-The Indian Express How Chhattisgarh became a sanctuary, and then a laboratory, for Naxals Some time ago, Chhattisgarh hit the headlines because of a Maoist attack on state Congress leaders, in which V.C. Shukla and Mahendra Karma died. Since then, the Congress has accused the BJP government of a conspiracy, and some BJP leaders have accused former chief minister Ajit Jogi of being part of a conspiracy himself. Politicising this tragic episode...
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Slain naxalites had dropped guns, wanted to surrender -Soumittra S Bose
-The Times of India MENDHARI (GADCHIROLI): The picturesque little hamlet of Mendhari, around 90-km from Gadchiroli town, was considered by the naxalites as a safe haven. The tranquillity here had remained undisputed until Sunday when, for the first time, the villagers witnessed a lopsided bloodbath in which six women rebels were killed in police firing. The villagers, who claimed to have been thrashed by the C-60 commandos too, told TOI that four...
More »Govt mulling over withdrawal of AFSPA
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Union home minister SushilkumarShinde on Tuesday said the government was considering the demand of various states, including Jammu & Kashmir, for withdrawal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and a final decision would, however, be taken only after talking to all stakeholders. Shinde said, "We have to consider all the stakeholders' opinion. The AFSPA is not only in Kashmir. It is in many...
More »The continuing tragedy of the adivasis-Ramachandra Guha
-The Hindu The killings of Mahendra Karma and his colleagues call not for retributive violence but for a deeper reflection on the discontent among the tribals of central India and their dispossession In the summer of 2006, I had a long conversation with Mahendra Karma, the Chhattisgarh Congress leader who was killed in a terror attack by the naxalites last week. I was not alone - with me were five other members...
More »In South Bastar, grim battles on to retake Maoist bases-Suvojit Bagchi
-The Hindu JAGDALPUR: With semi-automatic weapons slung over their shoulders, these soldiers are more than just patrolling arterial village roads. They are in the midst of full-scale battles in which several people, mostly non-combatants, are getting killed. Forces have been mobilised in their thousands; dehydrated soldiers are getting evacuated by the Indian Air Force; corpses are removed in huge tractors meant for transporting farm produce; and Maoists are intensifying coordination at...
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