It was a slick operation. And by all accounts it had the backing of governments in Hyderabad and New Delhi. By invoking swift intervention by Union ministers, top Naxal leaders in Andhra Pradesh had a commando operation ordered back in the nick of time. If proof were still needed of the Congress party’s waffling on a crackdown on Naxals, events last week appeared choreographed to deliver that requirement. For just a few hours on Thursday, the Grey Hounds had the who’s who of the CPI (Maoist) within their grasp. Alas, for only just a few hours. Within that period the Naxal leaders managed to get word to Andhra Pradesh’s home minister as well as to Andhra ministers in the Union cabinet like Jaipal Reddy and C. Chandrasekhar Rao, who reportedly worked the phones to have the anti-Naxal police force turn around and leave their targets free and unharmed. The ministers deny this, but exultant Naxal intermediaries and frustrated police officials are freely giving out details. In turn, questions that once seemed contraband are demanding to be voiced.Is the Congress cynically cultivating Naxals in the belief that it has gained electorally from their presence, and could continue to do so? Could this tactic complicate the Centre’s response to the crisis in Nepal, whose Maoists are united with Indian counterparts in clearing a Naxal corridor from Nepal to Nellore? Images from recent months flash by: of the state government talking peace with Naxal leaders who even in that ceasefire interlude brandish illegal arms; of Munger superintendent of police K.C. Surendra Babu’s Naxalite killers amplifying their impunity by boasting that he deserved it. The numbers put these images in focus. On an average day now, India loses more armed personnel to Maoists than to terrorists in J&K. Yet, cops pursuing Naxals are held back. Some have even been transferred. The argument that this sacrifice is in the larger cause of a possible peace does not hold. Ramakrishna, who led the Naxal in the October talks, could not be clearer on this: “Holding talks is just part of our strategy. The ultimate goal is armed struggle.”The Centre’s insistent refusal to acknowledge a gathering threat to national security is reminiscent of the lead-up to the 1962 war with China. Unfortunately, there is another parallel that’s being made an increasingly unlikely possibility: Indira Gandhi’s firm clampdown against armed left extremism, which for instance opened the space for foresightful land reform in West Bengal. Must it take even more audacious denial of the writ of the state for the government to wake up to these dangerous games?
