Holding that Naxalism is not the concern of a single state, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday said a concerted national strategy needs to be drawn up to combat the menace. "The country must now rise above the constriction that this (Naxal problem) is the concern of any single state...We have been advocating a concerted national strategy to combat it," he said addressing the meeting of chief ministers of Naxal-affected states.
Asserting that initiating a dialogue with Naxalites will not serve any purpose until they express faith in the Constitution and adopt democratic means, Singh said Maoists were pressuring for talks without laying down arms. The Chief Minister said Naxals have to be fought in a "spirit of political consensus and social cooperation" and noted that they were taking the help of certain human rights activists and pseudo intellectuals for propagating their agenda.
"We need to formulate affirmative, responsive action on this front and put forward the truth before the people. We firmly believe that we will win this war by winning the support and confidence of the people," he said. Singh noted that Naxals have "wantonly destroyed" public property and facilities worth billions or rupees in the form of roads, rail tracks, power lines, hospitals, schools, buses and passenger vehicles. "They have mercilessly killed the forest-dwellers and general public. It is also clear that their intentions are to eventually usurp power at Delhi," he said.
On reports that mineral-rich areas in Bastar have been given away to the multinational companies, Singh said not even a kg of iron ore has been taken away by them. "The fact is that of the 40,000 sq kms of Bastar division, only 1 per cent of the area has been given for mining and this too to the public sector companies like NMDC, SAIL and Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation," he said. Noting that intellectuals and society at large must rise above such misleading propaganda, Singh said the "Entire nation has to unite" with Chhattisgarh's multi-directional, multi-tier efforts to combat the Naxal problem. He said Naxalism and terrorism are just "two faces of the same coin" and a "decisive battle" against them was necessary to eliminate this terror from the state and the country. "Chhattisgarh is engaged in the biggest battle against Naxalites. We all know very well that there is no alternative except to armed response to the Naxalite violence," he said.
Singh also listed the steps being taken by his state on the security front and said that at least 10 more battalions of paramilitary forces were urgently required for fighting the Naxals. Citing intelligence reports about the enormity of the problem, he said the Dandakarnaya Special Zonal Committee of the Naxals now has 7 divisions and 32 area sub-committees under which 50,000 Naxal and jan-militia cadres are engaged in "waging a war against our democracy". On the campaign against the Naxalites, Singh said that 119 of them have been killed in the state which is the highest in the country. Speaking to reporters before the meeting, Singh called for an integrated action plan to tackle the menace.
"There are different governments in different states and all of them are dealing with the issue (Naxal) in their own way. An integrated action plan should be made and all of us should agree on one common point," he said.
Pointing out that such meetings help the states to discuss the issue together, Singh said all Naxal-affected states recognise the menace as the biggest security threat and the need to combat it. PTI
