This Blog monitors all terror activities of Indian Naxals ie., PWG (Peoples War Group) and Government policies to tackle naxal menace . PWG's current goal is to destablize India and Sub-Continent by a well coordinated strategy with the help of international revolutionaries and covert support from Pakistan and China .
Raipur, Nov 21 (PTI) Two Naxals, including a senior cadre carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, were arrested from different places in Chhattisgarh''s Bijapur district, police said on Saturday.
Korsa Dasru (45), a member of Madded Area Committee of Maoists, was apprehended from his native place Savnar under Gangaloor police station area on Friday, while Satyam Kattam (31) was nabbed from Galgam village in Usoor police station limits on Saturday, an official said.
Joint teams of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and District Force (DF) were involved in these actions, the official said.
"At least 24 cases related to murder, attempt to murder, loot, torching vehicles, damaging public property and the Arms Act are registered at different police stations against Dasru, who has been active in the outlawed outfit since 2006," an official here said.
As many as 17 warrants were pending against the ultra, who was working as an area committee member (ACM) and carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, the official said, terming his arrest as "crucial" for the police.
Kattam, on the other hand, was a lower-rung cadre allegedly involved in the looting of ration and other materials in September this year at Galgam, he added. PTI
One of the ways to do so is to develop critical thinking, which can be achieved by exposure to a wide variety of literature
Recently, Booker-winning author Arundhati Roy’s book Walking with the Comrades was removed from the M.A. English syllabus of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, after the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) complained that the book “highlights Naxalism and is anti-Indian”. According to vice-chancellor Dr. K Pitchumani, the committee “decided to withdraw the book as it may be inappropriate to teach a controversial book for students”. Thinkers, activists and leaders of various political parties expressed their strong condemnation of the act, but few academics voiced their opinion.
What is the book, published in 2011, about? Arundhati Roy, who spent months living with rebel guerillas in deep forests, reveals how “under the pretence of battling Maoist guerillas, the Indian government is waging a vicious total war against its own citizens — a war undocumented by a weak domestic press and fostered by corporations eager to exploit the rare minerals buried in tribal lands”. The book received rave reviews from various sections of people and has the characteristics of good literature: a compelling theme, authenticity, social relevance, a unique literary style, and the potential to make reader think and raise questions.
Will any student become a Maoist by reading the book? Several thousand people across India must have read the book. Have they all become Maoists or violent activists? Have the committee members who read the book become Maoists? The claim by MS University screening committee that the book is “inappropriate” for the students underestimates the intellectual capacity of students. Do educational institutions treat students as mere sponges or thinking individuals?
Studying literaturehelps people broaden their horizons, understand human beings and society better, appreciate human experience, be sensitive to the needs of people, become good critical thinkers, and shape ideas. So, it is necessary for students to be exposed to a wide variety of literature. This gives them an opportunity to look at issues critically and become informed citizens. Students who are trained to read literature critically do not blindly accept the views expressed by authors.
Academics are expected to be free thinkers and fearless critics. They should not allow themselves to be influenced and remote-controlled by fringe elements. Only those academic institutions that are free from political interference can do justice to the student community and education. By bowing down to the demands of fringe elements and removing the book from the syllabus, the university has set a bad example.
Education that does not expose students to the world of knowledge and deprives them of the opportunity to look at issues critically is not education. Educators who genuflect before politicians and do not speak truth to power are not educators.
The writer is an academic, teacher educator and columnist. Email rayanal@yahoo.co.uk
CPI (Maoist) insurgents shot dead a coal trader while he was offering Arghya at a Chhath Ghat in a nondescript village of Chatra's Simariya block, about 150 kilometres north of capital Ranchi, on Saturday morning, unleashing a reign of terror on the innocent villagers engrossed in festive fervour, police said.
Police recovered three used cartridges and two CPI (Maoist) posters from the spot. Eyewitnesses claimed that bike-borne, masked rebels fired three rounds of bullet from a close distance at the coal trader and fled shouting slogans in glory of the CPI (Maoist). The incident triggered panic among devotees leading to a stampede at the Chhath Ghat, eyewitnesses told the police.
The victim, identified as one Mukesh Giri, was rushed to a local hospital in Simarya from where he was referred to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi. Giri succumbed to his injuries on his way to Ranchi in an ambulance, police said.
While the purpose behind the cold-blooded murder in broad daylight is not confirmed, police suspect that the coal trader may have been murdered over his refusal to pay levy to the insurgents. Other sources in the police department said that the CPI (Maoist) killed Giri as they suspected him to be a police informer.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Police (DGP), MV Rao rushed to Chatra immediately after the incident and held a meeting with the Chatra superintendent of police, Rishav Kumar Jha. The meeting was in progress at the time this report was filed.
Opposition parties in Jharkhand, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have recently targetted the Hemant Soren-led UPA government in the state over deteriorating law and order situation. Soon after the incident on Saturday, the BJP called for a press conference, scheduled in the evening.
As per records with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), at least 19 of 24 districts are Left Wing Extremism affected in Jharkhand. The CPI (Maoist) is the most dreaded outlawed group in the state among around 17 LWE outfits, say police
MUMBAI: Poet-activist Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, has been shifted from Taloja jail in Raigad district to Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital following a directive by the Bombay High Court, a jail official said on Thursday.
Rao was shifted to the private hospital late Wednesday night, the official said.
The High Court on Wednesday directed the authorities to shift the 80-year-old poet from jail to Nanavati Hospital for 15 days, noting that Rao was almost on his deathbed.
"He needs some treatment," the bench of Justices S S Shinde and Madhav Jamdar had said.
"Can the state say no we will treat him in Taloja? We are only saying transfer him to Nanavati for two weeks. We will further see after two weeks," they had noted.
They added that Rao should not be discharged from the hospital without informing the court, and that his family should be allowed to meet him at the hospital.
"It goes without saying that the state will bear the expenses (of his hospital stay)," the bench had added.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled on December 3.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening and the police recovered the body of the clerk on Wednesday morning .
Updated: Nov 18, 2020, 13:43 IST
By Sanjoy Dey | Edited by Abhinav Sahay, Hindustan Times Ranchi
Jharkhand is one of the worst left wing extremism affected states. The incidents have continued unabated in the past months. (File Photo)
Maoists killed a clerk of a private bridge construction company and set two vehicles engaged in construction work on fire in Peshrar block of Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district, police said on Wednesday.
This is the second Maoist action in the past three days. On Sunday night, Maoists allegedly killed a 55-year-old villager, identified as Jagir Bhagat, accusing him of being a police informer in Mungo village under Serendag police station of the district.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening and the police recovered the body of the clerk on Wednesday morning when it rushed to the spot to investigate into the incident.
Lohardaga superintendent of police (SP), Priyanka Meena, said, “One person was killed, while two vehicles were burnt in the incident. The incident is being probed.”
The SP, however, refrained from giving details about the police action against rising Maoist activities in the district.
A bridge is being constructed over Onegada river, just around one kilometer away from the Peshrar police station, at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. The workers engaged in the construction told police that a group of armed Maoists arrived at the worksite and set an excavator and tractor on fire. Then, the Maoists took the clerk, who was identified as Vicky Gupta, with them and shot him dead, the workers told police.
Police is suspecting levy as the reason behind the incident. A team led by sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) has been sent to the site for investigation into the matter.
Maoists’ incidents continue unabated in Jharkhand. As per the website of Jharkhand police, a total of 231 cases related to Maoists were registered in the state till September this year. With 33 cases, June registered the highest number of Maoist incidents, while 32 cases were recorded in August
Dantewada, Nov 17 (PTI) Three Naxals with cash rewards of Rs one lakh each on their heads surrendered before security forces in Chhattisgarh''s Dantewada on Tuesday, an official said.
The three were associated with the outlawed movement since 2008 and were involved in over 15 incidents, including attacks on police and damage to public property, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.
He identified the three as Nanda Sori (31), head of Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangthan (DAKMS) a frontal wing of the Maoists), Jatel Madkam (22), head of Janatana Sarkar squad and Ranjish Muchaki (30), head of Tetam Chetna Natya Mandli, a Naxal cultural outfit.
They were active in Malangir and Katekalyan area committees of the Maoists and turned themselves in after being impressed by the police''s surrender-cum-rehabilitation campaign named ''lon varratu'' (return to your home/village), he said.
With this, so far 202 Naxals, 52 of them carrying cash rewards on their heads, have surrendered in the district since the drive was launched in June this year, he said.
The three were given immediate assistance of Rs 10,000 and will be provided facilities soon as per the government''s surrender and rehabilitation policy, he added.
Under the ''lon varratu'' campaign, Dantewada police put up posters and banners in native villages of some 1,600 Naxals asking them to return to the mainstream. PTI
Ranchi, Nov 18: A Naxal belonging to the proscribed Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) outfit, carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was arrested in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Tuesday, police said.
Representational Image
Acting on a tip-off, police personnel arrested the outfit's self-styled 'zonal commander' Krishna Ganju near Bhangiya river in Pratappur police station area, Superintendent of Police Rishabh Kumar Jha told PTI.
A .315 bore rifle, a country-made gun and several cartridges were seized from his possession, the officer said.
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The arrested Naxal is wanted in several criminal cases registered with different police stations in the district, he said.
Meanwhile, armed Naxals set fire to an earthmover, a tractor and several other machines engaged in constructing roads and a bridge in Onegada in Peshrar police station area, its officer-in-charge Harioudh Kurmali said.
The Naxals forced the construction workers to flee the area, following which they set ablaze the machinery, he added
"The 'cut-off area' of Malkangiri always remains in my heart, and I will try my best to make it one of the developed areas in the state," Patnaik said.
Synopsis
Odisha Chief Minister also called upon Left-wing extremists to shun violence, return to the mainstream and become part of developmental activities taking place in the 'cut-off area', encircled by water on three sides and another connecting to dens...
By PTI
Last Updated:
BHUBANESWAR: Striving to transform the Naxal hotbed in the 'cut-off area' of Odisha's Malkangiri district into one of the developed places of the state, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said smartphones will be provided free of cost to all households in the region.
He also called upon Left-wing extremists (LWE) to shun violence, return to the mainstream and become part of developmental activities taking place in the 'cut-off area', encircled by water on three sides and another connecting to dense forests in Andhra Pradesh.
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"The 'cut-off area' of Malkangiri always remains in my heart, and I will try my best to make it one of the developed areas in the state," Patnaik said.
There are 52 revenue villages in the area, now renamed as 'Swabhimnan Anchal' after the chief minister inaugurated the Gurupriya bridge connecting the region with the mainland.
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Patnaik also interacted with the people of the area through video-conferencing.
He said the initiative will improve connectivity in the region and help students, and that four mobile phone towers have already been installed in the area, while another three with 4G network will be operational soon.
"A package of Rs 100 crore under SETU (Socio-Economic Transformation and Upliftment) programme for development of the area was announced in July 2018 during inauguration of the Gurupriya bridge. The amount has been increased to Rs 215 crore," Patnaik said.
Work for 3311 KV sub-stations will be completed soon, he said, adding, a total of Rs 100 crore will be spent for construction of concrete roads in all the villages and seven bridges in the area.
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A mega pipe water supply project at the cost of Rs 20 crore has also been initiated, while work for 250 tube wells is complete, the CM said.
An amount of Rs 32 crore will be spent for 43 lift irrigation projects and 419 cluster deep borewells, which will provide irrigation to 1,700 hectares of land, Patnaik said.
Noting that the Odisha government has laid emphasis on the socio-economic development of the area, he said specific measures have been taken for the benefit of the members of Mission Shakti, particularly through exposure visits.
The chief minister said his government has also taken steps to set up a turmeric processing and branding unit in the region.
Patnaik added that construction of 82 anganwadi centres and health sub-centres is underway and will be completed soon
Wednesday, 18 November 2020 | Staff Reporter | RAIPUR
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah who promised all possible help to Chhattisgarh to fight Naxalites and to develop the Bastar region economically.
During a meeting in New Delhi, Baghel discussed various issues with the Union Minister like increasing telecom facilities in Naxalite hubs and deployment of two more CRPF battalions in Bastar.
"The Home Minister assured immediate action on the same," an official statement of state government informed.
Underlining the importance of generating more employment opportunities in the region to uproot Naxalism, the Chief Minister said iron ore is available in abundance in Bastar and if it is made available at 30 per cent discount to steel plants, then investment of hundreds of crores of rupees will be created, leading to thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
He said that grid power has not yet been reached in large part due to difficult geographical areas. But with solar power plants, it is possible to meet the energy needs of the people and their economic development. The Chief Minister sought grant to make cold chains for arranging the processing and sale of minor forest produce, forest medicines and several types of horticultural crops in the forest areas.
Baghel demanded at least Rs 50 crore each year to be allotted to Collectors for development in all the seven aspiring districts of Bastar.
He urged Shah not to privatize NMDC for the sake of Bastar's development, "to which the Home Minister has assured that he will consider the request".
Baghel also discussed issues related to livelihood development, development of banks, roads and infrastructure in Naxalite areas.
A meeting of officials of the Home Ministry and Chhattisgarh in Raipur has been scheduled soon to discuss the various issues.
Shah "assured to give due consideration to the suggestions and requests and assured to fulfill the demands," the statement said.
Baghel's Additional Chief Secretary Subrat Sahu and the Secretary, Siddhartha Komal Singh Pardeshi, attended the meeting
‘Fight SAMADHAN strategy through self-defensive war,’ outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist’s Central Military Commission tells cadre
The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist’s Central Military Commission (CMC) appealed to all its cadre to celebrate 20th anniversary of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) for one year from this December.
Stating that PLGA had been the CPI-Maoist’s ‘wonderful weapon’ in achieving ‘considerable success’ in the ‘Protracted People’s War’ in several States at different levels, the CMC exhorted all the party cadre to undertake a campaign to consolidate it for the next one year.
“Celebrate PLGA’s 20th anniversary with revolutionary enthusiasm in a grand way and fight back government’s ‘SAMADHAN’ strategy through self-defensive war,” the CMC said. To run this political, military and organisational campaign efficiently, “we must make a wide propaganda of PLGA success in past two decades among people, party activists and PLGA forces,” the CMC told the party cadre. CMC, the Maoist party’s wing executing military operations, said the party committees, commands and PLGA units of all levels must study the compilations it is going to release soon.
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These are based on application of rules of Maoist People’s War - Our Experiences, it said. Study camps, classes and discussions must be held on these compilations. This would help the cadre learn tactics of guerrilla war and create ideological clarity. In the process, PLGA should be strengthened to undertake guerrilla war independently, the CMC said.
Strategies
Discussing the strategies of countering operation ‘SAMADHAN’, it said only by mobilising the vast masses, intensifying class struggle and enhancing mass bases only the PLGA can be strengthened. Since enhancing mass base in the primary act in class struggle, people should be organised in legal, anti-legal platforms, open-secret forms of struggle.
Stating that party’s revolutionary movement in the past two decades witnessed setbacks-leaps, ups-downs and twists-turns, it said the first 11 years were positive while the remaining period was not so favourable. Lives of members of the Central Committee to those of local cells were lost in the government’s offensive.
“The main reason is the weakness in following rules of guerrilla war and secret methods of functioning,” the CMC noted.
Class struggle
Shortcomings in changing programme of class struggle and adopting proper tactics too affected the party, it said.
“Therefore, we have to prevent losses, protect our forces and enhance our struggle capacity,” it told the party cadre. The CMC made it clear that “they can attack the enemy as part of self-defense tactics, only if they can protect their forces.”
According to the villagers, the community hall, built with then JD(U) MLC Anuj Kumar’s fund at a cost of Rs20 lakh, had been on Maoists’ radar for a while
Updated: Nov 16, 2020, 12:22 IST
By Avinash Kumar, Hindustan Times Patna
The police, in cooperation with the Central forces, have launched a manhunt across Dumaria. (Representational Image)
Suspected Maoists blew up a newly constructed community hall in Bihar’s Gaya district late on Sunday night. Police said an armed squad of the CPI (Maoist) stormed into Bodhi-Bigha village in Dumaria police station area of Gaya district, about 119 km south of Patna, late Sunday night and planted dynamites that blew up the building.
According to the villagers, the community hall, built with then JD(U) MLC Anuj Kumar’s fund at a cost of Rs20 lakh, had been on Maoists’ radar for a while. On March 27, 2019, Maoists had also blown up Singh’s house in Dumaria after he allegedly failed to return their Rs2 crore given in demonetised notes to exchange.
Police sources said there were pamphlets at the site demanding Rs2 crore from Singh, purportedly from Maoists. The pamphlets claimed that Singh was a police informer who harassed common people and had repeatedly been warned. “Our fight is against elements like Anuj Singh who get huge [amounts of ] money from Maoists leaders on the pretext of giving contracts,” they said.
While Singh said he had met chief minister Nitish Kumar and sought setting up of police pickets in Bodhi-Bigha in view of the Maoist threat, he refused to comment on the reported Rs2 crore demand from Maoists.
Ram Lagan Singh (64), a resident of Bodhi-Bigha village, said the incident occurred around 11.45pm. “The blast was so powerful that everything shook. We also heard slogans like ‘Lal Salam’ being shouted outside and we guessed it was the Maoists who had triggered the blast. So, we remained indoors. When we stepped out in the morning, we saw the community hall had been demolished,” he said.
Another villager said dynamite had been used to blow up the building. Fearing a trap, police were yet to visit the spot located deep inside a Maoist zone.
Gaya SSP Rajiv Mishra told HT, “The community hall building was inaugurated earlier, but there was no concrete plan to house a police camp. It was the villagers who suspected that a garrison could come up, which may have agitated the Maoists.” It must be noted that while inaugurating the hall right before the recent assembly elections, former chief minister and HAM president Jitan Ram Manjhi had assured that it would get a new police picket.
Meanwhile, the police, in cooperation with the central forces, have launched a manhunt for Maoists across the jungles and hills of Dumaria, close to Aurangabad and Palamu (Jharkhand) district borders.
Earlier in February this year, suspected Maoists blew up a government school building in Banke Bazar police station area in Gaya and left anti-NRC pamphlets. Hand-written pamphlets were recovered with slogans against “Brahminvadi, Hindutvavadi, fascist BJP government,” that questioned the “occupation” of school buildings by security forces.
Raipur, Nov 16 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking the Centre''s assistance in creating employment opportunities in Naxal-hit areas of the state, an official said on Monday.
In the letter, Baghel has made five suggestions and sought the Centre''s cooperation in its implementation in Naxal-hit areas, particularly in Bastar region, the public relations department official said on Monday.
Baghel said it is essential to create employment opportunities in these areas so that the unemployed are not forced to join Naxal groups, he said.
"Iron ore is available in abundance in Bastar. If iron ore is provided at 30 per cent discount to steel plants in the region, it will attract investment to the tune of several crore rupees in the sector, thus providing direct and indirect employment opportunities in remote areas," Baghel said in the letter.
Grid power supply has not yet reached a large part of the remote areas, due to difficult geographical terrains, and the establishment of a large number of solar power plants will help meet energy needs of people and bring about economic development, the CM added in the letter.
Baghel said there is a need to give generous grants for setting up processing units and cold chains in these areas.
The official said Baghel sought the Union government''s assistance in the proposed Bodhghat Multipurpose Irrigation Project on Indravati river in Bastar district.
The CM also pointed out there is no separate financial grant from the Centre to ''aspirational districts'', said the official.
Seven districts of Bastar region have been identified as aspirational districts and at least Rs 50 crore should be given annually to the collector of each of these districts for development purposes, the letter said.
Implementation of these suggestions would help in rooting out Naxalism from Chhattisgarh in the next few years, Baghel said.
The CM expressed happiness that the Centre planned to send five out of seven additional CRPF battalions, sanctioned for the state in 2018, for deployment in Bastar to fight the Naxal menace, the official said.
The chief minister had written to Shah in September seeking deployment of seven CRPF battalions, which were sanctioned for the state in 2018, but had not been dispatched, he said. PTI
Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN | Nov 16, 2020, 09:35 IST
TNNAnil Deshmukh
Anil Deshmukh is probably the first home minister in the recent past to celebrate Diwali in remote Patagudam village of Gadchiroli district. Patagudam, considered to be a Naxal stronghold, is 300 km from Gadchiroli, on the Maharashtra-Chhatisgarh border. According to reports, Naxalites from both
and Chhatisgarh take shelter in Patagudam and there have been several attacks on police personnel in the border area.
Deshmukh had taken along with him key police officials to study the ground situation and one of the main takeaways was the plight of SRPF personnel posted there. SRPF personnel from Daund and Kolhapur have been deployed in Patagudam for the safety and security of villagers. It was found that while SRPF companies have been posted there since several years, they are still staying in barracks amid abysmal living conditions. There are hardly any facilities for their children too. Police personnel posted in Naxalite-infested areas had been given an assurance that they would be deployed there for a fixed tenure and, after completion, they would be given a posting of their choice. However, their main grouse is the assurance has remained on paper. Police personnel were happy to have a personal meeting with the home minister, but they remain sceptical if the issues raised by them will be resolved in a time-bound period.
Gaya (Bihar), Nov 16 (IANS): A group of suspected Naxalites blew up a community building in Bodhi Bigha village in Gaya district of Bihar, police said on Monday.
A police official said that the armed Naxalites went to the village in Dumaria police station area on Sunday night and blew up the building by using explosives.
Afterwards, the group fired in the air as they left the village. However, no casualties were reported in the incident.
Confirming the attack, Dumaria police station incharge Vimal Kumar said the Naxalites left a handwritten pamphlet, issuing warnings to the local authorities and the police while taking responsibility for the attack.
According to police sources, a police station was due to function from the community building, which is why the Naxalites targeted it to create fear among the area population. Police is trying to track down the suspected Naxalites
The course manual is currently being readied. Classes on the course will begin at Dantewada district jail where around 600 Maoists are lodged at present.
Bastar Police during an internal meeting to discuss the Maoist reform course | By special arrangement
Raipur: The Chhattisgarh Police will soon start a course to reform surrendered and arrested Maoists.
The preparation of the course manual is currently under way, said Inspector General (IG) Sundaraj P.
Classes on the course will begin at Dantewada district jail, where around 600 Maoists are lodged at present, but only after ‘Covid Unlock’ begins in jails, said the police. Currently, no outsiders are allowed in jails.
Talking to ThePrint, Sundaraj said: “This will be a course of reform and persuasion aimed at influencing the ideology and thought process of the Maoists.”
He added: “This is the first occasion when a programme of reform for Maoists is being taken up as a remedy for a stable solution to prevent jailed Naxals from going back to their cadre (after their release). They will also realise that police and the government are not their enemies but protectors.”
Police officers heading anti-Maoist operations in Bastar said more than 90 per cent surrendered and arrested Maoists do not even know why they are fighting.
“They do not know what the Constitution is and have no inkling of the rights and responsibilities towards it,” said a senior police officer, who did not wish to be named.
He added that Maoists are indoctrinatedwith the only idea that police and the government are their biggest enemies.
The police said they are confident that the reform course will be successful and set a trend for more such programmes in the future.
Apart from holding classroom sessions for the arrested and surrendered Maoists, the course manual will be used later for counselling of villagers residing in Naxal strongholds. The police said their aim is also to protect villagers from being indoctrinated by the Maoists.
The Dantewada police is now preparing the course manual to make Maoists understand what Naxalism could do to the society, state and the nation.
Before finalising the manual, the police said, they will map the depth to which the jailed Maoists have been indoctrinated and influenced. Following this, their need for reform will be assessed and the course material will be documented.
Dantewada Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Pallava said: “As many as 100 questions have been prepared to know the thought process and scale of indoctrination of the imprisoned Maoists.”
He added: “Although a broad outline of the course manual is ready, it will be finalised after seeing and assessing their replies to these questions. This will also help us understand the scale of diversion in their thought process.”
Course in Gondi dialect
Police officers said the course manual will include mainly 11 broad categories.
Some of these are Naxalism and the process of joining the cadre, Maoist atrocities, loss of tribal art and culture owing to extremism, loss of villagers’ economy due to this, Schedule 5 and 6 of the Indian Constitution, legal framework to protect tribals and their areas, specially Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, Panchayati Raj Act, Forest Rights Act and Public Safety Act.
This apart, the administrative structure of India and Chhattisgarh, comparison between Naxal-hit and Naxal-free districts along with counseling of the families of arrested or surrendered Maoists and also those whose members have been killed by Naxals will be included in the course manual.
SP Pallava said the course will be titled Badalam Ekaka (Changing Mind), which is in Gondi dialect.
The manual will also be in the Gondi dialect as most of the jailed Maoists do not know Hindi. It will also have many video and audio documents in Gondi. Interviews of the families of Naxals and victims of Maoism will be prepared and shown in jail classrooms.
A team of trainers, who will take the classes, will be formed in the coming days, while the classes will start only after Covid-19 unlock begins in jails.
“As of now, no one (from outside) is allowed to go inside the prisons due to Covid,” said the SP.
Umesh Chandra, IPS was bold and daring in dealing with the naxalites. He relentlessly pursued the apprehension of extremists, naxalites and other anti-social elements. He planned and led all counter-terrorist operations himself.
