Naxalites have once again targeted the security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada. On Wednesday, Naxalites attacked the van carrying the District Reserve Guard Force (DRG) with IED. 10 soldiers were martyred in this attack. Along with this, the driver driving the van also died. The attack took place at Aranpur in Dantewada when the DRG jawans were returning from an anti-Naxal operation.
After this attack, the entire Bastar division has been put on alert. Bastar division consists of seven districts- Kanker, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Dantewada, Sukma and Bijapur.
The history of Naxalite attacks on security forces in Bastar division is old. These attacks increase in summer. Naxalites call it ‘Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign’ i.e. TCOC.
How big a problem is Naxalism?
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are 70 districts in 10 states of the country where Naxalism still prevails. Jharkhand has maximum 16 districts. After that 14 districts belong to Chhattisgarh.
Naxal-affected districts of Chhattisgarh include Balrampur, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Dhamtari, Gariaband, Kanker, Kondagaon, Mahasamund, Narayanpur, Rajnandgaon, Sukma, Kabirdham and Mungeli.
Statistics show that even though Jharkhand has more Naxal affected districts than Chhattisgarh. But, compared to Chhattisgarh, the number of Naxalite attacks in Jharkhand is almost half.
How much Naxalism is there in Chhattisgarh?
Naxalism is the biggest problem in Chhattisgarh. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the five years between 2018 and 2022, Naxalites have carried out one thousand 132 attacks. In these, 168 soldiers of the security forces have been martyred, while 335 common citizens have also been killed.
At the same time, 398 operations have been conducted by the security forces, in which 327 Naxalites have been killed.
Statistics of the Home Ministry show that till February 28 this year, there were 37 Naxal attacks in Chhattisgarh, in which seven security forces personnel were martyred. The security forces killed a Naxalite. Now 10 soldiers were martyred in Naxalite attacks in Dantewada.
Why doesn’t Naxalism end from Chhattisgarh?
Apart from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Naxalism has not completely ended in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal.
However, now most of the Naxalite violence has been reduced to two centres. First- in the Dandakaranya forest spread in Chhattisgarh and surrounding states. And the second – on the Jharkhand-Bihar-West Bengal border.
But, even in this, most of the Naxalite violence takes place in the forests and hilly areas of Dandakaranya. Dandakaranya is spread over Chhattisgarh as well as Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. This entire forest is spread over an area of 92 thousand square kilometers.
One of the reasons why Naxalism is not ending in Chhattisgarh is that Naxalites from neighboring states have started settling here. In fact, it is believed that the state police play the most important role in ending Naxalism. In Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, the police have launched a tremendous operation against the Naxalites. The result was that the Naxalites of these states took shelter in the forests of Dandakaranya.
How did Dandakaranya become a stronghold of Naxalites?
Its roots go back to the 90s. In fact, in 1989, the Andhra Pradesh Police launched ‘Operation Greyhound’ to eliminate the Naxalites. This operation was led by IPS KS Vyas.
Under this operation, many Naxalites were killed in Andhra. The Maoists were scared by this. KS Vyas had come in the hit list of Naxalites. KS Vyas was shot dead by Maoists on 27 January 1993. He was murdered in the evening when he was out for a walk.
To avoid this operation by the Andhra Pradesh Police, the Naxalites were forced to hide in the forests of Dandakaranya. Gradually the number of Maoists increased in these forests. These Maoists started spreading Maoist ideology to the local tribals.
The Naxalites started convincing the local population that they have the solution to their every problem. For example, the wages that the tribals used to get earlier for picking Tendupatta, increased tenfold after the Naxalites protest.
All these pushed the local population here also towards Naxalism. The second reason for Dandakaranya forest becoming Naxalism is that the local population living here could not even get their basic needs for years.
Lastly, what is DRG?
DRG stands for District Reserve Guard Force. It was started in 2008 to fight Naxalites in all the districts of Bastar Division. Later it was also formed in Kanker, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Sukma, Kondagaon and Dantewada.
Local youth are given preference in DRG. In these, Naxalites who have surrendered many times are also recruited.
Local youth and Naxalites who have surrendered are given more preference so that they can get more help in dealing with Naxalism. They have more knowledge of the areas. There is also an understanding of the local language.
Expenses rising, but attacks not stopping
To deal with Naxalite attacks, the financial assistance received by the Central Government from the State Government is increasing. But the attacks are not reducing. In 2017-18, the central government had given Rs 92 crore to Chhattisgarh, which increased to Rs 140 crore in 2020-21. Despite this, Chhattisgarh is at the top in terms of maximum deaths.
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