New Delhi, April 15 (Inditop.com) India cannot afford to lose the battle against Maoists, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said Thursday, adding that states should be held responsible for their failure to curb growing leftwing extremism.
“This battle the country cannot lose,” Jaitley said during a debate on the April 6 massacre of 76 security men in Chhattisgarh. “This battle (needs) to go on,” he told the Rajya Sabha.
Maoism, he added, needed “to be eradicated”.
Terming the Maoist threat as alarming, the BJP leader said the entire opposition was backing the government in its campaign against the Maoists.
“The country wants to speak in one language… but we do not need a divided government.”
Quoting Chidambaram, he said the home minister spoke about a “strong head, strong heart and enormous staying power” to fight the guerrillas.
“We agree with you. But what we don’t need is a divided government. We don’t want half a Maoist in the treasury benches,” he said.
Strongly supporting the nationwide crackdown against Maoists, Jaitley said the BJP wanted enough energies to be directed towards weeding out the increrasingly aggressive guerrillas.
He also blamed the state governments for not being serious in curbing the menace. The BJP leader said chief ministers of states “should be made accountable” for Maoist attacks.
While social and economic development in the Maoist infected areas needed to be taken care of, Jaitley said, military action by the extremists needed to be tackled though “strong security measures”.
On April 6, an early morning ambush by the Maoists killed 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers and a Chhattisgarh policeman in the forests of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.
Quoting government statistics, Jaitley said 220 districts in the country faced the Maoist problem. Of these, 90 districts had “effective Maoist presence”. “The situation is alarming.”
“The first five years of the UPA, in fact, was wasted without releasing the seriousness of the issue,” he said, but added quickly that there “some sign of hope in the last one year”.
He further said: “You certainly need a strong head and a strong heart. But what we need more is a strong government and a strong political party.”
Jaitley also attacked the Congress party and said the party has serious differences on how to tackle the Maoist problem.
Chidambaram appeared to be in concurrence with some of what Jaitley said.
“Paramilitary forces have been provided to the affected states, including Chhattisgarh, to help the state governments carry out counter-insurgency operations, regain control of areas dominated by Naxalites (Maoists), restore the civil administration and re-start development work. The state governments, therefore, have the primary responsibility,” the miniser said in the Rajya Sabha.
rounak