Tags:
Journalism of Courage
In 2007,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned that Naxalites were Indias greatest internal security threat. Two years on,that threat has only grown greater,with 150 of Indias 600 districts currently declared Naxal-affected. Even so,the Naxalite siege of the National Aluminium Companys bauxite mines in Koraput in Orissa the largest in Asia is unprecedented in the choice of target a corporate installation and in its implications the threat to Indias economy. The Election Commission has quickly responded by changing poll timings in Naxalite-infested areas booths will be open from 7 am to 3 am so that attackers cannot rely on the cover of darkness. But it will take more than just sunlight to combat the threat.
Some states have responded strongly so much so that their anti-Naxal measures have critics worrying about human rights abuse. But those state governments are at least clear on who the enemy is. Orissa,on the other hand,prefers fighting an insurgency on the cheap. Though Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik claims that 15 of Orissas 30 districts are Naxal-affected,his weak government has done an abysmal job of enforcing the law and ensuring order. The 11 jawans from the Central Industrial Security Force CISF,killed in Koraput an unusually high death toll given the parameters of the attack are only the latest in a steady stream of police casualties from Orissa. In Nayagarh last year,13 policemen were slaughtered when Naxals laid siege to the district armoury. If the Kandhamal riots showed the Orissa state governments inability to enforce its writ,the steady stream of body bags from Orissa exposes its disregard for the lives of our law enforcers.
