Friday, December 25, 2015

MILITARY SCIENCE :: BOOKS, STUDIES & MILITARY MATTERS







TERRORISM


ISIS: THE TERRORIST GROUP THAT WOULD BE A                                                           STATE
                                           By
                              Michael W. S. Ryan

HIGHLIGHT LINK BELOW  & RIGHT CLICK TO OPEN WITH GOOGLE SEARCH

https://www.usnwc.edu/getattachment/Departments---Colleges/Center-on-Irregular-Warfare---Armed-Groups/Publications/ISIS_-Michael-W--S--Ryan-Final.pdf.aspx


Thursday, December 24, 2015

OROP KRANTI ::HONOUR N DIGNITY AND NOT FEW THOUSAND OF RUPEES BY GENERAL SATBIR SINGH CHAIRMAN IESM....



     HONOUR N DIGNITY AND NOT FEW 

               THOUSAND OF RUPEES 

                                  BY

            GENERAL SATBIR SINGH 

                CHAIRMAN IESM....



Dear Citizens

OROP is dear to all of us. It is not a question of few
 thousand Rupees but of honour and dignity of all 
soldiers, both serving and retired, having been snipped 
away bit by bit over the last 68 years. OROP was 
snatched from us by scheming political-bureaucrat 
combine team to downgrade Military in 1973.



Our fight for OROP is 42 years old, but it is only now 
that the fight for it and restoration of the honour and 
dignity of the soldier have come to the National radar 
and has, therefore, started pricking the combined 
conscience of the Nation. This has put the unholy 
combine of the Politician-bureaucrat in a very poor light. 
The Nation has now come to know that while this duo 
had been granting concessions & pay rises to 
themselves without approval of the citizens, they have 
been denying even the basic welfare to its Military.



The machination and scheming of the politician - 
bureaucrat combo has resulted in the nose diving of the 
civil-military relations. Now that this nexus between the 
cheating duo, has been exposed, they are feeling the 
heat and spreading malicious rumours against this 
pious and most peaceful agitation of the veteran 
soldiers at the Jantar Mantar.


The aim of the agitation by the Veteran soldiers at the 
JM was originally for grant of OROP, but it is no more a 
fight only for that. The indifference of the treacherous 
duo has forced us to convert our agitation into one for 
social change. It is a fight for the honour and dignity of 
the soldier, both serving and veterans. It is also for the 
safety and wellbeing of the Military and citizens of India 
that it protects.


We call upon for all citizens to understand the 
treacherous behavior of the Politician-Bureaucrat duo. 
if, today, they are giving stepmotherly treatment to 
Military, what will happen to you tomorrow? This duo 
will do anything to ensure their grip on their perks and 
power. There is no end to their greed. It is a question of 
security, nay, the very integrity of India and its citizens.



Today, the agitation of the Veteran Soldiers, for their 
honour and dignity and that of all the citizens, has 
entered 156th day. This has been the longest and most 
peaceful agitation in the history of the World and that 
too by soldiers.



Our agitation all over the Country has been recognized 
by World Peace Forum and the Rotary Club of India as 
being the most peaceful agitation in the History of the 
World. We, the Veterans, are proud of the way it has 
been conducted. The only disturbance happened on 14 
Aug 2015 when Govt's forces (police and NDMC) 
attacked the most peaceful agitators, manhandled them 
and attempted to forcibly evict them from JM. The 
attempt failed miserably, leaving the Govt egg faced.



Dear Sisters, Brothers and Friends of India, we need 
your support for retrieval of lost honour and dignity of 
the soldier, both serving and retired. We request you to 
extend your hand and hold ours. Many prominent citizen 
groups, including the Bar Council of the Supreme Court 
of India, have come to the JM to extend their whole 
hearted support to our peaceful and just agitation.


Gurudwaras have been extending their help in providing 
accommodation and langar for the groups coming to 
take part in Relay Hunger Strike. They know that it is 
only the soldier who saves the population in Punjab 
from the attackers/invaders across the Northern borders.


Dirty Tricks Department, (DTD), of the Govt has now 
started a campaign to malign the image of the Countries 
Veterans by destroying the peaceful environment 
around the agitation and lower the image of the Military. 
The Veterans are being falsely, mischievously and 
baselessly accused of seeking support of unwanted 
elements.


This reminds us many Govts the World over, including 
our own, creating a monster to defame a genuine and 
most peaceful cause/agitation and then subsequently 
getting swallowed by the very Frankenstien it created. 
History is full of such incidents.


I shall be failing in my duty if I do not inform my Sisters, 
Brothers and Friends of India, that the minor 
concessions given by the Govt, is nowhere near OROP, 
something that stands approved by two Parliaments and 
the Highest Judiciary of India. By announcing it, the 
Govt has not only, demeaned the soldier, the defender 
of the Land but defied the collective will of two 
Parliaments and the unambiguous orders of the SC of 
India.


Imagine, if the Govt can cheat the defenders of Mother 
India, its Military, just to serve its own selfish and 
devious ends, it else it can do to destroy the Country of 
1.25 billion people. Please beware, and do not believe 
the blatant lies of this Govt that OROP has been granted 
and only handful of disgruntled politically motivated 
veterans are still agitating.


Please visit Jantar Mantar and see 80 year old ex-
servicemen and Veer Naris observing hunger strike and 
sitting on agitation there, for the last 156 days, still 
waiting for OROP before they sleep forever.


This agitation at JM, for the reclaiming the honour and 
dignity of the soldier, is pious and most peaceful. We 
have vowed to keep it that way. OROP is the first small 
step towards it. We are seeking the support of all 
citizens of India, our Sisters, Brothers and Friends of 
India. We also seek the support of all political parties.


We intend to educate one and all, including leaders of 
opposition parties and the ruling party because these 
are the men who will finally force the Govt to grant 
OROP.


It is totally wrong to attach a political tag to our 
agitation. No political leader has ever been given a mike 
and the stage at Jantar Mantar and shall be so given.


We, the veteran solidiers of India who fought four wars 
to defend our Motherland, urge you to support us and 
force this instrangient Govt to be answerable to the 
nation and say why it is hell bent on ruining the only 
Institution which still commands the love and respect of 
all the citizens of the Country and why it is hesitating to 
inform the Country the arithmetic of OROP and NFU, 
both of which it and its partenr in crime, the 
bureaucrats, have enjoyed for long.

With Regards,

Yours Sincerely,
Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM (Retd)

































OROP KRANTI ::RHS at JM and OROP AS AT 24 DEC,2015


DECEMBER 24,2015


'Vinod Gandhi' via IESM_Group iesm_group@googlegroups.com

9:50 AM (12 hours ago)

Dear Members

some organisations have nothing to do but  to pull down IESM/ UFESM(JM). On the other hand IESM is seriously fighting for OROP for all veterans. It is difficult to understand why these ex-servicemen are only worried about actions of IESM whereas they should be bragging about their own achievements. Does it not mean that these ex-servicemen have nothing to talk about their achievements or they do not have any achievements worth talking? These organizations/ex-servicemen  want to gain popularity by only criticizing IESM. They will not gain popularity by this cheap method but will communicate to Government that Ex-servicemen are fragmented. Government will take advantage of this disunity and will ignore ex-servicemen and their legitimate demands. This is the time when ex-servicemen all over India must present a united stand and show our strength to Government. Alas we are doing exactly opposite and have not come out of crab mentality. Ex-servicemen are playing into hands of bureaucrats, very sad situation.
 
It is very important to note that IESM has never forced any ex-servicemen to donate or even join IESM. IESM feels very strongly about the down gradation of military viz a viz their civil counterparts and hence projects its views very very strongly. IESM also  feels very strongly that time has long gone for gentleman behaviour for Armed Forces Personnel as because of this behaviour their status has been constantly down graded from Pay commission to pay commission. Anomalies pointed out by service hq are never attended for example 39 outstanding anomalies are still pending from 2006 i.e 6 CPC is a classical example. 


IESM feels very strongly that time is now to put across ex-servicemen issues very strongly to the Government and to nation. Jantar Mantar is the only place available for democratic movement and every ex-serviceman has a right to agitate there for presenting his demands. 


Why are some ex-servicemen spewing venom for this peaceful agitation is beyond imagination. The moot question is what is stopping them to 

  1. Present their points as per their selected method. 
  2. Do they believe that ex-servicemen do not have any problems worth taking up? If yes then they can sit quietly at home and stop criticizing IESM for its methods. And if No then they have the right to take the issues as per their selected method. Still criticizing IESM and JM is no solution and will not get them their demands 
  3. Who is stopping them to put up their request for donations for their method of representation? In-fact they had initiated a request for funds to the environment but only few thousand Rupees were contributed by some veterans and even  that stopped as soon as veterans  realized that they are contributing to an organisation which is not agitating at JM.
  4. Why are they so disturbed if NDA courses and now regiments are visiting JM and giving contribution to IESM in support of agitation at JM?. Is it a sign of their frustration that these organizations have been ignored by the ex-servicemen?
There are 24 lac ex-servicemen in India. Majority of them are coming to JM and have supported the agitation at JM,  however all are not coming to JM.  This situation is win win situation. IESM and AIEWA and our associate organizations are  agitating at JM while other organizations are trying to speak to RM and FM. Our aim is to get OROP whether it comes because of pressure of IESM or dialogue of other organizations. This bickering must stop if we have to get any demand approved by the Government. 

IESM or AIEWA has never criticized working style of any organization and has also never abused any veteran. But dear Veterans are you not disturbed by behaviour of few veterans whose only job is IESM bashing and criticizing JM? Their only pass time is to talk about funds being collected at JM. Whereas it has been informed to environment that every penny will be explained to environment and members after proper audit and will be presented to AGM for approval. As a mark of respect and to remove any doubts I have personally given figures of contribution and expenditure in my last mail. 
 
Government is feigning to ignore us and is hoping to tire us out at JM. This is the reason that Government is talking to fringe groups and avoiding JM. Government has also suo motto put a ban in covering JM agitation by media and newspapers. But the ex-servicemen sitting at JM and supporting JM are so large in number that unless IESM wishes to stop JM for specific reason JM will not close. In-fact JM is a major embarrassment for Govt and they are leaving no stone unturned to stop agitation at JM. It is proper time to share with environment that JM will be closed as and when UFESM(JM) will feel that it has delivered the desired results or outlived its purpose. 

RHS at JM has entered 193rd day today. 

OROP Notification  and present status ;

OROP notification has been issued by Govt on 7 Nov 2015. This has some glaring deficiencies. These deficiencies have been pointed out by IESM to PM and RM. However despite our objections Government has also issued notification of one judge committee on 14 Dec 2015 to recommend actions to be taken on anomalies arising out at the time of implementation of OROP notification. IESM has sent strong representation objecting to this committee also. Our objection is mainly that ESM must be represented in this committee or else we will not get justice from committee.


Fighting the case in Honorable Supreme court;

ESM are well aware that it is well nigh impossible to reason out with Government to get our rightful dues.  In India last bastion for justice  is honorable Supreme court to get your rightful dues. IESM wishes to use this also for conclusion of our rightful demand of OROP. We are in constant dialogue with most respectable and reputed lawyer Sh Ram Jethamalani. He has very kindly consented to fight our case for OROP pro bono i.e. without charging us any fees. IESM will be working under his guidance on our fight for OROP. Sh Ram Jethamalani has written a letter to RM dated 23 Dec 15 and he has made it very clear that OROP is the demand which was promised by BJP and BJP is duty bound and under moral obligation to fulfill this demand. 


Sh Ram Jethamalani ji is of opinion that HSC route should be the last option and that too if unavoidable.


I hope some good sense will prevail on UFESM(JM) detractors and they will stop showing a fragmented picture of ESM family to Government. I am also hopeful that some senior ex-servicemen will counsel these misguided loose canon and restrain them in pulling down ESM family.

UFESM(JM), IESM and AIEWA will show restrain and will not use abusive and derogatory language against anyone. 

Regards
Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM

Flat no 801, Tower N5
Narmada Apartments
Pocket D6 
Vasant Kunj
Nelson Mandela Marg
New Delhi. 110070
Mobile   09810541222

OROP is our right. Dilution in OROP will NOT be accepted.
 
IF YOU SEE SOMEONE WITHOUT A SMILE GIVE HIM ONE OF YOURS.












Wednesday, December 23, 2015

OROP KRANTI PRESS RELEASE - OROP AS AT 1800 hrs 23 Dec 2015








PRESS RELEASE
OROP AS  AT 1800 hrs 23 Dec 2015
          
 Ram Jethmalani Fires First Salvo

1.      Ram Jethmalani today wrote a letter to the RM to resolve the impasse over OROP.

2.      He says in the letter that Mr Parikkar is one of the few ministers for whom he has great respect and that is the reason he is writing to him.

3.      He advises Parikkar to use his clout  with PM to fulfill his election promise and not be rattled by some bogey being raised of unbearable financial implications by some vested interests.

4.      He further  requests him to have talk with a senior  def veterans and in case required he himself will join the parley if there is genuine desire to resolve the issue. Delay in this matter is doing great harm to the interest of the party, country and image of PM. 

 
Shiv Sena Workers


5.       Shiv Sena workers from Maharastra today visited Jantar Mantar to express their solidarity. They even volunteered to take up the case with PM.


RHS


6.       Relay Hunger Strike entered the 192th day with one Vir Nari and 21 Sainiks participating from Khanna (Punjab) and Bhawani (Haryana).
 
Sainiks Surging Again at Jantar Mantar


7.       It is encouraging to see the Sainiks again coming in large numbers at Jantar Mantar.


-- 
Jai Hind
Activities Team
OROP
JM, Delhi

















Tuesday, December 22, 2015

GOVERNANCE _IAS ::The A to Z of Indian Bureaucracy

SOURCE : FACEBOOK

The A to Z of Indian Bureaucracy


The A to Z of Indian Bureaucracy...courtesy preet Luthra..

[Twenty six ways in which Indian babus' are making a mockery of governance, ethics and public service]

[A]rrogance
For months, the media in Delhi screamed hoarse that the planned `BRT corridor' scheme dreamt up by a few babus of the transport department is a disaster. The bureaucrats blithely went about imposing this nightmare on citizens of Delhi with traffic jams becoming the norm. Now the babus arrogantly blame citizens of Delhi for choosing cars over murderous buses for commuting to office! A babu without arrogance would be like a dodo... Extinct
[B]ullying
Like all bullies, the babu rides roughshod over those below him and fawns obsequiously on his masters. You only have to watch the rude and callous manner in which a bureaucrat behaves with a citizen who has gone to his office for some work. And then compare his behaviour in front of a politician in power. The `public servant' is actually the `master' of the public and the `servant of the `master' – usually a minister, and sometimes a mafia don!
[C]orruption
This is synonymous with Indian babudom. Whether you are the aam aadmi or a billionaire, your file won't move an inch unless cash changes hands under the table. In the 1980s, the Octroi department in then Bombay went on a strike & army officials manned the check posts.The strike was withdrawn after the media reported that Octroi collections had gone up by more than 500%.
[D]elay & denial
Perhaps except the Konkan Railway and the Delhi Metro, no project ever undertaken by an Indian babu ever finishes on time. There are some irrigation projects that are in the process of completion for the last 30 years! Delays are always deliberate because they throw open more opportunities for `money on the side'. And of course, whenever the media or the judiciary highlights the delay, the Pavlovian reflex of the Indian bureaucrat is to deny, and then deny some more.
[E]nquiry & extension
If corruption and sordid acts are the dirt, the omnipresent `Enquiry Committee' is the proverbial carpet under which the dirt has been carefully hidden. The principal purpose of the Enquiry committee is to delay, and then deny in the hope that the media and the public will eventually forget about the case. In English, enquiry rhymes with another interesting word called bury! Bureaucrats never ever retire; they just keep getting those `extensions'!
[F]ailure
That one word can neatly sum up the history of the Indian bureaucracy after independence in 1947. Worse, babus find it difficult to digest the fact that entrepreneurs can usually do a better job. So you will see bureaucrats banning `private' bus operators and forcing citizens to take state run buses that don't run. So you will see envious bureaucrats `de-recognising' or not recognising world class centres of higher education. Perhaps their biggest failure till date has been their total inability to kill the great Indian spirit!
[G]utless
There is a saying about the Emergency: they crawled when they were asked to bend. That can neatly sum up the behaviour and attitude of most bureaucrats in independent India. It is virtually impossible for a minister to get a babu sacked; and yet bureaucrats crawl before netas and justify their behaviour by whining that they are otherwise harassed.
[H]ustling
You would associate this term usually with dealers in a casino. But Indian babus have become masters of the game. Just look at how Sudhir Goswami hustled his way into the cover of Time Magazine as one of the Indian heroes. It is only much later that dumb struck Indians found out that Goswami was lining his pockets and bank accounts with money meant for flood relief! And does any one remember Ashok Agarwal, the Enforcement Directorate official who turned black mailing into a fine art!
[I]mpose inefficiently
When corruption, delays, denials and hustling don't work, the Indian babu resorts to `imposing' rules and regulations. It is a different matter that the bureaucrat performs even this destructive act very inefficiently! Impose price controls if inflation hurts people so that they are hurt even more. Impose quotas at the behest of political masters. Impose rules which entrepreneurs have to break if they want to run a successful business.
[J]ustify
The Indian bureaucrat has acquired and mastered the legendary act of justifying anything and everything. File a request under the Right to Information Act and the babu will deny access to it. He will then justify his cussed behaviour because it involves something termed as `national security'. Ask a bureaucrat about delays in construction of national highways and you will get simply no response, He will justify his stonewalling in the name of `public interest'!
[K]afkaesque
If Franz Kafka had encountered Indian babus, his novels would have been even more depressing and disturbing. Analysts are sadly mistaken when they call Kafka's writings surreal; they perhaps meant the Indian bureaucracy. A Kafkaesque bureaucracy is "marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity". B&E challenges entrepreneurs and citizens to say confidently that they understand the frighteningly complex jargon that is used by babus.
[L]ies
Arguably the third most favourite sport of the bureaucrats after corruption and delays.When denials and stone walling don't work, just resort to outright lies. The Indian babu will lie about files, projects, public interest, national security, corruption, delays, hustling and any other act that might embarrass the bureaucrat individually or the bureaucracy collectively. Thanks to judicial activism and some bureaucrats being sent behind bars for contempt of court, babus are now wary of using this weapon!
[M]ismanagement
If Jack Welch would watch an Indian babu `manage' something, he might just end up committing suicide. With extremely rare and honourable exceptions, almost every thing that a bureaucrat touches turns into dust. When babus announce a grand new plan to increase electricity and water supply to citizens, the taps dry up and the lights go out. When they announce a plan to tackle monsoon in Bombay, even Dalal Street virtually shuts down because no one can reach office! And of course, they then justify it in public interest!
[N]epotism
Like the courtiers of the Mughal era, Indian babus-thanks to their access to the new kings and queens of India (Ministers, MPs and MLAs)-are perpetually trying to curry a favour or two for themselves and their family members. The best overseas scholarships are thus `reserved' for children of bureaucrats. Some of the best jobs in the private sector are thus `reserved' for the children of bureaucrats. And some of the best college seats in India are thus `reserved' for the blessed progeny of these new age courtiers!
[O]blivious
Quite mysteriously, the `If they don't have bread, let them eat cake' persona of the French Revolution has been transplanted into Indian bureaucracy. Cocooned in their bungalows and VIP areas, the Indian babu is utterly oblivious to what is happening in the rest of the country. The babu is oblivious of the fact that 300 million Indians are starving; that roads don't exist in much of India, that water and electricity are mirages for the aam aadmi, that…The only thing they are not oblivious to is their `status'.
[P]roliferate
Like bacteria and termites, Indian babus have proliferated and invaded virtually every sphere of activity in the country. No wonder businessmen and citizens say that our system is rotten to the core. Indian babus run companies, they manage climate control, they run the Railways, they operate fleets of buses and aircraft, they run duty free shops, they run anti-poverty programs, they run schools and colleges and hospitals… They might start running modelling agencies and spas too. In short, proliferating bureaucrats have run India to the ground!
[Q]ueue
When the first bureaucrat in the history of mankind had a fantasy, he saw a long and winding queue of forlorn, dejected and frustrated people. That day, God was perhaps in a bad mood and condemned mankind to a life time of queuing up. For Indian babus, the ultimate high is making citizens stand in never ending queues-for money, for ration, for tickets, for liquor, for passports and even for death certificates. Of course, queues are meant only for the public, not for `public servants'!
[R]ed tape
The ubiquitous file tied up in red thread is the ultimate symbol of the corrosive and destructive powers of Indian bureaucracy. It is as dangerous as the Swastika of Nazis; as devastating as the Red Star of Stalin and Mao and as vainglorious as the Eagle of the United States. The Indian babu starts getting withdrawal symptoms if he is not surrounded by musty files; many of which have perhaps not been opened for decades. Red Tape is the Bramhastra that is used by babus to systematically throttle India Inc.
[S]ycophancy
Many at B&E suggested socialism & sadistic as a better option than sycophancy.Eventually, the consensus was that arrogance coupled with sycophancy is the Yin & Yang of Indian bureaucracy. The sycophancy is reserved only for the powers that be-for the criminal turned neta who has become a minister, for superiors who can gift plum postings and assignments and for very rich entrepreneurs who lavish money on the bureaucrats.
[T]ragedy
Indian bureaucrats are always feverishly praying for natural and man made tragedies and disasters to strike India. A minor flood is welcome; a drought is even better and a disaster like an earthquake or a super cyclone is heaven sent. A tragedy means `relief' money from government coffers and an opportunity to make enough to build another house or two. Now you know why sincere and dedicated babus fight to have their districts declared `drought prone'!
[U]topian
Hare brained ideas and schemes have become the monopoly of Indian bureaucracy. One day, you will have the Lt. Governor of Delhi thinking aloud that I-cards for people from U.P. and Bihar might be a good idea. The other day, you will have another babu stipulate that a homeless destitute must provide proof of residence before he gets free food. Soon, expect a bunch of sycophantic babus kowtowing to a neta and drawing up legislation for reservations in the private sector.
[V]erbose
This term just about pipped the word vindictive to the post. Whether it is the annual function of a school or college or a gathering of India's top businessmen, the Indian bureaucrat is in his element when he gets a chance to deliver a `lecture'.Hypocritical words tumble out of his mouth like honey laced with arsenic. Children & businessmen have no choice but to suffer in silence for a vindictive bureaucrat is worse than a verbose one!
[W]anton
Four synonyms for the term wanton are-uncalled for, needless, meaningless and reckless. But wait, the wanton behaviour of the Indian babu is on display on selective occasions. Over cautious bureaucrats suddenly turn decisively over zealous when it comes to squandering tax payers' money on fancy schemes that only line up their pockets and that of politicians.
[X]enophobia
When all else – including corruption, delays, denials, hustling, nepotism, red tapism and sycophancy – fails, the Indian babu resorts to the good old pass the buck game and starts blaming `foreign powers' for all the ills that bedevil India. The foreign power could be the CIA, it could be terrorists from Pakistan, it could be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, it could be the insidious designs of China and it could be a conspiracy of developed countries to deny prosperity to India.
[Y]es minister
Most readers of B&E must be familiar with this hilarious and yet poignant book and British TV series. Just in case you are not, it is a series of episodes where bumbling but clubby bureaucrats make fools out of vainglorious politicians in the U.K. In India, it is difficult to say who is making a fool of whom. But one thing is for sure, both bureaucrats and ministers are sure making fools of Indian citizens. Not just some of the people some of the time. But all the people, all the time!
[Z]ero sum game
In this game, one of the two participants has to necessarily lose. More importantly, the quantum of gains that are made by the winner is exactly the same as the quantum of losses. In India, the bureaucrat and the citizen have been playing a zero sum game right since 1947; perhaps even before that, when the British had ruled India through a civil service stucture. No prizes for guessing who the decisive winner is when the opponents are the citizen and the bureaucrat. Unlike those classic zero sum games, the politician is the joker in the pack in this case!













Monday, December 21, 2015

Anti-Maoist Operations In Chhattisgarh: Successes And Claims Of Successes

SOURCE
http://www.eurasiareview.com/21122015-anti-maoist-operations-in-chhattisgarh-successes-and-claims-of-successes-analysis/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eurasiareview%2FVsnE+%28Eurasia+Review%29

Anti-Maoist Operations In Chhattisgarh: Successes And Claims Of Successes – Analysis


Location of Chhattisgarh in India. Source: WIkipedia Commons.





Conforming to the speculations that New Delhi under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government would adopt a hardline approach against left-wing extremism, a two month-long operation is underway in worst affected Chhattisgarh to dislodge the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres from their strongholds in south Bastar’s Bijapur and Sukma districts. A critical objective of the operations is to neutralise senior Maoist functionaries with the belief that if successful, the leaderless movement would collapse in quick time. This formula has been adopted in the past with questionable success.
here are two notable features of the present operations. Firstly, there are enough indications that the current operation is driven by a strategy inked in Delhi. A visit by the National Security Adviser AK Doval and the Special Security advisor (internal security) K Vijay Kumar in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to Chhattisgarh in October 2015 started the initiative. Secondly, to an extent, the current operations are somewhat comparable to Operation Green Hunt in 2010, which had amassed a huge number of forces with the intention of bulldozing the extremist movement to nothingness. This time, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has deployed 11 battalions of its forces in Sukma and another eight battalions in Bijapur. As a result, nearly 25000 security force personnel including the state police forces are currently operating in the two districts.
According to the Chhattisgarh police, three new developments make the current operation different from the past. Firstly, there is an increase in the level of coordination between the central forces and the state police. Secondly, the coordination and exchange of intelligence with neighbouring states have improved. And lastly, the state police establishment has been able to effect an optimum utilisation of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) consisting predominantly of the Koya tribals. In June and July around 500 Chhattisgarh police mostly from Sukma and Dantewada districts underwent a 45-day counter-insurgency training course in Assam with an eye on the operations. This has allowed the police to carry out operations even during the lean monsoon season.
Among the major ‘successes’ claimed by the police is the killing of 10 Maoists, including five “commanders” in Sukma and Bijapur districts in November. In the first week of December, the police further claimed that 26 Maoists including seven hardcore cadres have surrendered in Sukma district. The CPI-Maoist, on the other hand, questioned the claims. With particular reference to the surrender of 26 Maoists, the outfit claimed that villagers unconnected to the outfit have been shown as surrendered by the police. Independent media investigations have supported the Maoist claim. At least three persons termed as Maoists by the police have been found to be petty criminals who had declared themselves as Maoists under police pressure. On most occasions, the intense conflict situation makes verifying such claims and counter-claims difficult. However, fake surrenders have precedence in the state.
Along with the ‘successes’, excesses and human rights violations by the security forces have also been reported. Large scale violence by a section among the two companies of security forces who carried out operations in five villages of Bijapur district between 19 and 24 October, included rape of a pregnant women and a teen; looting of money, livestock, and food items; ransacking of houses; and intimidation of the villagers. An investigation being conducted by the police department has not led to any arrest so far. The state’s reputation of failing to prosecute similar culprits in the past has indeed reinforced a culture of impunity among the security forces in these remote regions.
For analysts, the level of motivation among the Maoist cadres and future strategies of the outfit have mostly remained subjects of speculation. While the state for known reasons underlines a deep state of desperation among the Maoists leading to frequent desertions, a rare media interview of Papa Rao, a senior Maoist leader and one of the planners of the 2010 Chintalnar attack on the CRPF that had claimed the lives of 76 personnel, revealed a different picture. Papa Rao, while acknowledging the temporary state of weakness in the outfit, dismissed the possibility of a peace process with the government and underlined the commitment of the outfit to a protracted war against the state. “Violence will the forbearer of peace,” he claimed.
In spite of the tall claims by the Chhattisgarh police, the prospect of a resoundingly successful operation remains doubtful. Structural and operational deficiencies within the police force persist. Little progress has been achieved in ground-level intelligence collection. The state’s efforts to strike a chord with the tribals remain an unfinished project. The bureaucracy remains as aloof as it used to be and is still not an active player in the development projects. This probably compels the police establishment to fabricate its success stories. That, however, is not so much of a surprise. The real surprise is the persistent belief of New Delhi that security forces with low morale and under leaders of questionable ability will be able to root out a problem that needs a much more nuanced approach.
This article appeared at IPCS