Should the military be allowed into Maoist zones in Central India?

Should the Army be called in to handle the Maoist conflict in Chhattisgarh given that the Prime Minister had called it the biggest internal security threat to the country? No, said Former Army Chief VP Malik. Speaking to CNN-IBN, he said, “Over 220 districts in 20 states are affected by Naxalism. Over 6 states are highly affected. Deploying the army is not practical, nor desirable.” [caption id=“attachment_825025” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  At a Maoist training camp in Chhttisgarh. AFP.[/caption] He also said that such a deployment,  “indicates lack of faith in the police forces. Looking at the army as the police force will cause internal problems. It also affects the morale of the army against foreigners in the border.” According to him, for a home grown conflict the army should not be used at all. Ajay Sahni, counter terrorism expert, said, “In areas that the army has been deployed they have had limited success but this is a emergency measure. Army tends to get bogged down by these situations. According to him, the security situation turns out to be a chronic situation. These engagements and deployments tend to perpetuate themselves as they displace the local forces, he added. Former Police chief Ved Marwah also agreed that the army should only be used as a last resort. He said, “Naxal insurgency is not the same as Jammu and Kashmir. Rather than deploying the army we should be following a multi-pronged policy.” Nandini Sundar, professor of sociology, said, “Deploying the army will send a very bad message to the world. The message would be: increasingly nothing could be governed by the political process. And yet we still claim to be the world’s largest democracy.” She said, “Peace accords are finally the only answer. Before that you need to have confidence building measures. You need to have compensation and the people should be jailed.” This is something that many activists have been crying hoarse about - that the perpetrators of the Salwa Judum be prosecuted and jailed but the government has done precious little to address these problems. She also said that the truth and reconciliation commissions that were formed in Guatemala to address the civil wars there should be a role model for India. Rather than military action, she said, “I would recommend the same for the Maoist affected areas.”