Engage Maoists in talks

The pattern of ambush of convoys of policemen and politicians by Maoists indicates that they are on the warpath with deadly objectives in a vast forested region that cannot be easily policed. It is a Catch-22 situation as going after the extremists triggers even more attacks leading to a never-ending cycle of violence.

If the “revolutionaries” were only fighting for political legitimacy, it would have been simpler to offer talks and try to find solutions within an acceptable framework and in a peaceful atmosphere. But it is apparent that they will not abjure violence and they have gone too far down the road of anarchy, particularly after the incident in Chhattisgarh in which 28 people, including Congress leader Mahendra Karma, who started the anti-Naxal movement Salwa Judum, were massacred.

The difficulty lies in choosing the weapons of control. Even the very thought of helicopter attacks were shot down because the state cannot attack its own people. Nor can there be drone attacks as it appears that this is due to perceptions of unequal development by a people who have been left largely to their own devices. The Naxal conundrum is the country’s biggest bugbear, but then politicians also have a way of forgetting follow-up action after special development plans for underdeveloped places are launched with pomp. Such problems can never solved by confrontation. The need for dialogue is ever pressing.