Raipur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the country has been able to eliminate the threat of Left-Wing Extremism by eradicating Maoism, but needs to secure the nation from the ‘Dimagi’ (intellectual) Naxals.
Addressing the security personnel while celebrating ‘Diwali’ at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp at Karanpur in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district on Sunday, Mr. Modi said that “Armed Naxals have disappeared from the forests. But the ‘Dimagi’ Naxals have infiltrated several political parties and organizations and are instigating people against the Constitution and democracy. We must identify them, defeat them and secure the nation”.
He said that this was the first Diwali when ‘each and every’ district in the country is free from Naxalism.
He slammed the previous governments for leaving the issue of Maoist menace unattended, describing it an ‘incurable disease’.
“Some had accepted that bullets would fly, jawans would be killed and misery would be heaped on the innocent people. No country with the mindset that things will simply continue can confront its enemies”, he said.
The political will to defeat Maoism was ‘restored only in 2014’ when his government came to power at the Centre, he said.
Terming elimination of Maoism a victory for his government’s policies and political will, he said that the decisions taken by his government had disabled the funding networks of the Maoists and separatists, while giving a freehand to the security forces at the ground to deal with the armed insurgents.
“Earlier, the security forces had no freedom to retaliate to attacks by the insurgents, leaving their hands tied. But we have given them the freedom to take necessary decisions at ground level”, he added.
Mr. Modi said that the government has been able to not only destroy the supply networks of the Naxals but also the support networks they received within the administration and the system.
He said that the key objective of the elimination of Maoism is that no family should lose a child and no young man should take up arms.
The twin-strategy of sustained security operations alongside developments had helped the government win back the trust of the people leading to erosion of the base of the Naxals, he said.
Recalling the grim era when Left-Wing Extremism gripped over 230 districts across 20 states including Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, he said that a curfew like situation had prevailed in the Naxal-affected areas after dusk and even the right to vote of the people was snatched by the Naxals.
“Thousands of villages and crores of people were trapped in it”, he said.
The country used to witness around 2,000 Naxal attacks a year during the peak period of Left-Wing Extremism.
In 2010, 76 CRPF personnel were killed by Maoists in Dantewada district under south Bastar of Chhattisgarh. The district had also witnessed the killing of 44 civilians by the Maoists in the same year.
More than 1,000 security personnel lost their lives in the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh in the last one decade, while a number of people including security personnel lost their limbs in the Maoist improvised explosive device (IED) explosions.
But after 2014, things started changing.
Earlier, discussions on Left-wing Extremism usually revolved round the number of killings of security personnel vis-à-vis those of Naxals.
For the first time in 47 years, not a single jawan of CRPF lost his life during duty last year.
He said that his government’s sustained actions against the illegal funding channels, and fake currency networks had contributed immensely to drying up the insurgents’ financial resources, leading to disruption of their arms supply and movements.
Striking an emotional note, he said that the Diwali festival reunites families who come from a long distance to celebrate together.
For him, security forces, guarding the nation’s border and internal security, are his family.
“You are my family members. Every son and daughter protecting Mother India is part of my family”, he said.
He recounted his previous Diwali celebrations with troops at Kargil and other Himalayan locations, and aboard INS Vikrant, and said that his visit to Bastar to celebrate Diwali with security personnel this time was to express gratitude of 140 crore Indians to them.
Highlighting the importance of internal security, he said that external enemies cannot grow if internal security is strong.
Mr. Modi said that basic infrastructure like schools, hospitals and roads were destroyed by Naxals in their strongholds, leading the local populations to lead a miserable life for decades.
His government has ensured that developmental works are undertaken speedily in the Naxal-affected areas along with security operations.
“Driven by a spirit of service, we have transformed lives in Naxal-affected areas; as a result, even the victims of Naxals have stood firmly alongside the government and security forces”, he said.
He also linked the campaign against Naxalism and separatism to India’s biggest victory against poverty, while citing the World Bank’s report which said that 50 crore Indians have come out of extreme poverty over the last 12 years.
EOM
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