Make the Naxals our own Assets!

[pmaitra]

Make the Naxals our own Assets!

They are our own men, and should be fighting alongside us, not against us.

I had suggested in this post, that India should consider hiring people from the tribal regions, especially the Naxalite infested regions, into our armed forces. These tribals, mainly from SC and ST backgrounds, live in the most inhospitable areas, and are really hardy and sturdy, and make good fighters. Looks like, someone has already done that, before I even laid out my suggestion. In this video, one will see, how former Naxals are now part and parcel of elite CRPF battalions, and are proving extremely effective in countering the ultras in jungle warfare.


While this video might be applicable to this thread, I would like to merge this video later into this thread, as part of a plan to increase our armed forces with sturdy and hardy young men from the tribal regions. I am quite confident, they will, with adequate training, be the men with the stamina to fight it out with the PLA in the rugged mountains, in case there is a war.

 

[arnabmit]

The good way of doing it would be to merge it with the rural literacy program with common funds.

Indian jawaans need to be graduates, right?

Take admission in class 8/10 and let them study in army schools till graduation. Then give them choice for Short Service Commission or Full service.

@Ray @Kunal Biswas

 

[Ray]

The Naxals are too steeped in ideology to be taken into the Armed Forces.

However, there are many tribal in the Armed Forces.

The Bihar Regiment itself has many such men in their ranks!

My Regt too had its share.

Excellent sportsmen!

 

[LordOfTheUnderworlds]

it could also be be a major source of employment in this region for first generation of educated/semi-educated tribals also giving them more exposure to outside world. but this must be complemented with creation of new well connected cities in the region.

 

[Ray]

Indian jawaans need to be graduates, right?

No, Class 12 is entry level.except for some parts of India where it is underdeveloped.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

The fighting ability does not make a good solider..

For NAXAL into Army is strictly no no..It is not there fault but a problem raised by our own government..

===============================

1. Attend there issues keeping once ego at bay..

2. Increase deployment in means of infrastructure ( Roads, Electricity, school & Hospital )..

3. Programs to increase there exposure to other parts of our country and culture, Give them Job and tours..

4. Pour money there, let them develop ..


Until these are attend first, there mind will be dark and consider us enemy..

 

[Patriot]

Naxals can be of very good use if we employ them anti-poaching activities, wild life security like forest guard. They understand forest better, as they belong to it.

 

[Snuggy321]

Naxals themselves are mostly a lost cause (except those who were forced to join) thanks to the intensive communist brainwashing...

 

[DivineHeretic]

The fighting ability does not make a good solider..

For NAXAL into Army is strictly no no..It is not there fault but a problem raised by our own government..

===============================

1. Attend there issues keeping once ego at bay..

2. Increase deployment in means of infrastructure ( Roads, Electricity, school & Hospital )..

3. Programs to increase there exposure to other parts of our country and culture, Give them Job and tours..

4. Pour money there, let them develop ..


Until these are attend first, there mind will be dark and consider us enemy..

Just to add to your points...

The Naxals have not displayed a great level of skill in combat. What was going for them was better intelligence and well planned ambushes by seasoned upper ranks. Now that they've been deprived of these two by the relentless greenhunt, (should've been red-hunt), their weaknesses are being exposed in every encounter.

Unlike the 2010 encounters/ambushes where as many as 19-20 ( in one case 76) were martyred on our side, now iys very rare for them to even score 3-4 kills, while their body count continues to rise. The effectiveness of Landmines/IEDs too seem to have diminished.

 

[parijataka]

Very good idea. Actually some tribes do have martial background such as Bhils in Rajasthan and Nagas in NE though not part of Naxal area.

 

[pmaitra]

I agree with @Ray Sir, some of these Naxalites night be too ideologically affixed, and including them in the armed forces would mean risking sabotage. I also believe many of the Naxals can be brought back into the mainstream, and if they are given a job in the armed forces, an example being the opening post, then they will prove to be good fighters, will have a stable income, and will not be lured into believing that the Indian Union is an enemy. Once they have money, they will not have the cause to fight. The best way to destroy Naxalism is to turn the Naxals from our enemy into our friend - and what I suggest is, remove the causes that drive people into Naxalism, and we will have significantly removed families that sympathize with Naxalite ideology.

 

[Ray]

There are many options where reformed Naxals could be employed, Their knowledge of the Naxal movement, organisation, tactics can be usefully used in Counter Insurgency School which are earmarked in certain States like MP.

They could be recruited into the Police in the IB (to operate in Naxal areas) or in Traffic (where they cannot resort to any sabotage).

There are various opportunities available to include helping them to set up petty businesses and so on.

 

[Soham]

I sincerely doubt the wisdom of Naxal inclusion in the Armed Forces.

Firstly, as Ray sir said, the ideological differences perpetuated over decades will not wither away so easily. They will not suddenly switch sides to join the organization which, as they've been led to believe is the arm of their eternal repressor. Secondly, most tribal communities are knit together by a very strong fabric of customary morality. Even if not for ideological reasons, individuals will not change sides en masse out of the plain fear of social exclusion from their tribes/communities. While a few converts have made a significant contribution to anti-insurgency efforts, it was primarily due to their knowledge of Naxal-movements and tactics, and not fighting skills per say.

On a sidenote, ofcourse we cant take them into the Army; what will Arundhati Roy say?

 

[bhramos]

The fighting ability does not make a good solider..

For NAXAL into Army is strictly no no..It is not there fault but a problem raised by our own government..

===============================

1. Attend there issues keeping once ego at bay..

2. Increase deployment in means of infrastructure ( Roads, Electricity, school & Hospital )..

3. Programs to increase there exposure to other parts of our country and culture, Give them Job and tours..

4. Pour money there, let them develop ..


Until these are attend first, there mind will be dark and consider us enemy..

Army is a bad idea, but Police constables is good, its already done and proven experiment in AP...

 

[bhramos]

Naxals can be of very good use if we employ them anti-poaching activities, wild life security like forest guard. They understand forest better, as they belong to it.

when their were Naxals in AP, no poucher or Hunters or illeagal miners were present, today AP Police cleaned naxalism and AP's forest is all gone today Mining Mafia rules the state.... See examples Galli Janardhan Reddy, YS Jaganmohan Reddy.........

 

[parijataka]

when their were Naxals in AP, no poucher or Hunters or illeagal miners were present, today AP Police cleaned naxalism and AP's forest is all gone today Mining Mafia rules the state.... See examples Galli Janardhan Reddy, YS Jaganmohan Reddy.........

I read YSR went after naxals ruthlessly for that reason - to make way for the mining mafia.

 

[MAYURA]

I read YSR went after naxals ruthlessly for that reason - to make way for the mining mafia.

Naxals were mafia in their own right. the result of crackdown on naxals is that earlier mines were used by naxals to foment rebellion now it is used by reddys to acquire kanchan kamini and christianizing south india.

 

[bhramos]

Naxals were mafia in their own right. the result of crackdown on naxals is that earlier mines were used by naxals to foment rebellion now it is used by reddys to acquire kanchan kamini and christianizing south india.

i am from town Khammam, where bayaram mines are located, their were mines in process before YSR.... i have seen the changes before and after naxals left closely...

 

[shom]

Make the Naxals our own Assets!

They are our own men, and should be fighting alongside us, not against us.

I had suggested in this post, that India should consider hiring people from the tribal regions, especially the Naxalite infested regions, into our armed forces. These tribals, mainly from SC and ST backgrounds, live in the most inhospitable areas, and are really hardy and sturdy, and make good fighters. Looks like, someone has already done that, before I even laid out my suggestion. In this video, one will see, how former Naxals are now part and parcel of elite CRPF battalions, and are proving extremely effective in countering the ultras in jungle warfare.


While this video might be applicable to this thread, I would like to merge this video later into this thread, as part of a plan to increase our armed forces with sturdy and hardy young men from the tribal regions. I am quite confident, they will, with adequate training, be the men with the stamina to fight it out with the PLA in the rugged mountains, in case there is a war.

Already been implied in Cattisgarh as SPO (Special Police Officer) :-
The Chhattisgarh state Police employs tribal youths as SPOs (Special Police Officers), which are essentially 4,000 youth, both ex-Naxalites and those drawn from Salwa Judum camps in the Bastar region, who are paid an honorarium of Rs 1,500 (Rs 3000 in 2011)per month by the state government, were trained by with mostly .303 rifles. In Feb 2009, the Supreme Court in India declared such arming of civilians illegal.
In 2008, there were 23 Salwa Judum camps in Bijapur and Dantewara districts of Bastar region where almost 50,000 tribals from over 600 villages had settled.[13][20] The government has now discredited the Salwa Judum movement.[citation needed] Union Minister of Home Affairs, P. Chidambaram has praised the role of special police officers (SPOs) in fighting Naxalism and called for their appointment "wherever required.",[24] while the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Raman Singh has stated that "Salwa Judum is the answer to get rid of the Naxal menace in the state..".[25] On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Indian state of Chhattisgarh to disband a militia force founded to combat Maoist guerrillas who control large areas of the country. As reported in The Hindu, the Supreme Court directed the Chhattisgarh police to "immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities" and directed the police to recall all firearms issued to these men. On July 6, 2011 supreme court declared sulwa judum as illegal.

 

[pmaitra]

Already been implied in Cattisgarh as SPO (Special Police Officer) :-
The Chhattisgarh state Police employs tribal youths as SPOs (Special Police Officers), which are essentially 4,000 youth, both ex-Naxalites and those drawn from Salwa Judum camps in the Bastar region, who are paid an honorarium of Rs 1,500 (Rs 3000 in 2011)per month by the state government, were trained by with mostly .303 rifles. In Feb 2009, the Supreme Court in India declared such arming of civilians illegal.
In 2008, there were 23 Salwa Judum camps in Bijapur and Dantewara districts of Bastar region where almost 50,000 tribals from over 600 villages had settled.[13][20] The government has now discredited the Salwa Judum movement.[citation needed] Union Minister of Home Affairs, P. Chidambaram has praised the role of special police officers (SPOs) in fighting Naxalism and called for their appointment "wherever required.",[24] while the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Raman Singh has stated that "Salwa Judum is the answer to get rid of the Naxal menace in the state..".[25] On July 5, 2011, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Indian state of Chhattisgarh to disband a militia force founded to combat Maoist guerrillas who control large areas of the country. As reported in The Hindu, the Supreme Court directed the Chhattisgarh police to "immediately cease and desist from using SPOs in any manner or form in any activities, directly or indirectly, aimed at controlling, countering, mitigating or otherwise eliminating Maoist/Naxalite activities" and directed the police to recall all firearms issued to these men. On July 6, 2011 supreme court declared sulwa judum as illegal.

Yes, I know, and now, the creator of Salwa Judum was killed in that massacre.

This is very unfortunate. What I also notice is that this meagre pay given to tribals risking their lives further shows how Delhi sees "us" and them, the "aboriginal tribals."

The Supreme Court is doing its job, and they are correct in a way that Salwa Judum is an unconstitutional force. Therefore, the only way to resolve this problem, is perhaps, to declare emergency.

On the other hand, this Maoist problem can not survive without tacit backing from powerful politicians.