Whoa! Hold yer Horses Mr PM!

Before I add my lines, here's the full excerpt from this website (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=31544)


New force must to tackle Naxal menace: PM

BS Reporter / New Delhi December 20, 2007

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today raised the strongest possible alarm on the proliferation of naxalites in India saying "not a day goes by without an incident of Left wing extremism."Speaking at a Chief Ministers conference on internal security, the Prime Minister urged states to develop a police force solely dedicated to combating the Maoist menace. Observing that the activities of the naxal groups have revealed new aspects, targeting vital economic establishments and eliminating important political leaders, Singh said: "We cannot rest in peace till we have eliminated this virus." "We need to cripple Naxalite forces with all the means at our command," he said and asked the states to set up specialised and dedicated forces to combat extremism.The conference, which was barred for media coverage, is being organised by the home ministry and is also being attended by Chief Secretaries, Directors General of Police, chiefs of para-military forces and intelligence agencies. Stressing on improved policing capabilities and better training facilities, the Prime Minister said: "I hear that there were only three staff in the Dantewada jail where the jail break took place. Inadequate, ill-equipped, ill-trained, poorly-motivated personnel cannot take on the naxal extremists who are increasingly better equipped and organised," he said. The Prime Minister assured full co-operation from the union home ministry in setting up the dedicated forces for countering naxalism. "The states also need to consider joint operations and joint mechanism for effective police operations," he said. While the Left-wing extremism might be restricted to some regions, Singh said terrorism was becoming a larger problem affecting all states. "In the current year, we have had high profile terror attacks in Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. They are able to network across states and even international boundaries. While the actual perpetrators of terrorist violence may belong to a few known organisations, we need to guard against their attempts to recruit local sympathy and support," Singh said.

How exactly will a violent approach solve the Naxal problem? Our dear Prime Minister has made his views clear, but his views are not necessarily right, or practical even. Gandhi would have said: An Eye for an Eye will make the whole nation blind" and Nehru might have okayed the proposal to stop naxalism by violent opposition, but the fact remains that violence will result in more violence. Whenever someone dies due to state violence, the hatred for the state grows, and it eventually turns the sympathies towards the other side.You cannot defeat a violent force by more violence, but only by careful and meaning ful dialogues. It depends upon you to create an atmosphere for the dialogue. Immature advisors of our PM are advising him to take up a violent stand against Naxals.This also shows his immaturity. It also reflects the immature state of the Congress. What do the younger ones in Congress say to this? Are they also in full agreement? I think not. it is time some young Congress members spoke out on these issues, rather than old lions roaring into the wilderness like this. Let us hear what Rajiv's and Sonia's son has to say in this. I am sure violence will not bear any fruit. Why doesnt the Congress identify and locate the Naxal leaders and talk to them? This is not a virus, this is the state of the poor today.They have taken up violence as they see no ohter solution. Replying with violence will breed more violence, as those who die leave behind families who take up the mission of revenge, and there is no end to this cycle of violence till someone decides to pardon the other side.Why pit the poor Indian soldiers (seciruty forces, police, RAF etc) against other poor Indian men and women who form the Naxal opposition? This is our internal problem which we have ignored since the times of Nehru.The thinking must change. We have to shed the idea that Congress is ruling India. It is not. God is ruling India through the hard working people, and if these hard working people do not get their rights, you cannot blame them when they take up guns. Naxal violence is nothing new for the world, it has always been going on, this struggle against the rich rulers, only the rulers are not the same all the time. India is on the edge of a steep cliff, which falls down into the deep ocean. Do not make the foolish choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, Mr Prime Minister. Just look for Gandhian answers to this situation.