We were being slowly killed by our own people

[grey boy 2]

'We were being slowly killed by our own people': India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.

Dawn had just begun breaking over the cool dry jungle of Dantewada when the column of 81 CRPF men along with one local head constable was walking in a single file over a hillock and towards a one hectare fallow field, lined with bunds and trees. The troopers were wearing camouflage fatigues and, strangely, white sneakers bought in Raipur because the regular CRPF issue boots were unfit for long marches. The men had established a base camp three km away from Chintalnar village and had begun 'area domination' patrols in the Mukrana forest. They had two night halts where they cooked a dal and rice khichdi for themselves.

It was their second day in the Maoist stronghold but the enemy was elusive. The villagers that they came across didn't tell them anything useful. It didn't matter even if they did. The troopers did not understand the Gondi dialect spoken by the tribals; they left that to their local liaison, Head Constable Sushil Kumar Deepak. Ramesh Kumar Singh, part of the column's Quick Reaction Team (QRT) comprising of 12 men, cradled his INSAS rifle and pulled out his mobile phone. There was no signal so he looked at the watch. It was 5.50 a.m. They had been marching for nearly three hours. For some reason the QRT, supposed to be at the head of the column acting as scouts, had fallen behind. "I'm going to the front to get our orders," Assistant Commandant B.L. Meena said and walked ahead to the head of the column where the leader, Deputy Commandant Satyawan Singh, was. Meena had gone just 20 metres when the first pft pft pft bursts of fire came directly from the front. "Take positions, take positions," Satyawan Singh's voice rang out. The company broke up and split into small groups and fanned out to left and right, rifles pointing towards their assailants.

"It's a hit-and-run. They will go away. It happened like this in Kashmir," thought Biplab Malakar, a lanky first division fast bowler from Barrackpore in West Bengal, as he took position behind a 2-ft high bund around the field. Five years ago, militants in Jammu and Kashmir had shot and killed his friend, another constable, Pradeep Sikdar. It occurred to Biplab that the Naxals were using INSAS rifles-the very rifles the CRPF troopers were using to desperately defend themselves-to shoot at him. Biplab had a deeper association-he used to make these weapons during a two-month long summer job at the Rifle Factory in Ishapore a decade ago.

Soon the fire began from the flanks, and seemingly from above. The black uniform-clad Maoists were firing from behind the darkened silhouettes of the trees. Bullets rang over their heads with a crack as they broke the sound barrier. Biplab was huddled near the bund with a fellow policemen H.K. Malik when a grenade flew in and exploded, blowing Malik's leg away. Five bullets hit Biplab on the back and blood poured out soaking his battle fatigues. He passed out.

Alive to tell the tale

"I knew death was certain, so I decided to kill as many of them as I could before dying."
ARVIND KUMAR

"They were firing at us with everything, AK-47s, INSAS rifles, light machine guns and SLRs."
RAMESH KUMAR SINGH

"I thought it was a hit-and-run. They would fire and go away. I am sad I wasn't martyred."
BIPLAB MALAKAR

Arvind Kumar, meanwhile, went down on the ground, fired his AK-47 and crawled-the standard drill to evade bullets. But the ground offered no cover. The men were being scythed down in groups as they lay prone. It soon became clear why. "Ped se fire aa rahi hain (they are firing from the trees)," Havaldar Major Ram Kumar Meena screamed as two Maoist light machine guns began thumping deadly fire from atop trees over 100 metres away. Explosions from ieds rent the air and smoke wafted across the field. Arvind's AK-47 ran out of ammunition.

"Take my magazines, I can't fire," a dying Sub-Inspector B.K. Sharma offered him two AK-47 magazines. As the battle raged, the Maoists were shouting tactical instructions to each other. "Deepak, idhar se ghero, (surround them from here). "It was a sight that was both terrifying and surreal. There were hundreds of tribal villagers around the field. They were screaming in Gondi, waving sticks and spears. It was like a royal shikaar which had converged onto a single killing field. It seemed like over a thousand people were firing though the Maoists claim they were only 300. "If I'm going to die, I'm going to try and take as many of them," Arvind thought as he and a few others began blasting away at the trees. He saw at least one of the Maoists falling off.

Then the firing came in from a small hillock towards the rear of the company. Arvind had attracted the deadly attention of their ambushers. A second grenade was flung towards him and it exploded near him. Three bullets hit him on the back. He collapsed on his rifle.

It was like the Maoists anticipated how the CRPF would react when ambushed. The field had turned into a killing box ringed with automatic weapons. It was a Roman colosseum. There was no retreat for these dying gladiators. In the firefight, which lasted for over three hours, the CRPF men were clinically finished off. And all that happened right in front of their own 'countrymen'. The last thing the survivors remember is seeing sari-clad tribal women moving in and stripping the bodies of their fallen comrades of their weapons.

Only seven men survived to tell this tale, one that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

 

[James007]

6 months army operation will wipe them all,but the boggest thing is that govt is hesitating even for drones.army will have to be called later or sooner.paramilitary forces can't handle this..

 

[grey boy 2]

Are Naxals better at their job than security forces? « makeSplash.com by Sush Jaitly

Oh yes. Naxals are far better trained and prepared to do what they do than our security forces which have been tasked to deal with them. The killing of 75 CRPF soldiers proves it beyond doubt. P Chidambaram may say that they walked into a trap or something but quite frankly, it’s bull crap. 75 soldiers cannot die in a trap unless the establishment has been absolutely inefficient in it’s job. No, I’m not exactly a naxal sympathizer but I only wish to bring out this glaring fact so that people who matter can see for themselves what’s so horribly wrong with us that naxals keep killing our soldiers with impunity and we keep repeating the same language which has no effect on the way things actually are on the ground.

Here are the questions which the govt and the concerned officials must answer for.

1. Why was the road which was used by CRPF vehicles not cleared by security forces before such a large body of soldiers was supposed to move? Normally in any counter insurgency operation before the move of soldiers another group of soldiers are tasked to ensure that this road is clear of things like IEDs and mines. Quite obviously this was not done. Why? Or is it being done at all?

2. Where were the leading guards? Again, when such a move is supposed to take place there are a couple of vehicles which are tasked as leading guards and are supposed to act as scouts for the main column of troops. These scouts can in turn inform them of any dangers ahead. Again quite obviously, this was not done. Why? Had they been there they would’ve been caught in this so called trap but that would’ve saved many more precious lives. The death toll would’ve been much lower for sure.

3. What about intelligence failure? It seems naxals had better information about movement of CRPF than CRPF having information movement of Naxals. It quite clearly shows whose organization has more rats or informants.

4. What about technological surveillance? By all accounts the number of Maoists involved in this attack were in hundreds. How can such a large body of men escape detection? Where was the satellite surveillance? Or worse is there any at all? Where was our radio surveillance? Or worse is there any at all? What about telephone taps on cell phones? Is it being done at all?

5. What about training? The very fact that not a single Maoist was killed by security forces shows that they did not retaliate or worse did not know how to retaliate in a cohesive manner. Well, it quite clearly amplifies the level of training these guys have. Doesn’t it?

6. What about local coordination? They say that CRPF did not carry out coordination with local police before this move. So whose fault is it? What the hell are the DIGs and DGs of CRPF doing? Ridiculous, to say the very least.

When you compare the two sides all you can say is that Maoists were definitely better prepared than CRPF even though CRPF was out on area domination. But we now know who exactly is dominating that area. Not only did Maoists know the plans of CRPF they also knew what their reactions would be. And they had everything covered. It was their shrewd planning and execution because of which they did not lose even one life. What a pity!!! On top of this they also managed to loot most of their weapons which clearly shows that after they’d killed these people they came to the bodies and no one really stopped them. If you ask me the worst statement coming out after this episode is that of Dantewada SP Ambareesh Mishra who says that teams have been launched to search for missing persons who may have escaped into the jungle after this attack took place. Can you guys believe that? It’s not the Maoists but our soldiers who have escaped into jungles. Crazy!!!

It would be worthwhile to note that our army has never ever suffered these kind of casualties even at the height of terrorism in Kashmir when there were thousands of these terrorists in that state. That’s because the army knows it’s job and does it by the book. Pertinent to mention that like in Chhattisgarh in 1991 there were places in Kashmir like Pattan which were called as liberated zones because of the influence of terrorists. So much so that they had even started using Pak currency in their day to day routine. But even then while the army went about their job clearing those areas they did not suffer such a massacre. I know there is a big difference between the army and the rest but a point to be noted nonetheless.

After all this one really doubts if the govt both at the center as well that of the states are prepared to deal with naxals. On top of this Budhadeb Bhattacharya is concerned about the language which P Chidambaram uses to describe the response of state govts. Let me just tell Mr Bhattacharya, PC was being more than polite when he said that buck stops with you. Had it been me I would have said you guys are incompetent. You have your links with Maoists and this is the reason why you don’t want to act against them. This attack may not have taken place in your state but there have been many in the past and there will be more in future if you do not act decisively against the Maoists.

At another level I also want to ask why are people like Arundhati Roy, Aparna Sen and others being allowed to give open support to Maoists? Why can’t our govt stop them or better charge them for such acts? Not just this these sympathizers are openly protesting against Operation Greenhunt in Delhi. What non sense? Is this what freedom of speech means- Openly sympathizing with terrorists? It is quite shocking to see that none of these big names have condemned this carnage. On the contrary they say that CRPF has been sent there to kill naxals. If Naxals don’t kill them they themselves will get killed at hands of CRPF. Survival of the fittest. Simple. And at this point Naxals do seem to be fitter than our security forces.

 

[pak-yes]

I don't think so Army would be suitable.After all hasn't India learned anything at all from east Pakistan.You should try to take them with Police and development work but when you send army things get ugly.

 

[Donatello]

6 months army operation will wipe them all,but the boggest thing is that govt is hesitating even for drones.army will have to be called later or sooner.paramilitary forces can't handle this..

Currently, both, The US army and Pakistan army are engaged in fighting such insurgents. They still haven't seen much success in wiping them out. It is easier said than done. They are small and your army is big. They know it's hit and run tactics or where there are 80 army men they would come in hundreds, swarm and run away. The problem is once the army starts the operation they will never come face to face.

Like the recent massive operations by US army in Helmand province of Afghanistan, they never had any fight with taliban. The insurgents know that face to face they are no match for the disciplined military. They will always fight a guerrilla war.

Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah..........all are guerrilla fighters and you can see why with the exception of Tamil Tigers, they haven't been defeated yet. Tamil tigers too, took like 20 years.

So i do know much about Maoists in India, but they do have formidable strength.

 

[Bushy]

It is true, the CRPF Battalions are rotated from one area to another. And those who may be successful in Assam, may not be so in Kashmir, and those who have done well in Kashmire, may not be so in Naxal area, and so on.

The two major causes for such losses are the lack of training for the specific areas and the laxity on the part of officers who almost never follow the basic standards while moving their battalions.

 

[nForce]

Are Naxals better at their job than security forces? « makeSplash.com by Sush Jaitly

Oh yes. Naxals are far better trained and prepared to do what they do than our security forces which have been tasked to deal with them. The killing of 75 CRPF soldiers proves it beyond doubt. P Chidambaram may say that they walked into a trap or something but quite frankly, it’s bull crap. 75 soldiers cannot die in a trap unless the establishment has been absolutely inefficient in it’s job. No, I’m not exactly a naxal sympathizer but I only wish to bring out this glaring fact so that people who matter can see for themselves what’s so horribly wrong with us that naxals keep killing our soldiers with impunity and we keep repeating the same language which has no effect on the way things actually are on the ground.

Here are the questions which the govt and the concerned officials must answer for.

1. Why was the road which was used by CRPF vehicles not cleared by security forces before such a large body of soldiers was supposed to move? Normally in any counter insurgency operation before the move of soldiers another group of soldiers are tasked to ensure that this road is clear of things like IEDs and mines. Quite obviously this was not done. Why? Or is it being done at all?

2. Where were the leading guards? Again, when such a move is supposed to take place there are a couple of vehicles which are tasked as leading guards and are supposed to act as scouts for the main column of troops. These scouts can in turn inform them of any dangers ahead. Again quite obviously, this was not done. Why? Had they been there they would’ve been caught in this so called trap but that would’ve saved many more precious lives. The death toll would’ve been much lower for sure.

3. What about intelligence failure? It seems naxals had better information about movement of CRPF than CRPF having information movement of Naxals. It quite clearly shows whose organization has more rats or informants.

4. What about technological surveillance? By all accounts the number of Maoists involved in this attack were in hundreds. How can such a large body of men escape detection? Where was the satellite surveillance? Or worse is there any at all? Where was our radio surveillance? Or worse is there any at all? What about telephone taps on cell phones? Is it being done at all?

5. What about training? The very fact that not a single Maoist was killed by security forces shows that they did not retaliate or worse did not know how to retaliate in a cohesive manner. Well, it quite clearly amplifies the level of training these guys have. Doesn’t it?

6. What about local coordination? They say that CRPF did not carry out coordination with local police before this move. So whose fault is it? What the hell are the DIGs and DGs of CRPF doing? Ridiculous, to say the very least.

When you compare the two sides all you can say is that Maoists were definitely better prepared than CRPF even though CRPF was out on area domination. But we now know who exactly is dominating that area. Not only did Maoists know the plans of CRPF they also knew what their reactions would be. And they had everything covered. It was their shrewd planning and execution because of which they did not lose even one life. What a pity!!! On top of this they also managed to loot most of their weapons which clearly shows that after they’d killed these people they came to the bodies and no one really stopped them. If you ask me the worst statement coming out after this episode is that of Dantewada SP Ambareesh Mishra who says that teams have been launched to search for missing persons who may have escaped into the jungle after this attack took place. Can you guys believe that? It’s not the Maoists but our soldiers who have escaped into jungles. Crazy!!!

It would be worthwhile to note that our army has never ever suffered these kind of casualties even at the height of terrorism in Kashmir when there were thousands of these terrorists in that state. That’s because the army knows it’s job and does it by the book. Pertinent to mention that like in Chhattisgarh in 1991 there were places in Kashmir like Pattan which were called as liberated zones because of the influence of terrorists. So much so that they had even started using Pak currency in their day to day routine. But even then while the army went about their job clearing those areas they did not suffer such a massacre. I know there is a big difference between the army and the rest but a point to be noted nonetheless.

After all this one really doubts if the govt both at the center as well that of the states are prepared to deal with naxals. On top of this Budhadeb Bhattacharya is concerned about the language which P Chidambaram uses to describe the response of state govts. Let me just tell Mr Bhattacharya, PC was being more than polite when he said that buck stops with you. Had it been me I would have said you guys are incompetent. You have your links with Maoists and this is the reason why you don’t want to act against them. This attack may not have taken place in your state but there have been many in the past and there will be more in future if you do not act decisively against the Maoists.

At another level I also want to ask why are people like Arundhati Roy, Aparna Sen and others being allowed to give open support to Maoists? Why can’t our govt stop them or better charge them for such acts? Not just this these sympathizers are openly protesting against Operation Greenhunt in Delhi. What non sense? Is this what freedom of speech means- Openly sympathizing with terrorists? It is quite shocking to see that none of these big names have condemned this carnage. On the contrary they say that CRPF has been sent there to kill naxals. If Naxals don’t kill them they themselves will get killed at hands of CRPF. Survival of the fittest. Simple. And at this point Naxals do seem to be fitter than our security forces.

Very interesting piece of post.Some very important questions are raised here.There is no point in denying that the present paramilitary force assigned to fight the naxals are ill-equipped and ill-informed to do their job.Facts are facts ,and the fact is the naxals happen to be the greatest threat to the nation in present times.

An all-out action is necessary to wipe out these trouble-makers.But what is further more important is we also need to treat the disease rather than only the diseased.Development should be more uniform and not restricted to some particular regions only.

Considering the present economic condition,I cannot really say that we can make drastic developments in infrastructure all over(this is no Utopian state afterall),but facilities must be provided.

Let us hope for the best.

 

[Moorkh]

Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Tamil Tigers, Hezbollah..........all are guerrilla fighters and you can see why with the exception of Tamil Tigers, they haven't been defeated yet. Tamil tigers too, took like 20 years.

i would like to add that even the LTTE ceased to be a guirella force during its later years. once it had definite control over northern parts of sri lanka they were almost like a regular government in those areas with proper army and stuff. so in a way the guirella force was not beaten

 

[psychedelic_renegade]

Rapid development is the only key, no army or police can end this menace. They may wipe out the maoists but then some other group will emerge. Rural Jharkhand and Chattisgar are the ideal breeding ground for communist insurgency! It's true tribals have been oppressed for many decades, if government don't do anything for their betterment, the war will continue. Sad thing is that, tribals are the sole losing side in the war between government and maoists.

 

[nForce]

The most important factor necessary for a guerrilla warfare is,not steady supply of arms ,ammunition,ration or training.The most necessary factor is people's support.U cut down the people's support by making the people believe in you, and you win the battle.

This is something the Americans have never understood.Be it Vietnam,Somalia,Afghanistan or Iraq,they have always entered the foreign territory as external agents.You try to enforce your might upon somebody and you are bound to get back a dosage of your own medicine someday.

Now that does not mean that I support the naxals.They need to be disarmed as quickly and as efficiently as possible.But at the same time effective steps must be taken in order to make way for uniform development.More and more people must be brought to the mainstream which will contribute to the already strong and growing national economy in a great manner.
Violence can never be a solution.Peace must prevail in the end.

The only question is ,what do we consider as end.

 

[grey boy 2]

Counter-guerrilla warfare

Stopping guerrillas may be difficult because they, by definition, blend into their surroundings and try not to draw attention to themselves or engage in prolonged battles in which they could be overcome with conventional force.

Countering guerrilla fighters requires great planning and military intelligence. Understanding the terrain on which one is fighting is key as this takes away the guerrillas' "home-field" advantage and removes much of the risk of booby-traps and ambushes. Another key component to countering guerrilla fighters is to become friendly with the local population to the point of them being uncomfortable hiding and supporting the guerrillas:

Most soldiers who have engaged in counter-guerrilla warfare believe that an effective strategy cannot be based merely on defensive measures but rather must be tied to an aggressive offensive approach, taking the war to the guerrilla, denying them sanctuary and interdicting their support, stopping their ability to assemble and plan, and taking away their capability to act."[13]
Guerrilla warfare - New World Encyclopedia

 

[psychedelic_renegade]

At another level I also want to ask why are people like Arundhati Roy, Aparna Sen and others being allowed to give open support to Maoists? Why can’t our govt stop them or better charge them for such acts? Not just this these sympathizers are openly protesting against Operation Greenhunt in Delhi. What non sense? Is this what freedom of speech means- Openly sympathizing with terrorists? It is quite shocking to see that none of these big names have condemned this carnage. On the contrary they say that CRPF has been sent there to kill naxals. If Naxals don’t kill them they themselves will get killed at hands of CRPF. Survival of the fittest. Simple. And at this point Naxals do seem to be fitter than our security forces.

Although I don't buy Arundhuty Roy's ideology and think she is no more than a fundamentalist in a subtle way, but I disagree of attempt to mute her. She may call it a fake democracy, but it's her statement which proves the democracy is still vibrant. She is part of the system and system will take care if she goes overboard.

 

[ebungo]

Once the Army is deployed in the area ,it will be matter of time all will be wipe out and only their few political and sympathizer will be survived .
the area is completely different with J&K or northeastern, cause for J&K when ever army launch any operation ,they will goes hiding to the neighbor crossing border Same there in the northeastern all the major militant are at Myanmar
But for the Maoist their only hiding place is in our country .

 

[leon]

the biggest problem is that these maoist r our own people,we cant call army or air force to kill our own people which r meant for external threats,and crpf is not at all well equipped to handle the maoists

 

[mahabharath]

there are some ennuch governments which can not share the reality with the world, neither they share with their own people fearing the revolution. those citizens unaware of their own pitiful lives, tries to ridicule some other's open life. who should be pitied? its anybody's guess!!!!