Opinion ‘There has been a grave tragedy and I did not lose my nerve… I do not fear the Naxalites’

I have prepared a statement which I read in the other House; I would not read the whole statement here,but I think,it is worthwhile to share some details. In accordance with our policy which I will elaborate in a moment,at the request of the government of Chattisgarh,141 companies of Central Paramilitary Forces have been deployed in that state for anti-Naxal operations over a period of time. The 62nd battalion was deployed in March this year,to replace the 55th battalion. Earlier,the 62nd battalion had been deployed in Bihar,and had gained experience in anti-Naxal operations.

The decision to undertake what is called an “area-domination exercise” was taken jointly by the IG of Chattisgarh,Mr Longkumar,the DIG of that area,Mr S.R.P. Kalluri,and the DIG of the CRPF,Mr Nalin Parbath. It was a joint decision. The actual deployment was left to the SP of the district,Mr Amresh Mishra and the commandant of the 62nd battalion.

According to the plan,they were to undertake this exercise over a period of three days,including two night halts,between April 4th and April 6th. It is reported that they undertook the exercise… Sir,it appears that they came under fire at 0550 hours on the morning of the 6th. It is sad that some media said that they were sleeping; they were not sleeping. It was unfortunately a place where they did not have the advantage of either height or cover. Most of them died as a result of the bullet injuries. Some died because of crude bombs and grenades. The initial reports that appeared in the media are not entirely accurate. There were no landmines; there were no pressure bombs. Yet,many of them fought bravely and on the admission of the Naxals — they put out a statement — eight of the Naxal cadres were also killed… So it is not correct to say that these men did not fight back.

…There has been a grave tragedy and I did not lose my nerve,I did not lose my will. I have no fear. I do not fear the Naxalites. But if a horrible tragedy took place,I think,it is the moral responsibility of the minister to tender his resignation. And therefore,I tendered my resignation. …The prime minister and the UPA Chairperson have rejected my resignation…

Let us have no illusion about what they want. Their goal is the seizure of political power. Their method is army liberation struggle. Their instrument is People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army,which,they say in this document,will soon be converted into a People’s Liberation Army. They call this “war”. They call us “enemies”. They call this hallowed hall a “pigsty”. Do we still have any illusions about the kind of adversary that we are facing?

…We are not unmindful of the socio-economic causes. We have heard people say that there is no water; there is no development; there are no schools; there are no jobs; there is no employment. I do not disagree. But who can be blamed except ourselves? Can anyone in this House point a finger to anyone else and say: “You are responsible for this area not being developed over the last 30 years?” If there has been no development in Lalgarh — I am not entering into a debate but I am only reporting what people told me in Lalgarh — over the last 30 years,can anyone blame the Central government for that? If there has been no development in Chhattisgarh,can anyone blame us? Chhattisgarh was formed in the year 2000. There was a government in Madhya Pradesh for several years before that. There has been a government in Chhattisgarh since. If there has been no development in Jharkhand,can anyone blame us? Jharkhand was part of Bihar for many years. There had been successive governments. There has been a government in Jharkhand.

There has been a series of chief ministers in Jharkhand. The Central government has a responsibility but the state governments have equal,if not greater,responsibility on development. Likewise,on controlling Naxalism,the Central government has a responsibility but the state governments have equal,if not greater,responsibility to control the menace of Naxalism…

‘You don’t have the party or govt’s support… you can lose even before the battle has begun’

Excerpts from the speech by Arun Jaitley,the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha:

We,in this House,are all one with the government in condemning this brutal attack on our security forces in which 75 of our security personnel have died and a large part of our weaponry has been seized by them. …Regrettably,sir,the first five years of the UPA government,in the avatar of UPA-I,were,in fact,wasted,while not realising as to what the

seriousness and the enormity of this problem was…

What had happened in the last few days is disgusting. Look at the conduct of the entire Opposition on this entire issue. We could have all got up and said,“We want the home minister of this country to resign.” The entire Opposition of this country,even one man,is not willing to speak in that language for the reason that we don’t want a reason for the Maoists to smile and for the Maoists to rejoice the victory. Therefore,even though there was a monumental lapse on the part of a section of the security forces — and I quite concede that battles like this will be won many a time and lost many a time,but these are battles which are to go on — the curse of Maoism has to be eradicated and this is a battle that this country can’t afford to lose. The home minister in fact,became a victim of his own idiom. He had used a particular phrase against the CM of West Bengal. When I read the response of the CM of West Bengal after this incident,I saw that from BJP to the CPM,everybody was speaking the same language on the Maoists issue. We didn’t want to respond by snide remarks against the government or the home minister.

…But what we don’t need is a government which tries to pull down its own home minister; what we don’t need is a divided government; what we don’t need is half the Maoists in the treasury benches who try and pull down the government by saying that the fight against Maoism must be diluted and that is what seems to be going on in the last few days.

Sir,compare the statement which my party spokesman and my colleague in the Rajya Sabha,Mr Rudy,made,with the response that the CM of West Bengal made. After being at the receiving end of a snide remark,he showed statesmanship. The BJP showed the statesmanship when the country was under the attack of Maoists. What is the ruling party and the home minister’s own party doing? You have a senior leader of the party writing a signed article…

If a satyagraha before the Maoists could resolve this issue,we will all join this great author and office-bearer of the Congress party. If development activity was possible when 75 policemen were being slaughtered when they entered that area; if it is possible to enter that area and start building roads,start setting up industries,start building hospitals and nothing will happen to them,if somebody was to narrate such a fairy tale to us,it may sound very impressive,but then that someone is not living in the real world.

…I consciously used the words that there are Maoists who indulge in violence and there are those who do not indulge in violence but these are half Maoists when they speak this language. You don’t see a single Maoist in Lalgarh,you don’t see a single Maoist elsewhere and you say that the joint operation,which the government of India and the states have launched — I hereby defy the collective responsibility principle — should be called off! I think such a minister should be called to the Bar of this House and asked to explain the statement which defies all federal principles…

Is this the manner in which this menace of Maoism is going to be fought? You certainly need a strong head and a strong heart,but you also need a strong government,you also need a strong party and what is fatal to this operation is the fact that you don’t have the support of that party or that government in carrying on this operation and if you are isolated in this,which the effort seems to be,then certainly you can lose this battle even before the battle has actually begun.

It appears that the home minister,in his approach,is under gherao from his own party,under gherao from his own colleagues in the government. At some stage,while he decides the future course of action,he will have to choose whether his commitment to the cause of eradicating Maoist violence in this country,his loyalty to the country,will prevail or his discipline towards his party,where he succumbs to the pressure and says,let a crippled battle against the Maoists go on…

…Your party colleagues,Mr Home Minister,are seriously mistaken. Maoism is not a poverty eradication scheme. It is a democracy elimination scheme. And,those misconceived advisers who tell you to stop halfway and give up this battle and turn to a situation where you only keep trying and failing and not being able to achieve the required figures of development,then,probably,you will never be able to do so.