CHHATTISGARH: A relatively peaceful summer this year in the conflict zone of Bastar — perhaps for the first time in several years — indicates the dominance of security forces over the outlawed CPI (Maoist). This has been the recurrent theme across seven districts of south Chhattisgarh this year, which otherwise witness targeted attacks and large-scale violence.
The Maoist morale around that time of the year peaks with the rebels’ annual ‘Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign’ (TCOC) which aims to regain military strength and mount pressure on the security forces. The state government has countered it with a focus on ‘Vishwas, Vikas and Suraksha (trust, development and security).’
The government recharged itself by boosting infrastructure and enhancing the basic amenities in remote tribal areas. During his recent Raipur visit, Home Minister Amit Shah exuded confidence over the results on the ground. “The Centre and the Chhattisgarh government can jointly succeed in eradicating the menace of left-wing extremism,” he said.
Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel during his ‘Bhet-Mulakat (meet & greet with locals) programme in Bastar has ensured development works and welfare schemes on the ground are expedited and the authorities carry out the operations taking locals into confidence. The rebels are now restricted to only limited pockets.
Over the last three years, the forces have dented the Maoist attack by minimising their casualties. Seven personnel died until July 31 this year. In the previous year, the casualty figure was 41 and 28, respectively, according to the police record.
Inspector General of Police (Bastar zone) Sundarraj P, with almost a six-year stint in the virtual war zone, has groomed his force to act as an agent of change, peace and development. They have exposed the Maoist hollow claim of fighting for the rights of the tribal and rural poor.
Amid sporadic resistance by tribals in a few areas of Bastar to setting up operations base camps, allegedly at the behest of the left-wing extremists, the state has gone ahead with a resolute move to eliminate the impact of Maoists. As many as 43 new operational base camps came up at strategically important locations in the last three years.
“The new camps have prevented the movement of Maoists and reduced their influence in a big way. The presence of more camps has further assisted in building infrastructure like roads, rivulets, bridges, in facilitating the functioning of schools, public distribution shops, power supply and mobile connectivity in interior areas,” says Sundarraj.
Since 2018, the government has finished 500 km of road construction, covering 11 main pathways and opening up the critical axis of the highways across the seven Maoist-hit districts. The IG says another road construction covering 450 km will be ready by 2023.
“All-weather roads in Maoist heartland are now giving a boost to the local economy. Increased mobile connectivity has upped awareness among the local population,” says Sidharth Tiwari, Dantewada SP.
Bastar-based senior analyst Manish Gupta says the new camps with local recruits in the District Reserve Guards (DRGs) and enhanced connectivity have proved to be a major challenge for the rebels.
The Bastar police have given importance to the existing tribal dialects. “These dialects were retained in our major initiatives as the key tool,” says Sundarraj. Diverse civic action programmes have strengthened intelligence gathering for the police. The relationship between the local public and the police apparently improved through the local recruitment of youths in the forces. As many as 594 cases have been withdrawn against members of tribal communities after a review.
The police have colour-coded the Maoist-affected villages on their map. ‘Green’ stands for a ‘free’ region, ‘yellow’ shows sensitive areas while ‘red’ denotes a hypersensitive area. The Bastar police in collaboration with the local district administration also carried out door-to-door surveys over the last four years. As many as 589 villages out of 2,710 (existing in Maoist strongholds in 2018) were declared ‘free’.
On the education front, as many as 257 schools out of the 363 located across five districts of the Bastar zone have become functional again. June 16 is observed as Shala Pravesh Utsav (school admission fest).To win the trust of the people, 4.38 lakh individuals and 44,000 community forest rights were distributed to empower traditional forest-dwelling tribal communities. In Abujhmad forested terrain covering Narayanpur and Bijapur, the ongoing survey, which couldn’t be carried out since the pre-independence era, has benefitted over 50,000 residing in around 275 villages to get the title deed for the land they have acquired. Around 4,200 acres acquired from 10 villages around Lohandiguda in Bastar 12 years ago were returned to 1,707 tribal farmers.
TAKING PUBLIC ALONG ON PROGRESS PATH
Diverse civic action programmes have boosted intelligence gathering for the police. The relationship between the local public and the police has improved through the local recruitment of youths. As many as 257 schools out of the 363 located across five districts of the Bastar zone have become functional again. About 44,000 community forest rights were distributed to empower traditional forest-dwelling tribal communities.