If the Naxals were intending to grab the nation's attention, they certainly succeeded. Killing 80 of the Central Reserve Police Forces is usually a result achieved by militants in insurgency ridden Kashmir, doing it in the heart of the country is a completely different matter.
Dantewada in Chattisgarh, the venue of violence, is perhaps one of the least developed parts of the country. The Literacy rate totters at 30%, and two-thirds of the population are aadivasis (tribal people). It isnt a coincidence that the Naxals are found in abundance in regions with a lack of development. The Naxals use the disparity as evidence of being 'targeted' and 'dispossessed' and claim to represent the rural population, who have not shared the benefit of Indian economic progress. The Naxals aim to overthrow the Indian state, and their means for doing so are disruption; disrupting services and economic activities for taking place. The NMDC operates its largest iron-ore mine in the area, and other corporates have plans for Projects utilizing the rich natural resources in the region.
The skirmish was a deadly one; only 8 Naxals were killed to the 80 policemen. The Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, admitted that the forces had 'walked' into a rebel ambush while they were on their way back from a training exercise. The entire fiasco was humiliating as well as damning. The idea of the Indian state not being in control of the elements in its own jurisdiction is not one that has been discussed in the recent times of being tagged as an 'Emerging Superpower'.
The question of how to respond after this is not as easy as it may look. While the BJP have called out for an 'all-out-offensive' to eliminate these extremists, it might not be prudent to treat them as foreign invaders and crush them. The claim of them representing rural voices gives rise to a possibility of other villagers taking up arms if their 'representatives' are killed.
Of course, that has not stopped public opinion and outrage to demand to 'gun those ******-******* down', a tactic / way of life best left to the US military. Some have clamoured for the Armed Forces to step in and end this matter. However, after putting Rambo ideas aside, the Air Force Chief makes an excellent point of Naxals being our own citizens, and unless we are completely sure that they are enemies, we should not be using Air Force within our own borders.
Other reasonable ideas include using helicopters to assist the local police and paramilitary forces. The idea seems more feasible than MiG 21's firing missiles in the forests of Chhatisgarh, but leaves us open to a much bigger problem if the Naxals are able to bring down a helicopter and use it against the forces, following which a massive military action will take place, which would be disastrous considering it would be Indians versus Indians.
Does that mean no military action? I disagree that this problem is one that can be solved with dialogue, and no matter how badly treated the Naxals feel they are, the Dantewada attack in the words of Chidamabaran 'has shown how vicious these Naxals are capable of being'. Indeed, the attack has delegitimized the Maoist movement at an intellectual level in public discourse.
Smart, rapid and effective counter-insurgency tactics are needed. The Government should send in units of elite combatants who can scour the forests with the local policemen to hunt down armed Naxals. The right approach is not too little, and not too much.
It is not often when India chooses to take a heavy hand, but one hopes it does now -before this issue escalates.
(Credit to Pragmatic Euphony, a highly informative blog on the Indian National Interest - http://pragmatic.nationalinterest.in/)
