Anti-Naxal operation on track,forces on standby

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has reiterated that Naxalism is the top internal security threat to India. In Mumbai on Wednesday,he said the states and the Centre were taking all possible measures to deal with the menace and they were willing to talk to Naxals and militant groups in Jamp;K if they shunned the path of violence. I have always said that Naxalism is the greatest internal security threat to our country, he said,ruling out the possibility of using armed forces against Naxals.

The Cabinet Committee on Security CCS last Thursday overcame the political costs of the anti-Naxal operations in the mineral-rich heart of the country. The basic purpose of the CCS was to deliberate and weigh the political cost vis-à-vis the internal security threat posed by the Maoists. The message that Home Minister P Chidambaram passed was that paramilitary forces would not be pulled back even if there was a political price to pay in the forthcoming Jharkhand elections.