Naxalites recruit 10,000 minors for non-combat operations
Bharti Jain, TNN Sep 7, 2013, 05.15AM IST
Tags:
Naxalite Child Soldiers|
Minor Maoist Members|
Maoist insurgency|
CPI (Maoist)
(The modus operandi of recruiting…
NEW DELHI: Nearly 10,000 children, including girls, have been "recruited" by Maoists across Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand to serve as intelligence gatherers or perform chores as cooks and couriers. Though these minor recruits — mostly aged between
10 to 15 — don't carry arms,
they are given the basic training to handle weapons.
While around 3,000-4,000 children alone stand enrolled into "bal sangham" in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, the young hands working for Maoists in Jharkhand and Bihar are organized under 'bal dasta'.
The modus operandi of recruiting these minors involves prevailing upon the local tribal families to "give up" one of their children to the CPI (Maoist), by highlighting displacement issues and "police atrocities on their brethren". Usually, the villagers have little choice but to oblige. Not only this, if the children stage an escape back to their homes, their families face a violent reprisal from the Naxalites.
I
ntelligence sources told TOI that the main job of the child recruits is to gather information for the Naxalites. Not only can they spy on security forces' movements without arousing suspicion, it is easier for the CPI (Maoist) to inculcate these young, impressionable minds with Naxalite ideology. Almost all minor recruits are known to transform into regular Maoists upon attaining adulthood.