Almost the entire Alpha Company of the CRPF was eviscerated in the Maoist attack at Dantewada on Tuesday. The PM has said that we are too close to the event to take a view on the modifications that must be made to existing policy. Indeed, rushing into policy changes is not desirable. Any change in direction must be preceded by substantive reflection. Concerned players and successful models should be debated. Years ago, Manmohan Singh had created a furore by categorising the Maoist insurgency as India?s greatest internal security threat. Who would question that claim today? The brutality of Tuesday?s massacre would have shaken up even those who had grown apathetic to news of violence from India?s red corridor. Many explanations are floating around?ranging from faulty intelligence to an uncooperative local police. But the bottom line is that an 80-strong CRPF contingent, which was both well-armed and theoretically well-drilled in counter-insurgency measures, was apparently not much more than a sitting duck when the Maoist guerrillas attacked them. There is no question, in this instance, that the Maoist reconnaissance soundly outdid the state?s forces. As a corollary, there is no question that the training, organisation and leadership of forces that are being deployed in the red corridor need a serious upgrade.
If a crude differentiation between India?s economic and security interests were possible in any instance, this is not one of them. There is broad consensus that our future economic growth will substantially depend on growth in infrastructure investment and project completion. This, in turn, will demand an intensified growth in steel and other metals, cement and power, factories and railway lines, and the like. Given that a lot of necessary resources for such projects rest in Maoist-affected areas, given that Maoist threats (and delays in approval for land in general) have stalled some $80 billion worth of projects, and given that the affected players range from MNCs like Posco and ArcelorMittal to domestic giants like NMDC, there is no question that India?s future is intimately tied up with an improved ability to counter this insurgency. We cannot progress in this direction without making sure that another CRPF contingent doesn?t walk into a deadly blind alley next week. Better synergies, at least on training, with the Army would help. It will also be a good idea to consider success stories like the Andhra Greyhounds seriously. This elite anti-Maoist unit also took heavy casualties but it appears to have been enviably successful in its mission.
