How do we ‘engage’ with Maoists? Army asks govt

[angeldemon_007]

After much deliberation on the Army’s request to specify rules of engagement with Maoists before its troops can be stationed in Chhattisgarh, the government has agreed to frame guidelines.
This could, for the first time, define the contours of legal cover for the military in an area where the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has not been invoked.

Last year, the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared an Army “battle manoeuvre range” on the edge of the Maoist-dominated Abujhmad forest. This was meant only for training, not for operations. But the Army said it needed clear-cut norms on what it could do — and what it couldn’t — if it came into conflict with Maoists.

The CCS also cleared a sub-area headquarters in Raipur and a training facility in Bilaspur.

An uncomfortable Chhattisgarh government initially sought to explain that acting in self-defence is covered by the Indian Penal Code but the Army said that the IPC does not provide enough of a legal cushion given the complexity on the ground.

After several rounds of talks between the Army, Defence Ministry and the Chhattisgarh government, it has now been decided to frame “mutually acceptable” guidelines.

While the Army used the term “rules of engagement” when it first flagged off the issue three months ago, the government has said it would prefer to call it “guidelines for training” as that’s the stated purpose of deployment.

Given the strong support Maoists have among some NGOs and activists, the Army is wary it may get embroiled in legal disputes were an incident to take place.

It was, in fact, for this reason that South Block had strongly opposed the initial Home Ministry proposal to have the military carry out active operations against the Maoists.

Even now, the Army’s case is that it has a way of functioning in areas of potential conflict. One of its first moves will be to reach out to the local population for its own security needs and that, in itself, could provoke the Maoists to strike back. The Army has also communicated that it will not necessarily wait to be attacked first and would prefer to have the freedom to make pre-emptive moves.

How do we ‘engage’ with Maoists? Army asks govt

 

[Indus Falcon]

Chhattisgarh villages torched in police rampage
TARMETLA, March 23, 2011

An investigation by The Hindu reveals the horrific aftermath of a five-day anti-Maoist operation in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada District. Photo: Aman Sethi


Three women assaulted, three men killed, hundreds rendered homeless in course of 5 day operation

The operation began in the early hours of March 11 when about 350 heavily armed troopers marched into the forests of Dantewada. They returned to their barracks five days later, with three villages aflame, about 300 homes and granaries incinerated, three villagers and three soldiers dead, and three women sexually assaulted, the victims and several eyewitnesses told The Hindu.

Last week, the Chhattisgarh police said three Koya commandos were killed in a Maoist ambush during a routine search, yet journalists attempting to reach the site were turned away by gun-toting special police officers. On visiting the area through a forest route, this correspondent was confronted by the aftermath of what appeared to be an attack by security forces on three tribal settlements in a 15-km radius of the police camp at Chintalnar, which has left hundreds homeless and brutalised.

The following account is based on interviews with villagers who spoke on the record and senior police sources who sought anonymity to speak freely. The names of victims of sexual assault have been changed to protect their identities.

In the first week of March, the police and the Central Reserve Police Force planned an operation to be conducted by the CRPF's elite CoBRA battalion and the police's Koya commandos, a tribal corps of surrendered Maoists and local youth.

A surrendered Maoist had claimed that the guerrillas were running an arms factory at Morpalli, a tour-hour march from the police camp at Chintalnar, a police official told The Hindu. Intelligence inputs indicated that about 100 Maoists, including Jai Kishen, a high-ranking Andhra cadre leader, were present nearby.

“On March 11, about 200 Koyas and 150 CoBRA left Chintalnar about 4 a.m. to destroy the arms factory,” said a police source.

“The force arrived at 8 in the morning and surrounded the village,” said Nupo Mutta, a former sarpanch of Morpalli. “They fired a few shots in the air and we ran into the forests.”

Madavi Sulla, 30, did not act fast enough. “My husband was sitting in a tree picking tamarind,” said his wife Madavi Hunge. “The force saw him and opened fire. I pleaded with them to stop, but they tore my clothes and threatened me.” Hunge escaped. The police moved further into the village, leaving Sulla's corpse hanging in the tree.

“I was picking ‘tendu patta' on the fields when the force came and said I was spying for the Maoists,” said Aimla Gangi, 45. “They threw me to the ground, pulled off my clothes and molested me in front of my two daughters. They also stole Rs.10,000 from a bag I kept tied around my waist.”

Villagers say the force left by noon, having torched 37 houses. They also picked up Madavi Ganga, 45, his son Bima and his daughter Hurre, 20. “They took us to the Chintalnar police station and put me in a separate cell and stripped me,” said Hurre.

Hurre said she was kept all night in the station and sexually assaulted. Ganga and Bima said the police repeatedly asked them whether Maoists visited their village and beat them through the night. The Madavi family was released when the women of Morpalli demanded their release at the Chintalnar station.

Police sources say they found neither arms factories nor Maoists at Morpalli that day, though they did find a 15-foot memorial commemorating the death of eight Maoists in the April 2010 encounter, in which 76 CRPF troopers were killed near Tarmetla village.

The operation resumed at Timapuram on March 13. “There was a disagreement because the CoBRAs prefer night operations, and the Koyas wanted to operate in the day,” said a source familiar with the operation, “so the Koyas set out on their own.”

En route, the Koyas stopped at Phulanpad where they picked up Barse Bima and Manu Yadav and took them along to Timapuram.

As word spread of the Koyas imminent arrival, Timapuram's resident fled to the forests. “The Koyas came to Timapuram about 2 in the afternoon. They set up a camp, killed our chickens and goats and ate them.” said Timapuram resident Madkam Budra.

Budra said the commandos spent the night at Timapuram, a fact confirmed by the police, and installed sentries to ward off a possible Maoist attack.

The Maoists attacked next morning, on Monday March 14. “We knew the Koyas had spent the night at Timapuram and laid our ambush early morning,” said a Maoist fighter who had participated in the attack and met this correspondent on the outskirts of Timapuram late Sunday night. “About 70 Maoists participated in the attack, including Area Commander Ramanna.”

The ambush lasted for two hours. Three Koyas were killed and nine injured. After the Koyas called for reinforcements, a helicopter flew in to evacuate the injured; the Maoists finally retreated by noon. The police and local newspapers say 37 Maoists were killed in the ambush, but a handwritten note sent to this correspondent by the Maoists claims that only Section Commander Muchaki Ganga was killed.

The Koyas spent the night at the village and left next morning, March 15, for Chintalnar. Before they left, villagers say, the Koyas burnt about 50 buildings, including homes and granaries. They also executed one of their captives, Barse Bima, with an axe. “My husband's hands were tied behind his back, he had been hit with an axe on the base of his neck and twice on his chest,” said Barse Lakhme, who cremated the body.

The other captive, Mannu Yadav, was taken to Chintalnar where, villagers allege, the police shot him and claimed he was a Maoist fighter killed in the ambush. “The body claimed by the police was not a Maoist,” said a senior officer. He said he was tipped off by a Koya. “They killed him because they needed to show something.”

On March 16, villagers say the same company of Koyas surrounded Tarmetla village and burnt about 200 structures, including homes, granaries and woodsheds. Tarmetla's former sarpanch, Gondse Deva, said the Koyas swept through the village, setting fire to the straw roofs, stuffing burning hay into the granaries, burning food, clothes, valuables, money and keepsakes. “The force has also taken away two men, Madavi Handa and Madavi Aita,” said Deva. “We don't know where they are, we think they are dead.”

When she heard the commotion, Madavi Hidme threw all her jewellery and money into a bag before rushing for the forests. “I was stopped by four SPOs and beaten with sticks until I lost consciousness,” she said. “When I awoke, I was naked. My bag was gone.” Hidme has been assaulted so violently that a cut has opened up on the left side of her face; she can't see from her left eye.

Dantewada Collector R.Prasanna is setting up a committee to look into the incidents. “The committee shall be headed by the tehsildar of Konta, along with a representative from the press, civil society and a people's representative,” he told The Hindu. “We will provide Rs. 50,000 in compensation for each house burnt, and will reimburse villagers for their grains, utensils and other possessions. The committee shall submit its report in one month.”

Director-General of Police Vishwa Ranjan did not return phone calls to his office.

The Hindu : States / Other States : Chhattisgarh villages torched in police rampage

 

[yousaf goebbels]

why dosent obama and the so called free world supports the cause of mao rebels in india like they are doing in libya???

 

[Kinetic]

why dosent obama and the so called free world supports the cause of mao rebels in india like they are doing in libya???

Why yo are not supporting TTP? Obama and free worlds? They don't have guts to make a word about Kashmir, so forget Mao. World's number one threat is terrorism, militancy and their supporters, Obama and his free world are thinking about that only.

 

[Kinetic]

you should be worried cause hafiz saeed and the rest of free Pakistanis do have the guts to talk about and claim kashmir....once the coilation is out of afghanistan pleasure would be all yours

We have seen so many hafiz saeed and Pakistanis talking about Kashmir for last six decades but the result is nothing. You continue to talk about it and create more hafiz saeed and the harm will be 100 times more on Pakistan than India. Terrorists are terrorists, they have implications on society.

and america dosent has guts to talk about hafiz saeed

Having drones why they need to talk?

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

nope,we don't want to stoop to a terrorist supporter's level

 

[yousaf goebbels]

if u dont implement United nations resolution on occupied kashmir peacefully we will ask Hafiz Saeed to do it just like what obama is doing in libya enforcing united nation's resolution

 

[Skull and Bones]

if u dont implement United nations resolution on occupied kashmir peacefully we will ask Hafiz Saeed to do it just like what obama is doing in libya enforcing united nation's resolution

Wow, it seems like you have much confidence and admiration for a terrorist than your own armed forces.

---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------

lol "bengaluru" is that some curse word?

Nopez, its same as Rawalpindi or Lahore.

 

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

if u dont implement United nations resolution on occupied kashmir peacefully we will ask Hafiz Saeed to do it just like what obama is doing in libya enforcing united nation's resolution

brother look after u r own country. u talk of hafiz sayeed taking arms against india. do u really want me to remind u how many people have been killed in pakistan in this year alone in bomb blasts and terrorist attacks. ask u r hafiz sayeed to save pakistan first.

 

[Kinetic]

if u dont implement United nations resolution on occupied kashmir peacefully we will ask Hafiz Saeed to do it just like what obama is doing in libya enforcing united nation's resolution

pakistan cannot do that and hafeez saeed will do? you mean hafeez saeed>>> pakistan. Better ask zaid hamid to do that through jokes because hafiz saeed is busy in going in and out of jails. that is the safe place for him.

lol "bengaluru" is that some curse word?

Yes curse on those who cannot afford to make a city like it.

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

you should be worried cause hafiz saeed and the rest of free Pakistanis do have the guts to talk about and claim kashmir....once the coilation is out of afghanistan pleasure would be all yours
and america dosent has guts to talk about hafiz saeed

Yes! We Indians are indeed worried about Pakistan ,with people like Hafiz Saeed(a relic of Zia's era) who further continue to fuel extremism in your nation.

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

why dosent obama and the so called free world supports the cause of mao rebels in india like they are doing in libya???

Why would Americans want India to turn Communist?
Afterall its something they feared all over during the Coldwar.

 

[Kinetic]

Nopez, its same as Rawalpindi or Lahore.

How? What is the annual GDP of Bangalore, Lahore and Rawalpindi? R&D centres? IT industry? Transportation? airports? railways? metro?

 

[divya]

lol "bengaluru" is that some curse word?

Yes Bengaluru is a curse which produces more finances then your entire GDP....

 

[gubbi]

Seriously, why are people responding to a dimwit teenager? Let him be, he's celebrating his first night fall.

Anywho, what are those NGOs who are supporting the Maoists? Shouldnt they be de-recognized, asked to pack-up and sent home?
Anyone got a list of those NGOs, post them. Please.