- As you are aware, there used to be a time not so long ago when Maoists regularly attacked the paramilitary forces, inflicting maximum damage vis-à-vis loss of lives, denting their morale, and posing headaches to the administration. The guerilla warfare perpetrated by the Maoist elements most often than not used to find the paramilitary forces at receiving ends. However, concerted efforts from the stakeholders viz. state governments, central government, law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and the grassroots level leaders backed by development slowly ushered in much-needed changes. Mind you, the Maoist-related challenges are largely seen in tribal areas where development activities were hardly visible.
PC: freepik
- The greatest challenge for the administration was to bring the tribals into the mainstream. The continued deprivation from the mind-boggling developments happening elsewhere further alienated the tribals. And the Maoists simply exploited this situation to further their diabolical designs waging war against the administration. Even though the attacks have drastically come down, the recent attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district that killed 10 men of the District Reserve Guards and their civilian driver points to a new strategy by left wing extremists. It also goes to show that Maoists continue to wield enough influence in tribal-dominated areas to this day. Let’s delve further to understand how the strategy has changed here.
- First, the site of the attack is not considered a core area of Maoist operation. Therefore, it is possible that the security forces let down their guard and did not take adequate preventive measures. Second, the Maoists used a powerful IED to target the DRG convoy. IEDs have increasingly become the Maoists’ preferred choice of weapon. As reported, there have been 34 IED attacks in the Bastar region till April 15 this year compared to 28 last year and 21 in 2021. Both these developments call for appropriate adjustments in security forces’ operations. Combing operations in non-core areas must be strengthened while road sanitization efforts when large security convoys move need tightening.
PC: freepik
- That said, notwithstanding the latest Maoist strike, security forces have seen massive successes against left-wing extremists (LWE) over the last couple of decades. This was possible largely because of refined strategies. For instance, directly recruiting local tribals into state security forces has ushered in a huge positive change. The resultant outcome is that Maoist violence in the country has gone down 77% since 2010, and districts affected by Maoists have reduced from more than 200 in the early 2000s to just 90 now. AP, Odisha, Bengal, and Telangana have successfully rooted out the menace. On the run, Maoists took refuge in Chhattisgarh’s hard-to-access regions. This area too should be free of Maoists and their nefarious ideologies sooner than later.
