Army will not fight Naxals, says Cabinet Committee on Security
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jun 12, 2010, 01.13am IST
NEW DELHI: The Army will not be used in a "combat role" in the ongoing anti-Naxal battle. The Centre and states will, instead, recruit ex-servicemen — including retired sappers for de-mining exercises — on contractual basis to fill the gap and will focus on strengthening paramilitary and police personnel through intensive training and recruitment programmes. Role of armed forces will only be limited to "training".
The Cabinet Committee on Security, which met under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday, took these decisions. It expected states to lead the charge against Maoists with the Centre mainly helping them with additional "security assistance" in terms of paramilitary personnel and "more funds" for modernisation of police forces and pursuing "development programmes". The committee, which analysed the proposals and counter-proposals of both the home and defence ministries before arriving at the decisions, also decided to meet again soon to give final shape to the strategy.
"CCS will also invite chief ministers of Naxal-affected states. Their views will help the Centre in finetuning the strategy," a top government official said.
Although the CCS meeting remained inconclusive in terms of giving final shape to the strategy and earmarking additional funds, it addressed major concerns of both defence and home ministries on major issues. "Since it was decided not to expand the role of armed forces at all beyond training, the focus was mainly on looking at alternatives to address the need of home ministry as well as states," the official said.
As the armed forces do not want to be dragged into yet another internal security duty beyond their existing roles in J&K and N-E states, the CCS allowed home ministry to fill the gap by recruiting ex-servicemen in a big way.
"While a couple of states are already doing this, remaining ones will also be asked to recruit retired armed force personnel for de-mining exercises and other security duties on minimum three years contract," the official said. The committee decided that the Centre would provide adequate funds to states for this purpose as well as for recruiting regular police personnel and increasing number of police stations in Naxal-hit districts.
Since the defence ministry argued that IAF could not spare a more helicopters to ferry troops, the CCS explored the option of hiring choppers from Pawan Hans for emergency duties including evacuation of injured personnel.....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDYvMTIjQXIwMDcwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
THE PROPOSAL------
Govt looks at direct role for Army against Naxals
Rajat Pandit & Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Jun 2, 2010, 01.04am IST
NEW DELHI: The government is veering around to expanding the role of the armed forces in the ongoing anti-Naxal operations, with a hard look even being taken at whether they should be "directly deployed'' in the fight against the Maoists.
While an enhancement of their present surveillance, logistical and training mandate is a certainty, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting likely on Thursday will take the final call on whether to enlist the armed forces in a more direct combat role.
The decision will be influenced as much by political considerations as security imperatives. Yet, the possibility of armed forces being asked to take on the Left-wing extremists is no longer being summarily dismissed like before.
Defence minister A K Antony on Tuesday sounded out the three Service chiefs on the sensitive issue, with the 90-minute meeting with Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Admiral Nirmal Verma and General V K Singh discussing "all dimensions'' of the security situation.
Independent of whether the government decides to push ahead with the idea, the very fact that direct engagement of armed forces is being looked as a serious option is significant.
It marks a critical shift on the part of the government, which had so far shied away from deploying soldiers in the Naxal battle. But a big cause for concern is the increasingly savage and audacious Maoist attacks, which have inflicted heavy casualties on paramilitary forces as well as non-combatants.
In May alone, as many as 172 civilians and 29 security personnel were killed by Naxals, if the derailing of the passenger train in West Midnapore on May 28 is also taken into account.
Though the meeting chaired by Antony examined the "pros and cons of different options'', it's for the CCS to decide on the exact mandate. "But one thing is certain even if the armed forces are deployed in a more direct role, it will be a limited mandate for a limited period,'' said a source.
One possible option could be to divert a few of the 63 battalions of Rashtriya Rifles, the Army's specialised counter-insurgency force operating in Jammu and Kashmir, "for selective missions'' in states worst-affected by Maoist depredations, said sources.
Successive governments have been averse to enlisting the Army in the fight because of the concern that it might lead to a perception about the Indian State not being in control of vast swathes in its own heartland.
There is also the issue of suitability of armed forces, which are trained to kill with heavy force, operating against an adversary who blends into the civilian population and is, in fact, adept at using them as shields.
The top military brass have their own reservations, extending from the lack of familiarity with the terrain and concrete ground-level intelligence to the armed forces being already overstretched in counter-insurgency in J&K and the North-East as well along the long unresolved borders with Pakistan and China.
But underlining the government's resolve to take the battle to Maoists, PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said, "In dealing with the challenge of Naxalism, we will pursue a policy that genuinely seeks to address developmental concerns at the grassroots, while firmly enforcing the writ of the state.''
But the dice could still fall either way in the CCS, with the home ministry keen to bolster the fight against the Maoists with "some more help'' from the armed forces but the defence establishment remaining largely reluctant about getting sucked into "yet another internal security duty''.
There has, however, been a significant shift in Antony's position in the last few days, from earlier being a strong opponent of deploying armed forces against Maoists in a direct role to now holding they will "accept'' the government's decision and "implement it with vigour and commitment''.
IAF, on its part, feels it can enhance its "air-support'' beyond the current four Mi-17 helicopters deployed in the region but continues to maintain the use of "offensive airpower'' is not a practical option since it can lead to collateral damage on the ground.
The armed forces, of course, are preparing for the worst-case scenario by finalising action plans to meet any contingency, as reported by TOI last week.
Having already trained around 47,000 paramilitary personnel since 2006 in its counter-insurgency and jungle warfare school in Vairengte and other institutions, the Army is also keen that a separate and dedicated counter-Naxalism training facility be established to train "homogeneous companies'' of police personnel.....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMDYvMDIjQXIwMDEwMA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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