I wouldn’t like to call it a war. A war is fought against the enemy, not against our own people.

— Vijay Raman, Special Director General, Central Reserve Police Force and commandant of joint Centre-states anti-Naxalite operation Green Hunt.

These words from the man-in-charge of the biggest anti-Naxalite offensive underway in the Naxal-infested areas of central India should dispel the general impression that the much-hyped operation is set to march on like a juggernaut stomping the affected areas mercilessly.

“No. It’s not going to be like what most people have understood it to be. The government is clear that we are here to facilitate, assist and secure the process of development that the government will hasten in these areas than go bang-bang hitting the Naxal targets. It can take any number of years. All I would say is, it would be a very calculated security exercise with human face,” Raman told The Indian Express in an exclusive interview.

The 1975-batch Madhya Pradesh IPS cadre officer from Kerala, who hit headlines after the CRPF’s successful operation in Ghazi Baba case in Jammu and Kashmir, has recently taken over as the commandant of the operation in Raipur.

He was in Nagpur on his way to New Delhi after visiting Gadchiroli on Monday to meet and discuss related issues with officials.

“We have to win the people’s hearts in these areas first. We have to trigger a process of rethink among them that we are here not to harass but to help them. And that’s a daunting task, for which our men will need to reorient themselves,” Raman said, adding, “I am aware there are far too many variables here than constants.” According to Raman, because this operation is no war there is no question of any war excesses. “We will exercise maximum restraint,” he says.

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