RAIPUR: ‘Shikshadoot’ (young volunteer teacher) deployed in the Maoist-affected districts of conflict-ridden south Bastar zone are becoming the soft targets for red guerrillas who suspect them as informers and supporters of local police or security forces.
As many as nine Shikshadoots have been killed by Maoists in Bastar during the last year amid the ongoing aggressive anti-Naxal campaign that has put the rebels on the backfoot.
Shikshadoots are locally engaged at a modest monthly emolument of Rs 10,000 to teach in around 250 schools that were earlier shut down in remote villages of the districts of Sukma, Bijapur, Dantewada and Narayanpur, said an official. The police suspected that Shikshadoots were killed without any warning to them but merely on suspicion of being informers in a malicious attempt to spread terror.
Owing to the Chhattisgarh government’s push for digital infrastructure development, the Bastar region is witnessing a significant increase in installation of mobile towers in recent years. Every Shikshadoot carries mobile phones as a basic need for their professional engagement and there is a strong perception emerging that cellphones are now turning out to be a threat to life for Shikshadoots.
The cadres of a banned outfit of CPI (Maoist) nurture fear of being under constant surveillance by the forces. So to do away with any risk of being under watch, tracking or their presence monitored, they had issued diktats to villagers in their areas of influence to avoid using mobile phones, stated a source in the knowhow of the development.
“And to ensure safeguard, the Maoist rebels are randomly checking the call records and even confiscating the phone handsets. The call records of Kallu Tati, 25, were also examined by Red rebels before he was killed last Saturday”, informed the source.
Another reason why Sikshadoot becomes Maoists’ soft target is their easy access and availability for the government officials or the police to verify or get information about various activities in the village. Besides teaching, Shikshadoots being local, often assist as translators and coordinators or provide ground reports about their habitats.
As residents of the same village, local Shikshadoots seen interacting with the personnel of District Reserve Guards (DRG) who are routinely engaged in anti-Maoist operations and might look for clues about the left-wing extremists.
The Bastar police said that the Maoists are retaliating by turning to soft targets to register their presence.
“Maoist cadres surrendering, getting caught or killed frustrate them, so they look for soft options. The Naxals targeting civilians is indicative of the fact that the rebels are upset with the forces dominating the region”, said Brigadier (rtd) B K Ponwar, Guerrilla Warfare Expert.