q. Sir, I don't think we should fall into the trap which the politicians are desperately trying to get us into the mess. The problem is of the state police and the paramilitary forces.The army is required to train and be battle ready. We would get into this mess and the politicians would wash their and off and should something go wrong the Army would be the whipping Boys. Is this right thinking? Asked by: AKS
A. I do not think the politicians are trying to get the Army into this. In fact Defence Minister AK Antony has categorically ruled out using Army in these operations. Like I said, the Maoist issue can't be solved militarily. It requires deft administration, real goodwill and an acknowledgement that every Indian is not benefiting from our growth story.
Q. What is the role of govt in minimising the issue of Naxalism? Asked by: Sandeep
A. I have already answered this before.
Q. What methods can be adopted to prevent the supply of money, arms to Maoists? Asked by: Abhishek Dixit
A. Effective intelligence and interception is the only way. It is not that they get their arms from a neighbouring country. They loot them from state and Central forces and manufacture some. Same about money. Even state government departments pay them a percentage for getting work done in the affected areas. Miners pay them, rich businessmen, transporters. So gathering intelligence and acting on them is the only option.
Comments
0 comment