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Journalism of Courage
K Vijay Kumar,home ministrys senior adviser on anti-Naxal ops,discusses his recent stint in Jharkhand with
Deepu Sebastian Edmond
Of the moves that you have undertaken,what do you think will aid the state in the long run?
The SPs were made the fulcrum of the anti-Maoist operations. We should not be entirely reliant on the CRPF,SSB Sashastra Seema Bal and so on. The CRPF is a force that will be here and tomorrow,if there is an emergency,they will move out8230;. We state police did not have the right kind of people sub-inspectors,inspectors who were physically fit. One reason was that sub-inspectors had aged because of no recruitment. We came out with a policy that said all youngsters should first go to the Jaguars the elite,anti-LWE task force of the state police and train with them. Which means they will be physically fit,which means they will be involved in counter-insurgency tactical operations,and the state will have a well-equipped,well-trained force.
Why had the state police suffered?
The middle level is very weak here. The ASI-SI cadre is about four to five thousand in a force of 70,000. They form a critical edge of the police. The sub-inspector level was inadequate in number. That made a huge impact on how the police were able to function. Many inspectors had not got promotions since 1994,when they were recruited. Before 2012,recruitment was done in 1994. This year,recruitment will continue.
What is it about Jharkhand that makes anti-LWE action difficult?
It is not a guerrilla fight anymore. It is a terrorist kind of action. In any of Maos beautiful monographs8230; nowhere does he advocate that. He advocates mass mobilisation8230;
The difficulty with our state is that except Lohardaga,every district has got a border with another state. That makes it extremely complex,definitely more complex than the situation in many other states.
The second reason is that the MCC now CPI Maoist after a merger with Peoples War group of southern Bihar and northern Chhattisgarh was very dominant in this place. Their continuing presence in some parts,of course slightly reduced than before,is another problem.
In an email to district SPs,you had said the state police should no longer support Maoist splinter groups such as the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee.
Very clearly. What I felt was what I said. Many of these groups that were raised or supported or ignored or winked at,will one day turn upon you8230; The best thing is,those who surrender with a genuine intent,they should be as actively as possible absorbed into the system. I am not talking of the surrender policy of the government this is the way I look at it8230; There was a proposal not exactly for surrendered people there is a proposal for a Special India Reserve Battalion. That battalion will target the most backward of tribals. We have not yet progressed on that.
