Chhattisgarh attack

The death of 10 security personnel and a civilian driver after Naxalites blew up their vehicle in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district has jolted not only the poll-bound state but also the Central Government. The deceased personnel — including eight residents of Dantewada — belonged to the District Reserve Guard, the state police’s anti-Naxal unit that mostly inducts members of the local tribal population and trains them to take on Maoists. The treacherous ambush, in which an IED with an estimated 40 kg of explosives was detonated, makes it obvious that Naxalites have no qualms about killing the very tribal people whose rights they claim to be fighting for. Many tribesmen, who are finally seeing through the insurgents’ nefarious designs, are helping the authorities in curbing the menace. This trend has unnerved the Naxalites, who are resorting to desperate moves to make their presence felt.

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The latest attack is a setback for the Centre, which has been supplementing the efforts of states plagued by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Approved in 2015, the National Policy and Action Plan on LWE envisages a multi-pronged strategy featuring security-related measures, development interventions and safeguarding rights and entitlements of local communities. According to the Home Ministry, incidents of LWE violence in the country have gone down by 77 per cent — from 2,213 in 2010 to 509 in 2021. The count of civilians and security personnel who lost their lives dropped by 85 per cent during this period. This heartening outcome indicates that the government’s citizen-centric initiatives – expanding the road network, improving telecommunication connectivity, skill development and providing better financial services to the residents — are paying dividends in LWE-affected states.

However, there is no room for complacency, as underlined tragically by the Dantewada incident. Chhattisgarh, which had last witnessed such a major attack in April 2021, must step up vigil as there is a likelihood of more violence in the run-up to the Assembly elections later this year. Ensuring greater involvement of the local tribal community in the anti-Naxal campaign can be of immense help.