Dejected, worn out, and cornered at a strategically crucial phase of its war against the state, the leadership of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has appealed to all the political parties of India to protest the ‘drone attacks’ by security forces on their hideouts in restive Bastar region of southern Chhattisgarh.
The baffling revelation comes in the backdrop of a Maoist ambush on 3 April which claimed the lives of 23 CRPF and DRG jawans. Given the fact that the difficult terrain has been home to several primitive tribes, the union government hitherto has been skeptical of using modern and more destructive warfare against the guerrillas such as the droning and aerial bombing in this severely Maoist infested region. Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee spokesperson Vikalp claimed that the central and the Chhattisgarh state government bombarded their hideouts in, Bautalanka and Palagudem villages near Pamed in Bijapur district.
The security forces dropped 12 bombs and bombarded their bases, however, they did not incur any damage because they had already shifted their base to safer locations, on noticing unusual droning activities, the awed rebel claimed in a press note.
He urged all the parties active in parliamentary democracy to condemn the ‘Dronebombing’ of their hideouts by the security apparatus. Rejecting the claim as unfounded, Bastar IG Sundar Raj P said that the allegation leveled by the Maoists regarding airstrike/drone attack is baseless and it’s an outcome of fear and confusion in the rank and file of the Maoist cadres. Security forces in Bastar operate within the legal framework with a single objective of protecting the life and property of the native population of the region.
There was huge public outrage and an emerging ‘rightist intellectual’ section appeared highly critical of the current Modi regime for its alleged leniency towards hardened leftist insurgents.